Mass Career Customization: Aligning the Workplace with Today's Nontraditional Workforce

A Podcast with Cathleen Benko, Vice-Chairman and Deloitte's first Managing Principal of Talent.

Cathy Benko

This is clearly a top-of-mind issue at all companies, as the war for talent spreads to more and more industries and occupations; fueling the concern for employee retention - most companies have traditionally used 150 percent of salary as the cost of turnover.  Some experts say that for knowledge-based companies, that figure can be as high as 500%. Ms. Benko readily admits, "Turnover is a huge cost  at multiple levels, attracting, training... One key reason for subscribing to a model like mass career customization is to improve retention  on the employer side and so employees have a better model to fit life into work and work into life." 

Cathy Benko, as Deloitte's first managing principal of talent, is responsible for driving the organization's  commitment  to attract, develop and advance a highly skilled and increasingly divers workforce. In this role, Ms. Benko is leading a pioneering approach to employee engagement and career-life integration called Mass Career Customization, a signature initiative of Deloitte's Talent agenda. Previously, she had dual responsibilities for leading Deloitte Consulting's high technology industry sector and the organization's award winning Women's Initiative. Ms. Benko, also a member of Deloitte's executive committee and the Deloitte Foundation board, is well known for developing innovative business strategy frameworks. Along with Mass Career Customization, she is the author of Connecting the Dots: Aligning Projects and Objectives in Unpredictable Times, published by Harvard Business School Press, 2003. Ms. Benko earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS degree from Ramapo College.

Do You Know Where Your Talent Is? Attracting and Retaining Top Talent (L-R) Geoff Colvin, Fortune Magazine; Judy Pahren, Capital One Financial Corp; Cathy Benko, Deloitte; Kristen Manos, Herman Miller

MASS CAREER CUSTOMIZATION
The six workforce trends that are causing a profound change in how work gets done and careers are built:

1. Knowledge Worker Shortfall.  The shortfall of knowledge workers will expand in the next decade in the face of rising demand. Accelerating retirement of Baby Boomers, lower birth rates, increased competition for skilled workers worldwide, stagnant college graduation rates, and declining competency in basic skills such as writing and math by high school students and even college graduates are all contributing to the impending talent shortage in the knowledge economy. The Employment Policy Foundation estimates that by 2012 there will be a six million person gap in the U.S. between the number of students graduating from college and the number of workers needed to cover job growth and replace retirees.     

2. Changing Family Structures.  Only 17 percent of U.S. households today are traditional, with a husband who works outside of the home and a wife who does not, compared to 63 percent of traditional households in earlier generations.  Other changes, like a declining marriage rate, reduced or delayed childbirth among married couples, and an increase in single-parent families and in dual-career families, has prompted the “end of the lockstep lifestyle.”  

3. More, Better Educated Women. Women, who statistically do not work full time continuously throughout their careers are entering the workforce at a faster pace than ever before. Nearly 60 percent of all college graduates today are women, and they graduate with better grade point averages and more honors than men. Women also comprise half of all law students, nearly half of all medical students, and more than 40 percent of MBAs. More than half of all management jobs today are held by women. The ranks of married women in the workforce has doubled since 1970.

4. Changing Expectations of Men.  Men of all ages are spending more time with their children and running the household than in past decades. Many have reached a point where preserving or increasing their personal time is more appealing than bigger jobs and more money.  Control over their work schedules is a high priority.   A 2006 study by the Association of Executive Search Consultants found that 56 percent of senior executives surveyed would strongly consider refusing a promotion if it meant fewer hours available for their personal lives.  Studies show, however, that very few men take advantage of paternity leaves or other “flex options” because they believe these benefits are intended exclusively meant for women only and that doing so would harm their careers. 

5. Generations X and Y.  Defined as those between 18 and 43 years of age, these demographic groups have high expectations for both personal and work lives. These are the first latchkey kids who often returned from school to an empty house. They are curious and collaborative, but also can be impatient and demanding.  They view a career as a personalized path that meets the individual’s interests and development goals, and includes many diverse work experiences.  They are technologically savvy, adaptable to change, and often eager to work in nontraditional methods and schedules.   . A poll of employees by the Society for Human Resource Management in 2006 found that 75 percent were looking for a new job; of these, 48 percent wanted better career-development opportunities, while only one-third said higher compensation was their chief objective.   

6. Technology. New technologies continue to pave the way for employers and employees to create new options for when, how and where works get done. The explosive growth of broadband has been a major factor in enabling the virtual workplace. In 2000, less than 5 percent of U.S. households had broadband connectivity, but by October 2006 the number had risen to over 76 percent.  Other digital technologies supporting new methods for how and when work gets done include virtual private networks (VPNs), email, instant and text messaging, cellular phones and video-conferencing. And new software applications in business intelligence, business process management and other information management disciplines continue to create exciting new opportunities to accelerate innovation and productivity. The payoff can be substantial. Sun Microsystems, for one, reported cost savings of more than $387 million over four years from a global program involving more than 55 percent of its 35,000 employees. 

Adapted from:  MASS CAREER CUSTOMIZATION: Aligning the Workplace with Today's Nontraditional Workforce; by Cathleen Benko and Anne Weisberg. (Harvard Business School Press, September 2007).
 

Total Picture Radio's coverage of the Fortune Leadership Forum is sponsored by Deloitte & Touche USA, LLP. With access to the deep intellectual capital of 150,000 people worldwide in some 140 countries, Deloitte's member firms serve over 80 percent of the Fortune Global 500. If you crave challenge - in audit, tax, consulting or financial advisory services, visit Deloitte on the web at careers.deloitte.com.

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