It's Women's History Month and in addition to celebrating the rich history of women in the U.S., UK and Australia, many companies are doubling down on their commitment to female leaders. It has become a moral and strategic imperative to hire, empower and promote women in the workplace. In fact, employers worldwide are focusing more and more on recruiting and retaining female employees. They're going beyond the basic benefits, to really foster inclusive environments.
Here are 8 companies that have gotten creative to recruit and retain women. Get inspired and consider some of these strategies at your company.
Levi Strauss
Cool Offering: In February 2020, Levi announced eight weeks of paid time off per year to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition. “Some of the most important investments we make are in the well-being of our employees. We are introducing paid family leave to offer our employees the flexibility to care for ill family members without worrying about the stability of their job or finances,” said Chip Bergh, president and chief executive officer of Levi Strauss & Co.
NBCUniversal
Cool Offering: The Act Two career relaunch program at NBCUniversal is a 6-month paid, fixed-term role for experienced professionals returning to the workforce after taking time off for personal reasons such as caregiving. The program is open to women and men who have at least 5 years of professional experience and have been out of the paid workforce (in an office/corporate environment) for at least 2 years.
RELATED: Recruiting Secret: Hiring Workers Returning from Sabbatical
PayPal
Cool Offering: Through the Recharge program, PayPal encourages skilled technologists who have taken a career break for personal or family reasons to feel equipped to return to the workforce. “Through Recharge, we offer the opportunity to participate in a bootcamp and apply for a 16-week paid program geared toward helping qualified technologists make a smooth transition back into the workforce.”
Pinterest
Cool Offering: In addition to offering robust fertility benefits and surrogacy assistance, Pinterest offers onsite classes such as meditation, yoga, and massage at various locations. Employees can also connect with a coach for a confidential conversation about your performance, growth, work relationships, or managing work responsibilities using the tool, Bravely. Plus, when the 16-week Parental Leave for new moms comes to an end, they can take advantage of Pinterest’s 4 week, ‘Gradual Return to Work’ program.
RELATED: 8 Must-Offer Benefits That'll Attract & Recruit Working Moms
DocuSign
Cool Offering: “We have expanded our employee benefits over the past few years based on direct employee feedback—adding a 401(k) match, an ESPP, a wellness subsidy, additional paid parental leave, an educational reimbursement each year, commuter benefits, paid volunteer time off, and more,” says CEO Dan Springer. Their big investment? An inclusive policy to accommodate employees welcoming a new child through birth, surrogacy, or adoption that offers up to six months paid parental leave for primary caregivers and two months paid leave for secondary caregivers.
Intel
Cool Offering: As one of several programs one of many programs Intel deploys to attract talented women and underrepresented minorities to Intel, they offer thousands of dollars in cash bonuses to employees who refer women, minorities, and veterans to its workforce. Intel will pay up to $4,000 in bonuses to employees who refer a woman, minority, or veteran to its workforce, the company confirmed in a statement to the Wall Street Journal.
HERE Technologies
Cool Offering: HERE’s Women's Initiative Network (WIN) connects our female employees with mentors and sponsors. WIN also organizes an annual global tech event called WITness that provides a platform for women at HERE to share technical, business, career and personal knowledge and insights.
Netflix
Cool Offering: “We recognize that one of the most special events in an individual's life is the birth or adoption of a child. Our parental leave policy is: "take care of your baby and yourself." New parents generally take 4 - 8 months,” according to the Netflix Benefits site. Employees can take up to 12 months of parental leave. “Netflix offers a global family forming benefit to support employees during your fertility, surrogacy, or adoption journey. This benefit is available to employees and their spouse/domestic partner, regardless of marital status, gender, or sexual orientation. We recognize these pathways are challenging from both a financial and emotional perspective. Netflix also offers an allowance through Carrot to support you in covering the costs of your family forming journey.”
