Abbott
Based in Abbott Park, Illinois, Abbott has earned spots on the Top Companies for Executive Women, the Best Companies for Multicultural Women, the Working Mother 100 Best Companies, the Best Company for Dads lists, and the Diversity Best Practices Inclusion Index.
Abbott
Abbott
PRESIDENT & CEO: Robert B. Ford
EXECUTIVE VP, HR: Mary Moreland
WEBSITE: Abbott
CAREER WEBSITE
Top Companies for Executive Women 2020+
★ Top Ten
This list, in existence for 23 years, is determined by organizations filling out an in-depth survey that measures female demographics at every level, but with an emphasis on women in senior corporate roles, with Profit & Loss (P&L) responsibility, and those earning in the top 20 percent of the organization. Working Mother defines P&L as having responsibility that involves monitoring the net income after expenses for a department or entire organization, with direct influence on how company resources are allocated.
The initiative puts significant emphasis on best practices that demonstrate effectiveness in moving women to senior ranks, including mentoring, sponsorship, involvement in employee resource groups and leadership-development training. In addition, the survey measures benefits and corporate culture, especially the involvement of the CEO and top leaders in advancing women.
This year, more questions were added on specific pathways to the top and on ways the organization helps women network, acquire executive skills, and understand the value of P&L.
This list is based on the 2020 application, which organizations submitted in March 2020. Typically, Working Mother would announce these companies in March 2021. But COVID-related schedule changes gave Working Mother the opportunity to align the year data is gathered with the year winners are announced. So, the winners on the 2020+ list at our Top Companies event are being announced in December 2020. The 2021 Top Companies for Executive Women list will be made public in the fourth quarter of 2021 and reflect the 2021 application.
2020 Working Mother 100 Best Companies
★ Hall of Fame
Flex Network, an employee-resource group at the healthcare company, fosters awareness of workplace flexibility and helps maximize technology, tools and resources. In 2019, its membership grew by more than 12 percent to nearly 520 members. Flex also has manager-training webinars to provide best practices on supervising remote workers.
By the Numbers
| US Employees | 27,179 |
| % Female Employees | 46% |
| % Female Corporate Executives | 22% |
| Weeks of Paid Gender-Neutral Leave | 2 |
| Weeks of Paid Maternity Leave | 6* |
| Offers Phase-Back After Paternal Leave | |
| Offers Sick Childcare |
*Additional maternity leave for birth mothers
2020 Diversity Best Practices Inclusion Index
★ Top 10 Percent
The Diversity Best Practices Inclusion Index provides information to help organizations understand gaps in demographic representation, and is a strategic road map to drive internal change to find and implement D&I solutions. This year, the number of participants increased by 24 percent, with 184 sharing their data. They were scored in three areas: best practices in recruitment, retention and advancement of people from underrepresented groups—women, racial/ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people; creating an inclusive culture through leadership, accountability, communications and employee engagement; and workforce demographic data. We assess the demographic data for gender and race/ethnicity for management and more-senior positions. That’s because diversity in representation is one of the best ways to assess outcomes of D&I initiatives.
The Working Mother Research Institute determined that 98 organizations scoring 60 percent and above should be recognized for their high-quality diversity and inclusion work, and named them Diversity Best Practices Inclusion Index members. This year, we decided to recognize 20 companies that were our top 10 percent highest scores for their exemplary work. These companies scored 81 percent or higher. Abbott has been named in the top 10 percent.
2020 Best Companies For Multicultural Women
★ First-Timer
More than 400 leaders at the healthcare company participated in a 90-minute unconscious-bias training course, featuring best practices for interviewing, building social media presence, and delivering better candidate and employee experiences.
By the Numbers
| Years on the Best Companies for Multicultural Women list | 1 |
| Total US Employees | 25,723 |
| Multicultural Women: Percentage of Workforce | 22% |
| Multicultural Women: Percentage of Managers | 14% |
| Required Diverse Interview Slates | Yes |
| CEO OKs Compensation Tied to Diversity Goals | Yes |
| CEO Holds Leaders Accountable for Advancing Diversity & Inclusion | Yes |
2020 Top Companies For Executive Women
The three-day Executive Compass program provides new senior leaders with a deep dive into the healthcare company’s strategy, with support from professors from Harvard Business School and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. In 2018, 26 percent of participants were women.
2019 Best Companies For Dads
As more employers recognize that fathers want to be as involved as mothers in raising their children and thus need support in the workplace, the Working Mother Research Institute wanted to celebrate the organizations that help men be the best dads they can, which also benefits moms at work and at home. To determine our second-annual list, we went back to the applications for the 100 Best Companies and pulled questions directly related to dads, including paternity leave, adoption leave, surrogacy and fertility benefits, phase-back-to-work programs, childcare options and employee-resource groups for men.
Fifty companies had scores high enough to qualify for the list this year, up from 35 organizations in 2018.
