Congratulations Lincoln Electric!
As background, awardees of Forbe's "The World’s Top Female Friendly Companies" were chosen among multinational corporations that were evaluated in multiple globally administered independent surveys of approximately 85,000 women, who provided 750,000 data points in 40 countries.
Participants were not recruited via companies themselves, but participation was strictly anonymous through online panels. Thus, each woman could openly state her opinion, while avoiding outside or social pressures.
The ranking is based on three scores:
1. Employees Score
a) Direct recommendations: Women were asked to rate how their employer performs across a series of gender-related topics (e.g., “Men and women have the same opportunities for advancement”). In addition, they were asked to rate their overall willingness to recommend their employer and give their assessment of their employer across other, more general, workplace satisfaction questions.
b) Indirect recommendations: Women were prompted to evaluate other employers in their respective industries that stood out either positively or negatively.
2. Public Opinion Score
A women-only public opinion survey measured how women perceive companies in terms of gender equality. A company’s public image can be affected by advertising campaigns, gender-related scandals, public-awareness efforts, etc.
3. Leadership Score
Objective criteria (i.e., the presence of a female CEO and the share of board/executive committee positions filled by women) were gathered via extensive desk research. (We have 3 female board members among our 11 independent directors.)
For more information on the methodology, please see the attached document from Forbes.