Kimberly-Clark, Texas Instruments Score Spots on Working Mother's Top Companies List

Two Dallas-Fort Worth companies earned spots on this year's Working Mother magazine's top 100 list for helping employees balance work and family life.Irving-based Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Dallas-based Texas Instruments Inc. were the only locally-based companies to make the list. It's the first year for Kimberly-Clark, while Texas Instruments has been in the ranking for 20 years.Other companies with large North Texas operations or divisions also appear on the list, including Capital One, Deloitte, EY, JLL, JPMorgan Chase and Verizon.Working Mother cited Kimberly-Clark's support for flexible work arrangements, paid leave and child care programs, and advancement opportunities for women. The company also earned praise for its $10,000 adoption-aid benefit and annual baby showers.About 35 percent of its managers and executives are women.Kimberly-Clark commodity manager Rose Van Himbergen also was recognized as the magazine's working mother of the year for leading the company's Parents Interactive Network, an employee resource group that assists parents and guardians to balance work and home life, enhance their careers, and add value to the business.At Texas Instruments, flexible work arrangements are part of the semiconductor company's DNA, according to Working Mother. About 20 percent of the company's managers and executives are women.TI office workers can adjust their hours or work from home. Manufacturing employees tend to put in 12-hour days then take off several days in a row. The company also hosts multiple parenting networks and dependent-care discussion groups.Companies are judged based on responses to more than 400 questions on leave policies, workforce representation, benefits, child care, advancement programs and flexibility policies. Working Mother says its survey not only measures availability and usage of work-life programs, but also the accountability of managers.  Continue reading...