Consulting's top employers for women 2023
More than 20 consulting firms have been named as great places to work for women in the UK. The independent ranking by the Great Place to Work Institute used anonymous employee surveys to list more than 200 organisations in total.
For more than four decades the Great Place To Work Institute has been polling employees on the practices of their bosses. It then compiles numerous lists – from the best overall workplaces, to the leading employers for diversity, to surveying thousands of organisations, with input from staff collected to reveal best practice employment practices among businesses around the world.
As Great Place To Work sought to gain insight into which companies are doing best job in recruiting and developing women, it polled 70,000 women in 2023. Companies that stood out were included in the UK’s Best Workplaces for Women 2023 list with 21 consulting firms landing a spot in the prestigious list.
The consulting sector is often well-represented in the annual list, as it often champions the impact of gender diversity on organisational success. For example, studies by McKinsey & Company suggest that more balanced gender diversity in the boardroom and management ranks tend to outperform companies with a worse gender balance. In addition, women leaders have been found to bring unique perspectives and are more likely than their male counterparts to advocate publicly for equality.
Company size: 1,000+ employees
Baringa
Headquarters: London
Founded: 2000
Services: Management Consulting
Number of employees: 1,000+
Version1
Headquarters: London
Founded: 1996
Services: IT Solutions
Number of employees: 3.000
Capgemini
Headquarters: Woking
Founded: 1967
Services: IT Solutions
Number of employees: 9.700+
Deloitte
Headquarters: London
Founded: 1845
Services: Management Consulting
Number of employees: 26.000
Sopra Steria
Headquarters: Hemel Hempstead
Founded: 1968
Services: Consulting, digital Services & software
Number of employees: ~2.700
Accenture
Headquarters: Dublin
Founded: 1989
Services: Management Consulting, Technology
Number of employees: 721.000
Atos
Headquarters: London
Founded: 2000
Services: IT Solutions
Number of employees: 110.000
Company size: 200 – 1,000 employees
Credera
Headquarters: London
Founded: 1989
Services: IT Management Consulting
Number of employees: 298
Slalom
Headquarters: London
Founded: 1993
Services: Consulting, technology, business transformation
Number of employees: 473
Company size: 50 – 200 employees
Silver Cloud HR
Headquarters: Essex
Founded: 2009
Services: Digital transformation consultancy
Number of employees: 48
Uptake Strategies
Headquarters: Ascot
Founded: 2014
Services: Healthcare consultancy
Number of employees: 60
The Berkeley Partnership
Headquarters: London
Founded: 1990
Services: Management Consultancy
Number of employees: 129
Ayming
Headquarters: London
Founded: 1986
Services: Business Performance Consultancy
Number of employees: 68
Rimini Street
Headquarters: London
Founded: 2005
Services: IT Solutions
Number of employees: 158
Channel 3 Consulting
Headquarters: London
Founded: 2009
Services: Digital Health Transformation
Number of employees: 75
PEN Partnership
Headquarters: London
Founded: 2012
Services: Management Consultancy
Number of employees: 64
Company size: 20 – 50 employees
LACE Partners
Headquarters: London
Founded: 2014
Services: HR Consultancy, HR Transformation
Number of employees: 47
Enfuse Group
Headquarters: London
Founded: 2016
Services: Management Consultancy
Number of employees: 34
Moore Insight
Headquarters: Sheffield
Founded: 1991
Services: Digital Transformation
Number of employees: 35
Valiantys
Headquarters: London
Founded: 2006
Services: IT Consultancy
Number of employees: 40
Momentum Transport Consultancy
Headquarters: London
Founded: 2012
Services: Transport Consultancy
Number of employees: 47
What sets leaders apart
But what does it take to make the list? According to Great Place To Work, exceptional workplaces for women are usually organisations which work to redefine workplace culture, set new standards for gender equality and inclusion, and embed those changes both in culture and policy. They also deploy workplace priorities aimed to aid the success and wellbeing of their female employees; from robust talent development programmes to fair pay and benefits.
Illustrating this, 80% of respondents in the top five best workplaces for women agreed that “promotions go to those who best deserve them”. That might sound straightforward – but only 47% of women working at an average UK company report the same feeling. At the same time, 85% of women in the top five employers believed they were given the right opportunities to develop – in stark contrast to the UK average of just 61%.
Meanwhile, women in the top five feel like they are empowered to make the most of both their training and position at the firm. A nine-in-10 majority say they are given meaningful opportunities to innovate – which in turn gives their employer the advantage of leveraging increased ideas and innovation from women than most other companies.
Looking at these examples, the researchers suggest a number of best practices employers can deploy to better support women in the workplace. This chiefly involves a kind and respectful work environment, which has helped top performers already ensure staff are aware of the significance of treating one another with respect, and viewing unmet targets as opportunities for reflection rather than blame. At the same time, top operators ensure that all managers – including women working in non-executive managerial roles – have high levels of workload support to avoid these colleagues from becoming too thinly stretched.
These factors can help boost the number of women in line for leadership promotions – supporting them to grow into senior roles, rather than pushing them out of firms early in their careers. Coupling this with strategic policies to promote women into leadership positions – something many leading performers do – will also boost this; with top employers offering dedicated leadership development initiatives to staff – and working to eliminate “unconscious bias” from the interviewing process.
At present, these practices mean the five best workplaces for women currently employ 10% more women in leadership positions than they did in 2020. An unprecedented 63% of leadership positions at the top five are now awarded to women – showing the major changes that can be achieved in just a few years when companies put their minds to it.