Legions of professional women step off the career fast track at least once to raise children, care for elderly parents, or manage other family demands. But when they're ready to step back on track - just a short time later - they hit a wall. On-ramps are few and far between, and the financial penalties for "time out" are punishing. Result? Many women are lost on re-entry, and companies miss the chance to leverage this talent pool.
With talent shortages looming over the next decade, companies must reverse this female brain drain if they hope to beat rivals. But how can companies attract and retain professional women?
Off-Ramps and On-Ramps answers this critical question by documenting the successful efforts of the Hidden Brain Drain Task Force - a group of 34 leading-edge global companies including General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Lehman Brothers, and Time Warner. Spearheaded by Sylvia Ann Hewlett, over the last three years the Task Force has developed and driven 18 best-practice models for companies seeking to recruit, retain, and reattach talented women. In this book, you'll find strategies for:
Off-Ramps and-On Ramps is based on firsthand experience with gold-standard companies and is grounded in extensive new data that provides the most comprehensive and nuanced picture of women's career paths to date. A vital resource, this book smashes a "male competitive model" that has long insisted on smooth, cumulative lock-step careers as a prerequisite for success - to the detriment of ambitious women and talent-hungry companies everywhere.