The National Association For Female Executives names Roche Diagnostics one of the 2019 “Top 70 Companies For Executive Women”

NEW YORK, NY, March 5, 2019—

Roche Diagnostics has been named one of the 2019 NAFE Top Companies for Executive Women by the National Association for Female Executives. NAFE and Working Mother continue to explore what keeps women from the top while highlighting the successes at these trailblazing companies.

This list recognizes U.S. corporations where there is a strong focus on best practices that demonstrate effectiveness in moving women to senior ranks, including mentoring, sponsorship, involvement in employee-resource groups and leadership-development training. The list also highlights company benefits, including flexibility, corporate culture, and CEO involvement in advancing women. The NAFE Top 70 Companies, released today, is featured in the April/May issue of Working Mother. The full report on this year’s winners is listed here. 

We’re thrilled to be recognized as a NAFE Top Company for Executive Women for the third year in a row, said Bridget Boyle, Vice President and Site Head, Human Resources, Roche Diagnostics. Roche is committed to creating exceptional experiences for women in our workforce by providing development and networking opportunities, mentoring and sponsoring programs, flexibility and competitive pay and benefits.

“In 2019, a woman’s journey up the corporate ladder still differs from a man’s, but the Top Companies stand out in their application of remedies,” says NAFE president Dr. Betty Spence. “They are models of how to progressively move women into senior roles, as reflected in their strong representation in the leadership ranks.”

“The 2019 NAFE Top Companies continue to tell a progressive story about what organizations are doing to move women up into executive positions,” says Subha V. Barry, president of Working Mother Media. “While the results are encouraging, there is still much work to do. There are still too few women serving as CEOs, managing large asset portfolios, and seated on boards of directors, but the NAFE Top Companies are paving the way for the advancement of women."

Highlights of the 2019 NAFE Top 70 Companies include:

• Female representation among CEOs at the NAFE Top 70 companies increased five percentage points to 19 percent this year, outpacing the S&P 500 at 4.7 percent.
• The percentage of women on the boards of directors at the NAFE Top 70 companies increased two points to 32 percent, up from 30 percent in 2018. S&P 500 held steady year over year at 21 percent.
• Female executives responsible for divisions worth more than $1 billion increased from 21 percent to 26 percent in the past year.

Methodology:

The 2019 NAFE Top 70 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 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 Roche

Roche is a global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics focused on advancing science to improve people’s lives. The combined strengths of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics under one roof have made Roche the leader in personalized healthcare – a strategy that aims to fit the right treatment to each patient in the best way possible.

Roche is the world’s largest biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and diseases of the central nervous system. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management.

Founded in 1896, Roche continues to search for better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases and make a sustainable contribution to society. The company also aims to improve patient access to medical innovations by working with all relevant stakeholders. Thirty medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organization Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and cancer medicines. Moreover, for the tenth consecutive year, Roche has been recognised as the most sustainable company in the Pharmaceuticals Industry by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI).

The Roche Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is active in over 100 countries and in 2018 employed about 94,000 people worldwide. In 2018, Roche invested CHF 11 billion in R&D and posted sales of CHF 56.8 billion. Genentech, in the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information, please visit www.roche.com.

About NAFE

The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), founded in 1972, serves members with networking, tools, and solutions to strengthen and grow their careers and businesses. Working Mother magazine publishes the annual NAFE Top Companies list. NAFE.com provides up-to-date information, a community for women in business, and access to member benefits. NAFE is a division of Working Mother Media, owned by Bonnier Corporation.