We’ve recently been named to the Working Mother 2008 100 Best Companies. We’re honored because Working Mother is known as the premier source for celebrating America’s family-friendly leaders. In fact, Carol Evans, CEO and Founder of Working Mother Media, had to say this about Dell:
“In this sluggish economy, many employers are controlling costs by cutting back on family-friendly policies—but not the 2008 Working Mother 100 Best Companies. From flextime and telecommuting to backup child care and parental leave, our 100 Best Companies have made work/life balance a top priority for working moms and dads. This year, Dell won a place on our list for the first time. I am so proud to welcome Dell to the Working Mother 100 Best Companies."
Companies making the list were selected based on an extensive application with more than 500 questions. Seven areas were measured and scored: workforce profile, compensation, child care, flexibility, time off and leaves, family-friendly programs, and company culture. For this year’s 100 Best, particular weight was given to family-friendly policies, flexibility, leave policies and benefits for part-timers.
Dell performed well in the areas of family-friendly policies, work-life initiatives, compensation and childcare benefits. During the past year, Dell has launched several programs for our working-family employees including dependent care, college coaching and wellness programs. We are also implementing flexible work solutions. These efforts underscore our commitment to providing solutions to help working women and families excel at work and at home.
While we’ll celebrate this achievement with our employees today, our diversity efforts are always unfinished business at Dell.
Dell recognizes diversity and inclusion efforts not only as a business imperative and responsibility but also an opportunity. These efforts help us attract and retain the best talent and help us work with an increasingly diverse customer base. Dell’s efforts to make diversity a business differentiator led us to create our Global Diversity Council, chaired by Michael Dell.
My congratulations to the Dell team for all they do to make Dell a great place to work. For more information on Dell’s diversity efforts visit www.dell.com/values.
Update from Lionel: Gil shares his thoughts in this vlog below.