Companies

${ company.text }

Be the first to rate this company   Not rated   ${ company.score } stars     ${ company.industry}     ${ company.headquarters}

Articles

${ getArticleTitle(article) }

Topics

${ tag.display_name }

Community

${ getCommunityPostText(community_post) }

Contributors

${ contributor.full_name }

${ contributor.short_bio }

Jobs For Employers

Join InHerSight's growing community of professional women and get matched to great jobs and more!

Sign up now

Already have an account? Log in ›

  1. Blog
  2. Research

3 Things Women Want Most from Their Employers

The true definition of “female-friendly” benefits might surprise you.

By InHerSight

You’ve probably heard about some unusual company perks aimed at attracting and retaining female talent. Women have been promised fertility benefits, in-office manicures and massage, and even “flying nannies” for executives on the go. While these offers may sound innovative, our research shows that companies that stretch to imagine what women want are missing the mark.

At InHerSight, we asked more than 15,000 women to choose from a list of 14 factors what’s most important to them at work. Want to guess what women most want from a company? (Hint: It's not maternity leave.)

Here are the top three must-haves for working women:

Paid Time Off

The most attractive benefit for women is a good paid time-off package. Women want the ability to manage their own work-life balance without having to fit into specific life-stage definitions such as maternity or family leave.

As a junior leader..., I feel extremely supported and empowered to take risks, take time for myself, and prioritize my workload to meet business needs without burning myself out. We work extremely hard, but we also get lots of vacation time and flex work opportunities.”

Anonymous rater on DonorsChoose.org's InHerSight page

Salary Satisfaction

Plain and simple: women want to be compensated well for the work they do. With Equal Pay Day right around the corner (April 12), we’ll all be reminded of the work that still needs to be done to achieve pay equity. But another important piece of the puzzle is making sure that women feel satisfied with the compensation they receive for the work they produce.

...it seems that salaries are based on hard working, performing, and seniority, not gender.”

Anonymous rater on Dell's InHerSight page

Long hours and high expectations but manageable with the right boss, and salary is commensurate with effort in my opinion, which makes it worthwhile.”

Anonymous rater on Amazon's InHerSight page

Great Co-Workers

After Microsoft’s recent GDC party misstep (to put it mildly), it’s good to remind everyone that our interactions with our colleagues and the social environments cultivated by companies have a huge impact on how we feel about our employer. And while we won’t name names here, from small companies to large, women are reporting that there’s still a lot of work to be done in this department, citing uncomfortable work environment, boys’ clubs, and more.

Benefits Less Likely to Delight

See the full infographic here .

So, what so-called “female friendly” perks are least sought by women? On-site child care and lactation rooms are actually among the least sought-after perks. These types of benefits have a narrow appeal in large part because they fit just a small segment of the working women population.

Despite a well-documented need for more women at the tops of organizations, women-focused mentorship initiatives also rate low among desirable benefits. Perhaps that’s because, as our raters tell us, companies are doing a poor job of delivering such sponsorship programs.

Finally, company-organized social activities, such as happy hours, game rooms, and group outings also fall low on the wish list for women workers.

What Our Insights Tell Us

Perhaps these results are not so surprising after all.

Taken together, our data indicate that women are not looking for employers to answer their specific needs--whether for family-raising, socializing, or creating work-life balance. Rather, women seek companies that provide them with the choice, the flexibility--the tools--to fashion their own lives as they see fit.

And everyday, with every new piece of information that raters contribute at InHerSight.com, we take another step closer to both showing women where to find those sought-after tools and to showing companies how to improve workplaces for women. Join the effort — rate your company today!

About our expert${ getPlural(experts) }

About our author${ getPlural(authors) }

Share this article

Don't Miss Out

Create a free account to get unlimited access to our articles and to join millions of women growing with the InHerSight community

Looks like you already have an account!
Click here to login ›

Invalid email. Please try again!

Sign up with a social account or...

If you already have an account, click here to log in. By signing up, you agree to InHerSight's Terms and Privacy Policy

Success!

You now have access to all of our awesome content

Looking for a New Job?

InHerSight matches job seekers and companies based on millions of workplace ratings from women. Find a job at a place that supports the kinds of things you're looking for.