A total of 330 UK-based organisations from a range of industries including housing, financial services, tech and pharmaceuticals, have earned official recognition for driving an inclusive and equitable workplace culture for women.
Top achievers Happy, Abney & Baker Home Care and Support, Unum and Softcat plc each took first place in the Small (10 – 50 employees), Medium (51 – 200 employees), Large (201 – 1000 employees) and Super Large (1000+ employees) size categories respectively.
The list is produced by the UK branch of Great Place To Work – the global authority on workplace culture. The companies on the list are committed to removing barriers to women’s career advancement and creating workplaces where all employees, regardless of gender, can flourish.
To determine the Best Workplaces for Women™ list, Great Place To Work UK administered their research-backed Trust Index™ employee survey and analysed the responses of over 80,000 UK-based female employees, with over 130,000 initially invited to participate. They found that the organisations where women reported a highly positive workplace experience are going above and beyond to ensure fair treatment in terms of pay and benefits, workload stress, and development and promotion opportunities.
The 2024 UK’s Best Workplaces for Women list represents companies whose employees have said they work for a place that is equitable and fair for all. They believe their leaders are committed to ensuring a reasonable balance of women and men across the organisation, and creating sufficient opportunities for female employees to progress in their career as much as their male colleagues.
What made the difference in 2024?
- Representation: The UK’s Best Workplaces for Women are inspiring young women to reach for the top by having more women in leadership positions, as well as actively shining a light on senior female leaders, using their stories to highlight what is possible for others.
- Reward: 83% of women at the Top 5 UK’s Best Workplaces for Women say people at their organisation are “paid fairly for the work they do”, compared to the UK average of 53%.
- Recognition: On average in the UK, women are less likely than men to feel that “everyone has the opportunity to get special recognition” – with just 49% of women responding positively to this statement, compared to 60% of men. The Best Workplaces for Women understand the importance of creating a supportive work environment through peer-to-peer recognition.
Benedict Gautrey, Managing Director of Great Place To Work UK, says: “Workplaces are only great if they’re great for all employees. For seven years, the UK’s Best Workplaces for Women™ List has been paving the way by tackling discrimination, removing barriers to women’s advancement in their careers, and challenging taboos around subjects like the menopause, and endometriosis.
“Importantly, each of the companies on the list have been commended by their own female employees through their anonymous feedback that told us their workplace has gone above and beyond to ensure that women employees are treated fairly in terms of recognition, training, and promotion opportunities.
“It’s fantastic to once again see a wide spread of sectors and organisational sizes appearing on our Best Workplaces for Women™ List this year – congratulations to all!”
