Google and Hallmark Cards rank among America’s best employers for women 2018

Google office

Google (pictured), Hallmark Cards, Harvard University and Principle Financial Group are among the organisations recognised on the America’s best employers for women 2018 list, compiled by business media organisation Forbes and market research firm Statista.

To compile the final list, which comprises 300 US-based organisations, more than 40,000 employees of organisations with at least 1,000 staff were surveyed, including 25,000 female workers.

Respondents were asked to rate their organisation against criteria such as working conditions, diversity and whether they would recommend their employer to others, with notable gender gaps in responses being taken into account.

Female respondents were also asked to rate their employers on areas such as parental leave, discrimination and pay equity.

Banking and financial services organisation Principle Financial Group topped 2018’s list, followed by healthcare and social business Penn Medicine in second and packaged goods firm Hallmark Cards in third. Harvard University also made the top 10 to come in ninth place, while technology organisation Google ranked as 17th on the final list.

Other organisations featured on the list include cosmetics business Estée Lauder Companies, clothes retailer H&M, Stanford University, homeware brand Ikea, professional services firm Deloitte and oil and gas organisation Royal Dutch Shell.

The top 10 organisations are:

  1. Principle Financial Group
  2. Penn Medicine
  3. Hallmark Cards
  4. BayCare
  5. Oregon Health and Science University
  6. Keller Williams Realty
  7. Boston Children’s Hospital
  8. Providence Health and Services
  9. Harvard University
  10. Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS)

Kerry Gumm, director of human resources strategy at Principle Financial Group, said: “It really does start with the culture of the organisation. It’s not about sequestering women off to a corner. It’s about elevating them and giving them the right resources and voice.

“One thing no-one can do is assume that we’ve got it right. We should celebrate where we’re making progress, but at the same time recognise the workforce is changing significantly, how we work is changing rapidly.”