45% of all top positions were filled by female employees at Carlson last year.

Helmed by the same family for 71 years, this hotel, marketing and restaurant corporation is committed to helping its 36,000 employees secure their own families’ futures. Mothers-to-be tap $10,000 in coverage for infertility treatments plus 12 fully paid weeks of maternity leave; those who adopt get six paid weeks off with $5,000 in assistance. While a resource and referral service helps staffers in all 1,081 locations find child care, parents who work at the Minnetonka, MN, headquarters can take kids younger than age 4 to a state-of-the-art childcare center with a huge gymnasium and impressive music and sign-language programs. Virtually all employees use alternative schedules (usually flextime, telecommuting or part-time work), and long-term staffers are often eligible for paid sabbaticals. Employees who take job-related courses are reimbursed for $5,000 in tuition each year, while their children may apply for $11,000 annual college scholarships.

President & CEO: Hubert Joly

Corporate VP, HR: Rick Clevette

Women managers/execs: 48%

Women among top earners: 52%

Women on board of directors: 33%

Women corporate executive hires in 2008: 43%

Women participating in management or leadership training in the past year: 5%

Women participating in formalized executive succession planning last year: 32%

Women promoted last year who used a formal flexible work arrangement: 1%

Formal compensation policies reward managers who help women advance: No