Abbott’s Women Leaders in Action group offers mentoring, networking, career expos, executive discussions and a variety of learning sessions.

When it comes to hiring, retaining and promoting women, this health-care company constantly strives to outdo itself: the number of women in executive management has grown by 84% over the last 10 years. What’s more, female employees represent nearly half of all managers and score the majority of those open positions. Women who move into senior roles frequently participate in an internal profit-and-loss mentoring group: “It’s providing me with a baseline of knowledge, and it’s exposing me to a new network of colleagues I otherwise would not have had the opportunity to meet,” says senior quality engineer Denise Storck-Schattner. New directors make valuable contacts in the Director foundation program, which outlines the company’s expectations and increases their odds of success.

Chairman & CEO: Miles D. White

Senior VP, HR: Stephen Fussell

% of senior managers who are women: 42%

% of corporate executives who are women: 18%

% of promotions to manager, senior manager and corporate executive positions that went to women: 52%

% of the top 10% of the company’s earners who are women: 35%

% of corporate executives with profit-and-loss responsibility who are women: 8%

% of the executives running divisions with revenues of more than a billion dollars who are women: 13%

% of executives who report directly to the CEO who are women: 20%

% of the members of the board of directors who are women: 14%

% of female workforce participating in mentoring: 12%

In 2010, 56% of Abbott’s management promotions went to women.

The right mentor can change everything in a woman’s career, helping her to make better choices, connect with influential people and gain exposure to key opportunities. To facilitate such relationships, this health-care company offers several formal mentoring circles and an online matching program that has generated more than 2,500 one-on-one pairings since 2005. Employees also seek out potential advisors in its six employee networks, among them Women Leaders in Action, an 11-chapter group that provides educational seminars and professional guidance to its more than 5,000 members. Flexible hours and the frequent use of telecommuting arrangements help parents continue to spend time with their families even as their job responsibilities grow, and tuition aid of up to $7,000 annually supports employee advancement.

Chairman & CEO Miles D. White

Senior VP, HR Stephen Fussell

Women managers/execs 44% 

Women among top earners 38% 

Women hires in 2010 48% 

Average weeks of fully paid maternity leave offered 4 

Allows new moms to “phase back” into work with reduced hours? Yes

Offers affinity group for new mothers? No

Offers backup childcare? Yes

Employees working flexibly 89%

Abbott extends its generous family health coverage to employees’ foster children and the children of their domestic partners,

Helping its employees realize their dream of becoming parents is the objective of this healthcare company’s Reproductive Resource Services program, which offers access to top-notch clinics, nurses specializing in infertility issues and a maternity program for at-risk pregnancies. Employees earn health insurance after working just 20 hours per week.

Chairman & CEO Miles D. White

SVP, HR Stephen Fussell

Offers on-site or near-site childcare Yes

Sponsors backup childcare Yes

Sponsors sick-child care Yes

Sponsors before- or afterschool childcare Yes

Offers business-travel childcare reimbursements Yes

Offers support groups for parents of teens Yes

Offers college coaching Yes

Offers affinity group for employees with children who have special needs Yes

Offers scholarships to employees’ family members Yes

Offers adoption assistance Yes

Last year, 89% of employees at Abbott held jobs that permitted them to flex their schedules, while 64% were able to telecommute.

Sheedeh Mahboobipoor, Tech Support Scientist, Abbott Diagnostics Division
Early starter “My day starts at 3:30 a.m. to make it into the office by 4:45 a.m.,” says Mahboopipoor. “This is my choice because I need to be home again when the bus drops off my girls after school.”

Helping women Mahboobipoor says, “Through Abbott’s Women Leaders in Action employee network, I give workshops on interviewing skills and money management at NICASA, a facility for women re-entering the workforce.”

Abbott employees enrolled in undergraduate college courses receive up to $5,250 annually toward tuition. For graduate courses, they get up to $7,000.

Mothers who work at this health-care company don't need to skip their kids' choir practices or school plays just to impress the boss: Last year, 89% of employees held jobs that permitted them to flex their schedules, while 64% were able to telecommute. Such arrangements suit moms like Diane Weishaar, a program manager for Global Pharmaceutical Operations: "Having flexible work options has allowed me to spend valuable time with my family and develop a productive, growing career,‚" says Diane, who has two sons. An on-site child-care center at headquarters looks after kids full-time and can offer therapy for those with special needs; employees elsewhere access tuition discounts at local centers. Parents at the Bioresearch Center in Worcester, MA, or at various California locations of the medical optics and vascular divisions get up to $35 per day for backup care, five days per year.

Chairman & CEO Miles D. White

SVP, HR Stephen Fussell

Women managers, senior managers and corporate execs 42%

Women among top earners 37%

Women on board of directors 15%

Women corporate executive hires in 2009 0%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year* 12%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year* 1%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement Not tracked.

Do formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance? Yes

 

*Percentages reflect number of women participants versus company’s total female workforce.