Finding your happy place...

USA Today had an article July 19th that caught my eye, These Companies Help Their Women Find Their Happy Place. The article was front page of the USA Today Money section which automatically makes me think of return on investment or return on inclusion in the diversity and inclusion space.

Interesting data and stats shared in the article:  

• Women make up roughly half the workforce today.
• Women earn 82% of the full-time weekly paychecks of men. Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research George Petras, USA Today.
• If current trends persist women won’t receive equal pay until 2059 and that progress is even slower for women of color.
• Women, particularly women of color face a unique set of obstacles in almost every industry.
• Men are 30% more likely to be promoted than women, which results in disproportionate number of male executives according to survey by LeanIn.org and McKinsey consulting group.
• Millions of Americans still aren’t offered any time off after the birth or adoption of a child.
• 1 in 4 women go back to work 10 days after giving birth via PL+US Paid Leave for the United States.
• Family Medical Leave Act gives women 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave.
• 12% of U.S. non-government workers have access to paid family leave (DOL).
• Women face consequences no matter what they do – women who take maternity leave where seen as “significantly less competent” and those who don’t are seen as less caring parents via researchers at University of Exeter.

The article highlights the 10 best firms for women, according to FairyGodBoss, an online resource for women www.fairgodboss.com. It’s a job review site exclusively for women. Rankings are based on 15,000 responses from women on job satisfaction, gender equity and their likelihood to recommend their company to another woman. They pull data from anonymous job reviews to create company profiles. Their intent is for employers to learn from what companies at the top are doing right.

Prime areas of interest:

• Improving the day-to-day experience is crucial to retaining women in leadership roles.
• Improving parental leave and flex time policies is key to supporting women and men in the workplace.
• Family leave and pay equity are the main areas of interest for women.

The top spot went to Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and here’s a list of things that were highlighted as game changers for them.

• BCG has a women’s program focused on improving women’s experience at the firm.
• In two years BCG has increased women in their North American firms by 70% and raised women’s retention rated to be equal or higher than men’s.
• Their Women@BCG program is credited with closing the retention gap plus their Apprenticeship in Action initiative.
• Apprenticeship in Action initiative was in response to feedback from women dissatisfied with mentorship opportunities at BCG. The initiative boosted female promotion rates by 22% among senior managers.
• BCG Beefed up recruitment of women and improved their work-flexibility policies to make company culture more inclusive.
• Birth mothers can take up to 16 weeks of family leave and any employee can take two months of unpaid time off with full benefits.
• Employees can use “Time for You” for anything whether its extending family leave or learning how to horseback ride.
• Employees have the option to work at 60% or 80% capacity while receiving reduced salary and tenure credit.

10 best firms for women according to www.fairygodboss.com as of 7.19.17(list updates daily)

1.       Boston Consulting Group

2.      Accenture & Dell (tie)

3.      PepsiCo

4.      General Electric

5.      Apple, Deloitte & Salesforce (tie)

6.      Vanguard Group

7.      PwC

8.      American Express

9.     Kaiser Permanente

10.   Thomson Reuters

Kudos to the ten employers listed above. They are juggernauts when it comes to recruiting and HR practices and resources which may make this seem out of reach for small to mid-size companies but it’s not. The reason companies are investing in this work is simple, people strategies are the key to their success, client satisfaction and the bottom line. You have got to invest in what attracts and retains your skilled workers and front-line staff to remain competitive.

The key is to figure out how you can start being more intentional in this space. Work on identifying how this fits into your strategic plan and company culture.  Creating an integrated process will make this highly effective while also making sure you are spreading the work across the whole company and not just one role or area.

The upside is you will be making a stronger, more welcoming work environment for everyone…not just women! Think of millennials – mentoring and work-flexibility are drivers for many in the corporate world today.