The Jane Dough Presents: The 15 Best Companies For Women

Women & Business

The Jane Dough Presents: The 15 Best Companies For Women

10:45 am, July 19th | by Laura Simmons

What makes a company “good” for women? Does the number of female board members matter? Does the number of weeks of maternity leave? At what point do you know what makes a company “pro-woman”? As graduation comes closer and closer, I (along with the rest of The Jane Dough) started asking myself those questions. The result? Our definitive guide to the top 15 pro-women Fortune 500 companies.

Of course, much of this list is subjective, but after working with key women’s groups like Catalyst and NAFE, we think we came up with the best list of standards for working women. Many factors were taken into consideration for this piece including the percentage of women in the workplace, childcare options, health insurance plans, percentage of women board members, maternity leave options, company diversity statements, and the current Fortune ranks.

So, we asked a few companies to explain why they are the best places for working women. Here it is:

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1.15. Sunoco

Did you ever think about working for a big oil company? Consider Sunoco.

-Childcare: Yes

-Health Insurance: Yes

-# Of Female Board Members: 3/9, 33.3 percent

-Maternity Leave: Yes

-Fortune 500 Rank: #61

If you have always been fascinated in oil and fuel options, perhaps you should consider looking for a career at Sunoco. With an emphaisis on diversity in the workplace, Sunoco acknowledges the importance of having a range of ideas in the workplace. If their excellent benefits, and impressive diversity statement aren't enough to catch your interest, however, maybe their CEO will. Recently, the Sunoco CEO, Lynn Laverty Elsenhans, was named one of the world's most powerful women in 2011 (for the 4th time!). She is the first women to run a major oil company (So cool).

Images and company info from Sunoco

2.14. Pepsi Co.

Not a Coke person? Ever think of working for Pepsi Co.?

-Childcare: Yes

-Health Insurance: Yes

-# Of Female Board Members: 4/12, 33.3 percent

-Maternity Leave: Yes

-Diversity Statement: Yes

-Fortune 500 Rank: #41

The possibilities are endless if you choose to start a career at Pepsi Co. For starters, the company is comprised of about a million-billion products (including Pepsi products, Frito-Lay products, Tropicana, Quaker, and Gatorade). Recently, Pepsi Co. has taken an initiative to increase diversity and promote women in the workplace with an emphasis on "respect" in the workplace and initiatives to support the success of women internationally through diversity and inclusion policies. Pepsi Co. is an endorser of the U.N's Women Empowerment Principles. In the U.S, 33 percent of their board members are women along with 31 percent of Pepsi Co. executives. Overall, 32 percent of the company is comprised of women. In addition, Pepsi Co. has a female Chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi, who was ranked #1 on Fortune's 50 Most Powerful Women List in 2008.

Image and company info from Pepsi Co.

3.13. Health Net

Interested in a career in health insurance? Check out Health Net.

-Childcare: Yes

-Health Insurance: Yes

-# Of Female Board Members:3/9, 33.3 percent

Diversity Hiring Statement: Yes

-Fortune 500 Rank: #179

If you always wanted to get into a career focused on healthcare, Health Net should be at the top of your list. As part of their diversity statement they aim for gender equality within the workplace in terms of selection, compensation, benefits and growth.

Image and company info from Health Net

4.12. General Mills

One of my favorite food companies- General Mills brings up number 12 on our list.

-Percent Of Female Workers: 40 percent

-Childcare: Yes

-Health Insurance: Yes

-# Of Female Board Members: 5/14, 35.7 percent

-Diversity Hiring: Yes, 20 percent minorities

-Fortune 500 Rank: #181

Everyone knows that General Mills makes delicious foods and products, but have you ever considered working there? Besides having impressive benefits and hiring statistics for women, General Mills offers programs that allow women to voice their opinions and be heard by top company execs. One in particular is the Women's Forum Offsite where senior-level women meet and discuss issues (gender equality etc) with the senior management and CEO. As a whole, the company strives to uphold a level of diversity among the workplace. Finally, General Mills has been named a top company by NAFE for the past 8 years.

Image and company info from General Mills

5.11. Principal Financial

Interested in a finance career? Why not Principal Financial?

-Childcare: Yes

Health Insurance: Yes, medical, dental and vision insurance and wellness programs, which include access to on-site fitness facilities

-# Of Female Board Members: 4/11, 36.4 percent

Diversity Statement: Yes

-Fortune 500 Rank: #295

If you're like me and fascinated by finance, then perhaps Principal Financial is where you should consider applying. This financial group recently made the list for the NAFE Top 50 Companies for Executive Women. Women make up almost half of the senior management positions at Principal Financial. In a mission statement on diversity, Senior VP Mary O'Keefe said, “Providing our predominately female workforce with the right development opportunities, tailored leadership programs and education really gives our female employees a chance to own their success.”

Image and company info from Principal Financial

6.10. Kelly Services

At number 10 we have Kelly Services.

-Health Insurance: Yes

-# Of Female Board Members: 4/11, 36.4 percent

-Diversity Hiring Statement: Yes

-Fortune 500 Rank: #441

If you like to help people, Kelly Services might just be the perfect place for you! Kelly Services prides themselves on their commitment to inclusion. Kelly Services has continuously looked for ways to incorporate women in their business and help them find a balance between home and work. Recently, Kelly Services was honored by Women's Business Enterprise National Council.

Image and company info from Kelly Services

7.9. WellPoint

WellPoint is at number 9 on our list.

-Health Insurance: Medical, Dental and Vision coverage as well as Wellness Programs including on-site health screenings, weight management programs, health and fitness centers,and tobacco-free workplace.

-# Of Female Board Members: 5/13, 38.5 percent

-Maternity Leave: Yes

-Diversity Statement: Yes

-Fortune 500 Rank: #45

WellPoint is the perfect place for a finance woman to start or continue a career. WellPoint has pursued the "reputation as an organization where professional women can lead successful careers and reach the highest levels of management," as a company statement notes. Half of WellPoint's senior managers are females and one third of their corporate executives are women as well. As a company, they strive to promote gender equality within the workplace with organizations like WOW (Women of WellPoint), which is composed of over 600 women. Finally, WellPoint has a female Chairman, President and CEO, Angela Braly.

Image and company info from WellPoint

8.8. Pacific Life

Pacific Life gets our 8th spot on the list.

-Health Insurance: Medical and Dental Coverage, Wellness Programs including on-site screenings, flu-shots and health fairs, personalized counseling and coaching, and healthy eating cafe discounts.

-# Of Female Board Members: 4/10, 40 percent

-Maternity Leave: Yes

-Diversity Statement: Yes

-Fortune 500 Rank: #420

If you're interested in pursuing a career in investing and insurance consider applying to Pacific Life. A company that strives to maintain a "small company feel," Pacific Life offers programs tailored for female professionals, including Women & Wealth, which aims to help women make decisions about business, retirement, investments and education. As a company, they recognize that women "are a driving force in today's economy" and women "share responsibility for 60 percent of the family's financial decisions".

Image and company info from Pacific Life

9.7. Macy's

Seventh place goes to Macy's!

-Health Insurance: Yes & Wellness Program

-# Of Female Board Members: 4/10, 40 percent

-Maternity Leave: Yes

-Diversity Statement: Yes

-Fortune 500 Rank: #110

I have been a Macy's shopper for as long as I can remember so I was very pleased the learn that Macy's is offers great career opportunities for women! If your interested in working a job that "inspires," Macy's is the place for you. Whether you want to work in their newly streamlined corporate offices, or in retail, Macy's offers a bunch of opportunities for advancement and success. In addition, over 75 percent of the Macy's executives are women -- nicely done. Macy's has also earned recognition as one of the top companies to work for by NAFE, while the Macy's Foundation also participates in a number of community service projects including breast cancer and domestic violence foundations.

Image and company info from Macy's

10.6. KeyBank

At 6th place is KeyBank.

-Health Insurance: Yes

-# Of Female Board Members: 6/15, 40 percent

-Fortune 500 Rank: #499

Looking for a career in finance? Check out the Ohio-based bank KeyBank (aka KeyCorp). Not only does KeyBank offer numerous opportunities for advancement within the company, but they also have a program Key4Women -- a nationwide network of entrepreneurial women. In this particular program, KeyBank employees aim to help women take advantage of business opportunities. Described as being a "complementary service for women in business," their goal is to promote women in business. It's also worth noting, of course, that the CEO of KeyBank is Beth Mooney -- the first female chief executive of a top 20 bank.

Image and company info from KeyBank

11.5. Estee Lauder

Fifth place goes to Estee Lauder!

-Health Insurance: Yes & Wellness Plan

-# Of Female Board Members: 6/14, 42.9 percent

-Maternity Leave: Yes

-Fortune 500 Rank: #290

Honestly, who wouldn't want to work for the oh-so-glamorous Estee Lauder company, which includes Bobbi Brown (my go-to for natural looking make-up), Clinique and AVEDA? It's no surprise then that a company who markets to women would want to employ as many talented and professional women as possible! With an impressive 42.9 percent of women on its Board of Directors, Estee Lauder claims our number-5 spot. The company's efforts to promote breast cancer awareness are impressive -- as was its 2011, $8.5 million donation to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Still not sold? Estee Lauder employees also have the benefit of having a "half-day" on their birthdays... Oh yea.

Image and company info from Estee Lauder

12.4. General Motors

Fourth on our list is the car company General Motors.

-Health Insurance: Yes, Comprehensive medical and dental plans

-# Of Female Board Members:4/11, 36.4 percent

-Maternity Leave: Yes

-Diversity Hiring Statement: Yes

-Fortune 500 Rank: #5

Do you like cars and business? Maybe General Motors is the place for you! This American car company is making big strides to help promote women in the workplace. GM currently employs over 30,000 women at their company worldwide and its global workforce is comprised of 15-percent women while their North America workforce is comprised of 31-percent women. Fun fact: GM is one of the largest employers of female engineers in the U.S.

In addition, for all you soon-to-be college grads, GM has relationships with many colleges -- including all-women's Spelman College in Atlanta -- where they recruit for non-technical hiring needs. GM's Design team hosts career fairs targeted at women and they recently hosted 150 high school students (of which 70 percent were female) to promote interest in automotive design at an early stage.

But while GM employs a lot of women, it also has a lot of female leaders! At GM you can find leaders like Mary Barra, Senior Vice President, Global Product Development and Alicia Boler-Davis, Vice President of Global Quality and U.S. customer experience. (Another fun fact: Marry Barra is the highest ranking woman in the auto industry.) Way to go GM!

Image and company info from General Motors and Jocelyn Allen, GM Regional, Grassroots and Diversity Communications.

13.3. Target

Ok, who doesn't love Target? (Or as my friends say "Targe")

-Childcare: Yes

-Health Insurance: Yes and guidance to secure financial future

-# Of Female Board Members:4/11, 36.4 percent

-Maternity Leave: Yes

-Diversity Hiring Statement: Yes

-Fortune 500 Rank: #38

Target is definitely one of my favorite stores and I was so excited to learn that they do a lot to promote women in business. At the end of 2011, the senior leadership was 36.7 percent female with four female Board of Director seats out of 11 total. In addition, the majority of managers at Target are female.

My question to Target management is this: If I were to work here, do I get first dibs on the special fashion lines? (i.e Tucker for Target?)

Image and company info from Target and Jessica Stevens, from Target.

14.2. Publix Supermarket

Next on our list, Publix Supermarket!

-Percent Of Female Workers: 48 percent

-Childcare: Yes (at the Lakefield, FL office)

-Health Insurance: Yes

-# Of Female Board Members: 3/9, 33.3 percent

-Maternity Leave: Yes

-Diversity Hiring Statement: Yes, 38 percent minority workforce

-Fortune 500 Rank: #106

While a late-'90s class-action gender discrimination suit is a black mark in the company's history, Publix has moved beyond that to become one of the premier places for women to work with an impressive list of benefits. But those aren't the only reasons you should add this company to your "Apply For Job" pile.

While offering the traditional benefits (childcare, maternity leave, health insurance etc.) Publix has also made big strides with their diversity hiring programs. Managers attend diversity workshops known as "Developing Cultural Competence" which broadens their awareness of the value in attracting and retaining associates from a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds. In addition, Publix has doubled the number of female and minority managers in their retail stores in the past 10 years.

Finally, Publix has been awarded for their diversity practices and programs and have received a Diversistar Award for excelling in promoting workplace diversity practices, ranked #13 on the Corporate Social Responsibility Index by Reputation Institute, and Catalyst Blue Ribbon Board of Fortune 500 Companies with Multiple Women Directors.

Even better, Publix is the largest company in the nation that is 50-percent or more employee-owned through an employee-stock-ownership-plan at no cost to the employee. This is definitely a cool bonus.

Image and company info from Publix Supermarket and Jennifer Bush, Manager of Special Projects.

15.1. Avon Products

And the winner is...Avon!

-Percentage Of Female Workers: 55 percent

-Childcare: Yes

-Health Insurance: Yes

-# of Female Board Members: 6/11, 54.5 percent

-Maternity Leave: Yes

-Diversity Hiring Statement: Yes

-Fortune 500 Rank: #234

Avon Products tops our list as the BEST place for working women. Why you ask? Let's take a look. Avon tries to keep a 50/50 ratio between men and women in the workplace and has more female managers than any other Fortune 500 company.

Avon offers a bunch of benefits around the globe to help employees "balance work and family," including dependent care flex spending, emergency childcare and on-site daycare at some facilities. In addition to childcare options, Avon offers maternity leave to employees and a "Phase Back To Work Program" aimed to help associates returning from their maternity leaves. Avon also offers Paternity leave as well as Secondary Care-giver leave. As far as diversity goes, Avon has a VP of Global Diversity & Inclusion who works with senior leaders to "integrate a diversity framework into our customer, market and talent plans as well as to strengthen our internal Associate Network Groups."

When asked about the opportunity for women to advance within their careers at Avon a spokesperson told us that, "Avon’s CEO, CFO and General Counsel are women and that at Avon, we pride ourselves on grooming and developing all Associates."

Go Avon! Keep up the good work.

Image and company info from Avon Products and Leigh Goldman, Managing Editor, Corporate Online Platforms.

Note: All the companies on our list were contacted by The Jane Dough and given the opportunity to comment. Company information is all sourced from company statements and representatives, unless otherwise noted.

Jodine Ibeme

Avon of course.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=628495835 Aisha O’Brien

Hahaha, you’re joking about Macy’s, right? What they say is very different from what they practice. My mom worked there for 10 years, was one of the top 3 sales associates nationwide but every “opportunity” they offered never came to fruition because of massive lay-offs. They even pulled a nasty trick with the health insurance – Macy’s cut everyone’s hours so that they were no longer eligible and workers had to sign up for extra shifts just to get those 37 hours.

I think more investigation needs to be done before an endorsement like this is made…

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