Grant Thornton named one of Working Mother’s Top Companies for Executive Women

CHICAGO — Grant Thornton LLP has been named one of the 2020+ Top Companies for Executive Women by Working Mother Media. This marks the 10^th consecutive year the firm is receiving this recognition.

The 2020+ Top Companies recognition reflects the most definitive list of workplaces for women who want to advance through the corporate ranks. It celebrates companies that champion women’s advancement, with a focus on succession planning, profit-and-loss role, gender pay parity, support programs and work-life balance programs.

“Grant Thornton is dedicated to advancing our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across all areas of the firm,” said Rashada Whitehead, Grant Thornton’s head of culture, diversity, equity and inclusion. “We are building upon the momentum to attract, retain and advance female talent at Grant Thornton. We’re honored that Working Mother has recognized the firm’s commitment over 10 consecutive years, and the work here is just getting started.”

“Because what gets measured gets done, our Top Companies list stresses the number of women in senior positions,” said Betty Spence, president of the National Association for Female Executives. “Most important, we are the only organization that counts women holding revenue-generating operations positions with profit-and-loss responsibility, as those are the jobs that are the path to the top. Companies need to pay attention because that number dropped in the past year, even pre-COVID-19.”

Grant Thornton offers a range of benefits that helped the firm secure its spot among the 2020+ Top Companies for Executive Women. Moreover, the firm has rolled out several recent initiatives specifically to help employees contend with the challenges posed by COVID-19. These benefits include:

• Grant Thornton offers a Women at Grant Thornton & Allies business resource group, which focuses on enhancing the recruitment, retention and advancement of women into leadership positions.
• Grant Thornton offers flexible time off, an industry-leading benefit enhancement that allows employees to take time off as needed to meet their individual needs instead of a predetermined set of paid time off (PTO) days.
• For working parents, Grant Thornton provides paid maternity and paternity leave, telecommuting and flexible work arrangements — including reduced work schedules, compressed work weeks and flexible days. The firm also offers a voluntary “Mentor Parents” program to help guide new parents through their transition back to work from parental leave. Additionally, Grant Thornton offers 30 days of paid backup childcare (the firm provided an additional 15 days to help working parents balance work and childcare obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic).
• Every Grant Thornton colleague has free access to Care@Work’s premium membership through Care.com, which provides Grant Thornton professionals with access to a network of caregivers and other services — including childcare, eldercare, pet care, housekeeping and other resources to support quality of life.
• Grant Thornton is piloting a food-delivery and meal-planning offering to lessen the burden the pandemic is placing on its workforce.

About the methodology
The 2020+ Top Companies application includes more than 200 questions on topics including female representation at all levels, but especially the corporate officer and profit-and-loss leadership ranks. The application, based on 2019 data, tracks and examines how many employees have access to programs and policies that promote advancement of women and how many employees take advantage of them, plus how companies train managers to help women advance. To be considered, companies must have a minimum of two women on their boards of directors, a U.S.-based CEO and at least 1,000 U.S. employees.

About Working Mother Media
Working Mother Media (WMM) is a strategic professional services firm that partners with leading companies to build inclusive talent strategies by providing the tools needed to maximize the business benefits of DE&I. With four decades of expertise in what drives cultures of equity and belonging, powered by a research-based, data-driven understanding of the employee experience, WMM continues to champion a more equitable future. To learn more, visit workingmother.com.

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