“What's in it for me?” is the question on most jobseekers’ lips. They want to work for organisations that reflect their values and offer them the best working environment.

High-performing employees can be selective about where they choose to work. This means that to be competitive organisations need to offer the best to attract the best.

This is why those organisations which are listed in this year’s Top 50 Places Where Women Want to Work have had to prove themselves in five key areas: the opportunities that they provide women; having progressive, transparent cultures; an ability to celebrate diversity; an eagerness to embrace new technology to facilitate work-life balance; and a commitment to being socially responsible.

The Top 50 is only in its second year but has already attracted a lot of attention from organisations across both the public and private sectors. This year the entries were of an exceptionally high standard with many employing an impressive array of recruitment and development initiatives to lure and hang on to their female employees. We saw a quantum leap from last year's inaugural entries in terms of organisations getting much better at telling and selling their stories. They are far more candidate-aware.

We are seeing less bureaucratic language and far more engaging and compelling reasons for talented women to join organisations. This is essential in a candidate-led market.

For many years, organisations have been highly effective at marketing their consumer brands or their business product or service brands but have been less able to clearly articulate their employer brand – their reputation, culture and offerings as an organisation. For many people, job satisfaction is no longer based solely on location and money. There are many additional factors that feature highly, especially in women’s minds, when researching and comparing organisations.

But when women make diligent choices about where to work and choose to work for a leading organisation, their career is likely to flourish and their job satisfaction to be high.

It is important to note that there is no such thing as “companies for women” or “jobs for the girls”. There are, however, some organisations that are clearly more progressive than others, and that is why the Top 50 exists.

We hope that it will make it easier for women to do their homework on prospective employers and to choose one that is right for them based on their needs, interests and lifestyle.

This year’s Top 50 is made up of the UK’s most progressive organisations. Their offerings are impressive their work challenging and meaningful, and their cultures exciting. These are the Top 50 organisations where women want to work.

Glenda Stone is the CEO of Aurora and Carol Lewis is the editor of Career at The Times

Times Recommends

• Inspirational leadership
• How to get a new job
• The reluctant CEO