Data has been gathered, trends identified, analyses studied, and statements issued on the hot-button topic of gender equality in the workplace. All of it is done in search of an answer to an important question: What’s it really like for women in the workplace?
Unfortunately, broad, sweeping reports and aggregated data has failed so far to provide a meaningful and accurate answer, particularly if the person asking the question is an individual woman who is evaluating her own employment options and seeking a workplace that’s set-up to ensure that she can thrive.
The question that women in actual offices, executive suites, cubicles, and cubbies are really asking is this: What’s it really like for women at your company?
What women want in the workplace
Providing the answer to that question—to help women in their search for companies that are welcoming to them—is what inspired the birth of InHerSight.
Since we launched in January 2015, InHerSight has amassed reviews of thousands of companies, from government agencies to small businesses to household names like Apple, Accenture, Google, Coca-Cola, Walmart, and Microsoft.
Like a Glassdoor or TripAdvisor for working women, InHerSight provides an anonymous platform for current and former employees with firsthand knowledge to rate how female-friendly their employers are. Women (and men) can weigh in on formal and informal policies, as well the overall office culture and environment.
We gather new data every day and are constantly updating our dataset to better understand the work landscape for women today—and what can be done to improve it.
Based on our latest data (as of early 2019), we find that the top four things women want from their employers are:
1. Paid time off (sick days, personal days, vacation days)
2. Salary satisfaction (bonuses, merit increases, cost of living adjustments, overall compensation)
3. The people you work with (respectful, professional, and unbiased coworkers)
4. Flexible work hours (the ability to set your schedule as long as you get your work done)
We gather data like this via a brief, three-minute survey that focuses on 16 workplace factors that matter most to working women. These include flexible work hours, maternity and adoptive leave, paid time off, family growth support (e.g. child care, expense reimbursement, lactation rooms, etc.), salary satisfaction, wellness initiatives, sponsorship or mentorship programs, equal opportunities for women and men, management opportunities for women, and female representation in leadership positions. Site users are encouraged to provide additional feedback through comments as well.
Workplace equality isn’t just a "female issue." Female-friendly policies benefit everyone.
The mission of InHerSight isn’t only to parse whether or not a company that touts fair, open, and flexible policies, practices and perks actually delivers on those promises. The deep data we collect serves a much broader purpose.
InHerSight brings the discussion of female-friendliness out into the open by enabling women who might otherwise not have a say in a company’s policies take action and collectively rally for change. While the issue of acceptance of women in the workplace has been spilling out of the closet, conversations about solutions still take place behind closed doors, and often without the input of women working at those companies.
Important decisions about female-friendly policies are still made via invitation-only meetings where management gets to define the problem as they perceive it and determine how success is measured.
The data we collect provides employers with actionable insights they can use to improve the workplace for women and create female-friendly work policies.
InHerSight's scorecard pages bring actionable information to the discussion.
Companies can’t achieve the ideal of equality without useful, actionable information about their culture. For employers who are interested—or blind to—how their corporate culture is perceived by those who experience it every single day, InHerSight gives them insight into the actual issues that matter most to their employees.
Smart employers will use the ratings and in-depth data sets to focus their resources on improving those areas where their employees say the company is falling short, and truthfully promote those practices where workers say the company excels.
The best workplaces for women
Some employers are ahead of the curve, implementing and carrying out policies that benefit working women and meet their needs and wants.
You can see our live list of the best companies for women—as rated by women.
Big change happens one rating at a time
InHerSight is bringing true transparency and frank discussions about gender equality to the forefront. But it’s up to the people who are directly affected by company culture to take control of the conversation by rating their employers —to recognize companies that are doing things right and help guide positive changes at the ones that aren’t.
Constant, ongoing, and measurable feedback en masse will help reshape workplaces for women. And it only gets more powerful as more women rate their employers, tell their stories, and guide the positive changes that they want to see.
Take three minutes and help make workplaces better for women.
Find a female-friendly workplace
If you want to find a company that supports your goals and shares your values, we can match you to a company that suits you.
