Linda Weigold, a single mother, leads the supply chain activities at Dow Corning’s global semiconductor and solar businesses. With the heightened demand for solar products, Linda’s job is very demanding, with 24/7 operations and customers around the world.

Linda’s colleagues have noted her ability to manage a high-pressure job guiding an organization through a period of intense growth, while being a dedicated mom raising four young children.

Linda is cited as an inspiration and a mentor and a volunteer. One colleague offers this praise: “In the midst of some very fast-paced and stressful situations over the last few years, she has remained an inspiration as an effective professional, a smiling colleague, and a totally involved, awesome parent.” ”

Linda says Dow Corning gives her the support and flexibility that allows her to thrive in her career. “I would never work for a company that didn’t value the importance of family. It’s very fulfilling here. I started in an engineering role, moved to manufacturing and then to marketing and sales. Dow Corning provides me with opportunities to grow, to gain confidence in myself and to have flexibility in how I structure my work time.”

She also credits Dow with giving her children a strong foundation. “They have had the opportunity to meet some of our customers, who come from all over the world,” she says.

In her spare time, Linda volunteers in the community where she grew up, speaking to area youth about careers. “I’ve lived in this community all of my life and being encouraged by my company to volunteer, to visit my high school and to promote a variety of different careers to area youth is wonderful.”

Moms who work for this silicone supplier have a champion in its Working Parents Support Network, which operates at five key sites around its headquarters in Midland, MI. Its events offer a gathering place to discuss everyday challenges and triumphs and can also lead to policies that better parents’ lives. Not only did the program influence the installation of lactation rooms at all 14 U.S. locations, but its collective voice helped to shape current parental leave policies, ensuring that women who adopt get the same six fully paid weeks off as new birth moms and that new dads get two fully paid weeks off. Mothers take comfort in flexible schedules and access up to 80 hours of in-home dependent backup care annually, subsidized by their employer. To find mentors and advocates, many join the affinity group Women Enriched (to which nearly one tenth of the company belongs).

President & CEO Robert D. Hansen

VP, HR Michael Conway

Women managers/execs 24% 

Women among top earners 20% 

Women hires in 2010 25% 

Average weeks of fully paid maternity leave offered 6 

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

Offers affinity group for new mothers? Yes

Offers backup childcare? Yes

Employees working flexibly 93%

Want to extend your vacation? Dow Corning employees can supplement theirs by borrowing up to 40 hours of paid time off from the following year.

Women frequently work unorthodox schedules for this silicones supplier, but what matters to their employer is what they do, not when they do it. By allowing employees to use their own paid sick time to tend to ailing family members, the company makes it possible for moms to care for ill kids without feeling like they are skipping work. They can also take paid vacation in hourly increments, which makes it easier for them to meet personal obligations. Telecommuting is common: In fact, 73% of employees worked off-site at some point last year. Nearly all parents flex their schedules, and many compressed their workweeks last summer; all told, an estimated 22% of the workforce compressed their hours in some way in 2009. Women needing bigger breaks sometimes scale back to only a few hours a week–which is just enough to stay in the loop and keep their skill set fresh.

Chairman, President & CEO Stephanie Burns, PhD

Director, Talent Management Ed Colbert

Women managers, senior managers and corporate execs 25%

Women among top earners 21%

Women on board of directors 11%

Women corporate executive hires in 2009 0%  

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year* 24%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year* 7%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement 94%

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

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

Dow Corning’s new Rapid Redeployment program moves workers from struggling divisions to thriving ones to keep them employed amid cuts.

When working moms at this Midland, MI–based silicon supplier need proof they can make it to the top, they need only look toward CEO Stephanie Burns, a mother, grandmother and scientist who’s broken sales records since her 2004 appointment. To help staffers find their own success, last year a women’s network launched eight female-executive-led discussions on career strategies, plus three events briefing new female hires on mentoring and networking resources. Burns’s longtime pursuit of higher education informs the company’s leave policy, which allows employees who want to further their education to take up to four years off. And in a nod to those balancing work and motherhood, leave for adoptive parents was just expanded to six fully paid weeks from five, with $6,000 in assistance available to those with kids with special needs. New “wellness teams” watch workers’ health with fitness classes and weight-loss challenges.

Chairman, President & CEO: Stephanie Burns, PhD

VP & Chief HR Officer: Alan Hubbard

Women managers/execs: 28%

Women among top earners: 19%

Women on board of directors: 11%

Women corporate executive hires in 2008: 0%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year: 40%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year: 40%

Women promoted last year who utilized a formal flexible work arrangement: 40%

Formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance: Yes