Cardinal Health Named One of the "Top 50 Companies for Executive Women" by NAFE

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Mar 03, 2015, 08:30 ET

DUBLIN, Ohio, March 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardinal Health has been named one of the 2015 "NAFE Top Companies for Executive Women" by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), which honors American corporations that identify and promote successful women.

"We're counting the numbers of women in senior management at America's top companies and are happy to find that companies are responding to the competition," says Dr. Betty Spence, NAFE President. "The 2015 NAFE Top Companies demonstrate their understanding that having women in top executive posts increases the bottom line."

Compared with last year's list, findings for the 2015 NAFE Top 50 Companies reveal that:

The percentage of women who hold board seats at the 2015 NAFE Top Companies grew to 29% from 27% last year.
Forty percent of top earners at the 2015 NAFE Top 50 are women, up from 35% last year.
Half of the winning companies now have four or more women board directors; at the NAFE Top 50, 29% of board members are women, compared with just 19% at the S&P 500.
Fifty-eight percent of the 2015 NAFE Top Companies now offer sponsorship programs, compared with 42% in 2013; 98% offer job rotations, up from 80% two years ago.
Female representation at the CEO level held steady at 10% over the last four years at NAFE Top Companies—that's twice the percentage at the Fortune 500.

Subha Barry, Vice President and General Manager, Working Mother Media, says, "This year's winners work hard to nurture corporate cultures that advance and promote women. Top companies continue to support advancement programs; the percentage of companies that offer job rotation, succession planning and career counseling increased from 2014."

This is the fourth consecutive year that Cardinal Health has been named to the list. The full list of this year's winners is posted on workingmother.com and nafe.com.

"Cardinal Health believes that an emphasis on diversity and inclusion helps ensure we have the best talent, fosters innovation and ultimately creates competitive advantage," said George Barrett, chairman and chief executive officer of Cardinal Health. "We remain committed to advancing women in leadership as a key component of reaching our business objectives.

About the Methodology

The 2015 NAFE Top Companies application includes more than 200 questions on female representation at all levels, especially the corporate officer and profit-and-loss ranks. The vetting process includes tracking access and usage of programs and policies that promote the advancement of women as well as the training and accountability of managers in relation to the number of women who advance. In order to be eligible for the NAFE Top Companies survey, entrants must have a minimum of 1,000 employees, two women on the Board of Directors and be a public or private company. NAFE also separately names the Top 10 companies in the non-profit sector.

About NAFE:
The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), founded in 1972, serves 20,000 members nationwide 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, community for women in business and access to member benefits. NAFE is a division of Working Mother Media, owned by the Bonnier Corporation.

About Cardinal Health
Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a $91 billion health care services company that improves the cost-effectiveness of health care. As the business behind health care, Cardinal Health helps pharmacies, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories and physician offices focus on patient care while reducing costs, enhancing efficiency and improving quality. Cardinal Health is an essential link in the health care supply chain, providing pharmaceuticals and medical products and services to more than 100,000 locations each day and is also the industry-leading direct-to-home medical supplies distributor. The company is a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products, including gloves, surgical apparel and fluid management products. In addition, the company operates the nation's largest network of radiopharmacies that dispense products to aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of disease. Ranked #22 on the Fortune 500, Cardinal Health employs 34,000 people worldwide. More information about the company may be found at www.cardinalhealth.com and @CardinalHealth on Twitter.