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Promote Flexible Career Paths

Fully two-thirds of highly-qualified women
(those with graduate degrees, professional degrees, or high honors undergraduate degrees)
have discontinuous or non-linear careers.
 
                                        -Off-Ramps and On-Ramps, Harvard Business School Press, 2007
 
 
 

 

Preference for Current Employer

Flexible Career Paths at Deloitte

 
Management at Deloitte, in an effort to address retention of key talent, took notice of significant research:
  • Those who are retained at critical career points are loyal
  • Those who leave are usually lost for good
  • Flexibility payback is an engaged and loyal workforce

 As a result, Deloitte developed its career management framework, "Mass Career Customization (MCC)," which describes one of its primary goals as "keeping talented employees connected."    

 
This flexible career approach:
  • provides a solution for career-life integration
  • sustains long-term relationships with high performing employees
  • creates alternatives to an all or nothing career
  • ensures more elasticity in career paths
Employees prefer to stay with one employer if that organization reflects their values and delivers on their expectations, according to research conducted by the Institute for the Future and Catalyst. The majority of women who have invested in their careers would prefer paths that allow them to sustain their careers and manage their family responsibilities.
 
"More than twice as many people would prefer job mobility within a single company
as would choose career advancement in the open market."
- 2004 joint study by Deloitte and the Institute for the Future
 
Women don't Off Ramp because they have lost their ambition. A recent study shows that there is no difference between young women with and without children in their desire to move to jobs with more responsibility. (National Study of the Changing Workforce 2009) A career break is not always the preferred path; it is often the result of a forced choice between two extremes. Flexible career path options offer alternatives to Off Ramping, allow an individual to stay connected to their employer, and provide future advancement opportunities.
 
 
Increased Loyalty
When employees are given the flexibility to successfully manage their professional and personal lives, their loyalty to the organization increases drastically. Ellen Galinsky of the Families and Work Institute says,
 
"If you give your employees an inch, they will return a mile." 
 
Ask the Critical Questions
Does everyone need a job that is the same "size" in terms of work hours? 
 
Does everyone complete the same amount of work in the same amount of time?
 
What other options are available?
 
 
Provide Career Path Options
Many professionals across industries seek options for managing their personal and professional lives. They want sustainable careers with a pace that allows them quality in their lives. For years, many women without options “hit the wall” and Off Ramped (left paid employment) altogether but found the On Ramp (re-entry) process was very steep. Today’s technologies offer a host of options for working in various capacities during the “crunch” years of childrearing and professional growth.
 
  • Roles: A truly adaptive organization will offer various career options that may look very different from the traditional career ladder. For some, those options will include reduced hours. Many other individuals seek roles with more predictable workflow or that offer more control over when or where work gets done. Sometimes these arrangements are short-term, while others may choose this as a longer term approach to their career. 
  • Career Breaks: Sometimes an extended leave of absence or a career break (several years off) may be needed. Organizations should offer the means for those individuals to stay connected to their employers in meaningful ways, including continued training and interaction with cohorts. This allows the organization to retain their investment over the long term and make the On Ramp process most effective. 
  • Advancement: While the pace of career advancement may be affected when choosing these non-linear options, these paths should NOT preclude advancement in the organization.
 
Provide the Tools 
Employees need the tools to define their careers within the parameters of the organization. Organizations need options clearly defined by role, advancement opportunity, compensation, and benefits. Those options need to be supported by managers trained in diversity, the business case for flexible work, and how to manage employees working flexibly.
 
 

“Even today, when 46% of the U.S. workforce is made up of women and 81% of women have children by age 44,

most good jobs in the U.S. (those with good benefits and pay and opportunities for advancement) are

designed around the ideal of a worker who is available for and devoted to work 24/7, with no domestic responsibilities.”

                                                                                                                        Corporate Voices for Working Families, 2009

 

To determine the best approach for developing flexible career paths in your organization, please refer to NLC Services.

 
 
Elements of a Flexible Workplace:

Retention of Key Contributors     Flexible Career Paths     Effective Work-Life Programs     Culture of Agility