Posted on 09/24/2003 12:45:27 PM PDT by ctlpdad
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At-work massages, take-home dinners and after-school programs for children are among the innovative benefits offered by firms on the just-released list of the 100 best U.S. companies for working mothers.
The biggest trend in benefits is an awareness of the changing demands on parents as their children get older, said Jill Kirschenbaum, editor in chief of Working Mother magazine, which released its 18th list of best companies on Tuesday.
"Even in a sluggish economy, companies recognize the needs of their working mothers," Kirschenbaum said by telephone, noting that meeting these needs can be effective in recruiting and retaining high-quality employees and fighting absenteeism.
"As younger women come into the workforce, they're raising the bar," she said. "Generation X and Y women are coming into job interviews with a list of questions for potential employers: 'What can you do for me?'"
Beyond that, she noted that as working women move through the workforce, their needs change -- from infant and toddler care to programs to help deal with older children.
The top 10, listed alphabetically, are: Abbott Laboratories Inc., Illinois; Booz Allen Hamilton, Virginia; Bristol-Myers Squibb, New York; Eli Lilly and Company, Indiana; Fannie Mae, Washington D.C.; General Mills Inc, Minnesota; IBM, New York; Prudential Financial Inc., New Jersey; S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Wisconsin; Wachovia Corporation, North Carolina.
The complete list is available online at www.workingmother.com and in the magazine's October issue.
All of the top 100 companies offer flexible working hours, compared with 55 percent of U.S. companies as a whole, Working Mother reported. The vast majority of the top 100 offer job-sharing programs and help with care for older relatives and children, while far fewer than half of U.S. companies do.
More than three-quarters of the top companies -- 77 percent -- offer therapeutic massages, as opposed to 11 percent of U.S. companies generally.
Many of the top companies offer help in balancing life and work.
-- Inova Health System of Virginia offers employees full take-home meals from the company cafeteria at a 20 percent discount.
-- PNC Financial Services Group of Pennsylvania sends a trained gerontologist to visit the homes of workers' older relatives to assess needs for nutrition, medicine, safety and psychological needs.
-- IBM offers after-school programs and "gap" camps for older children for periods between the school year and summer programs.
Some firms offer extensive health and physical fitness benefits, such as the comprehensive sports program for use by employees at Abbott Laboratories, the 16-week pre-natal exercise program for pregnant workers at Verizon Wireless (news - web sites), and the on-site fitness centers for families of Texas Instruments employees, including dance classes, soccer camps, rock climbing and a full spa.
And as if Vanilla Ice was not a big enough black mark for my generation..."What can you do for me?"...Ye Gods!
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030923/ap_on_bi_ge/working_mother
Working Mother Lists Top 100 Companies
NEW YORK - Eli Lilly and Abbott Laboratories are among the top 100 companies for working moms, according to Working Mother magazine's 18th annual survey. The survey, published in the October issue on newsstands Tuesday, also named Booz Allen Hamilton, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Fannie Mae, General Mills, IBM, Prudential Financial, S.C. Johnson and Sons, and Wachovia.
This year, 17 companies made their debut on the list, including Harvard University, Lego Systems, Microsoft, Sallie Mae, UBS Investment Bank and Accenture. "These companies are very committed to work/life programs for their employees despite the tough economic conditions," says Jill Kirschenbaum, editor-in-chief of Working Mother.
Susan Seitel, president of Minneapolis-based research firm Work & Family Connection, said companies have gone to great lengths to be more family friendly because they want to retain their best employees. Ted Childs, vice president of global work force diversity at IBM, agreed. IBM has made the top 100 list 18 times and top-10 list 15 times, "This is not a feel-good program for us. This is about getting the best talent, the most sought-after talent, and keeping them happy at our company," he said.
All the top-100 companies offer flextime compared with 55 percent nationwide, according to the 2003 benefits survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management. Child-care for older children is the latest trend tracked by the magazine. Eli Lilly, for instance, runs a summer science day camp at its manufacturing site in Indianapolis. The cost is $100 a week. The pharmaceutical company also allows employees to compress their work week into four long days, or three long and two short days.
Elder care is another need companies are taking into account — 98 percent of the 100 best offer elder care resource and referral compared with 20 percent nationwide. "Companies realize that working mothers are the sandwich generation — they have children and older relatives to take care of," said Kimetha Firpo, president of the Washington-based not-for-profit Center for Designing Work Wisely.
Companies on the list were rated on such things as the number of work/life programs offered, employee use of such programs, and women's roles throughout the company. Particular weight was given to flexible scheduling, advancement of women and child-care options.
"Even as we filled out the application form, we could see where we could beef up our program," said Pamela Craig, director of global business operations at Accenture. "There's always room for improvement."
Working Mother Magazine: www.workingmother.com
It is no surprise that her poll on whether or not Palin should have accepted the nomination she says was 2 to 1 against.
I don't know how other FReepers feel about whether or not Sarah should be on the ticket but it would be my guess that these Obama women spammed this poll and have an agenda and an ax to grind against men and conservatism.
It also wouldn't hurt many of the Obama women supporters to do some major physical work on their appearances.
Many of these old died in the wool Obama men haters are little more than out of shape, dried up uglier than sin lonely hearts God haters.
Oprah is not only biased but she is also a racists because she supports Obama not so much for his airhead ideas but because the color of his skin.
Err...just my lowly opinion for what it's worth.
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