What Makes these Top 25 Companies Great for Women?

Fairygodboss recently published a list of Top 25 Companies for Women in 2016, highlighting some of the best and fairest places to work based solely on female employees’ reviews and scores.

Earning top spots on the list are Apple, Deloitte, Accenture, Vanguard Group and General Electric, with others trailing close behind.

How exactly do these companies distinguish themselves in terms of appealing to women?

While there’s not one simple answer, we can tell you why our users have been happy at their workplaces. Upon joining Fairygodboss, women are invited to review where they work based on their experiences regarding pay, maternity leave policy, female- and family-friendliness, whether men and women are treated equally, and whether they would recommend their employer to other women. In addition, users can write in their own comments and rate their overall job satisfaction level (on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest level of satisfaction).

The companies that made our top 25 list are paying close attention to these issues and implementing practices and policies designed to recruit and retain female talent.

What, specifically, are they doing? Here’s what their female employees have said on Fairygodboss:

Paying them well

• An employee at Apple, which ranked highest among Fairygodboss members, wrote in a review, “I believe that women’s roles are improving everywhere, and Apple’s a great place to start. The pay/hourly wage is right where the men’s is at.” Across the board, a large majority of Fairygodboss users who work at Apple say women are treated fairly and equally to men and would recommend working at Apple to other women.

• A Salesforce employee wrote that her company “is a great place for women. Our CEO reviews wages to ensure that there is no gender bias behind pay packets – same money for the same job.”

Also read: Do Big Companies Pay More Than Small?

Allowing for good work/life balance

• A Thomson Reuters employee wrote that “With the flexibility and work/life balance that Thomson Reuters offers, I have more time to spend with my family.”
• A Fairygodboss user who works at Cisco Systems similarly values her company’s commitment to flexible working: “Great culture, people help each other out no matter where you are in the world. Using Cisco’s own video technology to provide optimal collaboration tools and flexible working is embedded in the culture. Values family life.”

Also read: Employers are Wrong About Work-Life Balance

Valuing women’s voices

• “Everyone has a voice and is heard. You drive your career growth,” wrote a Fairygodboss member who works at GE.
• An Accenture employee wrote that “Women have a voice at Accenture. Women lead at the top.”

Offering family-friendly policies

• A Target employee said her company has “Good maternity leave; treated very fairly with lots of opportunity. Good facilities for pumping and time allowed to do so as needed.”
• “Good place for women. Fleible [sic] work arrangements and good paid maternity leave,” wrote an EY employee.

Ensuring that both women and men are in leadership roles

• One Fairygodboss member said that “Dow Jones is a great place to work … There are lots of opportunities for women to grow in their careers and opportunities are equal, lots of women in executives positions.”
• “In my year here, I’ve met many women in leadership roles, and they are all there due to their own personal merit,” said a Wells Fargo employee.

Making sure women feel well supported and mentored

• “I’ve had an extremely positive experience working here,” a McKinsey & Co employee wrote on Fairygodboss. “There are incredibly inspiring female leaders who make themselves available to advise / mentor female colleagues, and I’ve never felt that being a woman has had a negative influence on the work I’m allowed to do or the reviews or support I’ve received. In my experience, this job has been empowering and has really built my confidence.”
• A Microsoft employee likes that her company “does a great job around professional development and ultimately is invested in helping employees get to where they want to go.”

As women still face an uphill battle in achieving gender equality in the workplace, we applaud these companies whose visions and policies are in line with that goal.