A career customisation: effects on women's and men’s careers
Today’s workforce is comprised of individual women and men, dual earners and single parents, many of whom must balance career and care responsibilities. The traditional fulltime commitment no longer meets the needs of such a workforce. The EU-funded project GENDERMASSCAREER examined the ways in which more flexible career models can foster employee equality, wellbeing and productivity. By providing an alternative to the traditional "up or out" ladder system, highly qualified professionals are more likely to be retained. In a career customised approach within a major professional accounting firm in the Netherlands, a survey was conducted at annual intervals over a period of three years. Employees were able to customise their job according to the dimensions of pace, location, workload and responsibility. In essence the ladder was replaced by a more intricate lattice. Various subjective and objective career consequences of customisation in the context of the traditional organisational culture and structure were revealed. In terms of flexibility there is a stigma towards fathers who chose to dial down their work dimensions. The need to create a more supportive work environment in order to retain highly talented professionals can be achieved through supervisor support and training in career customisation. These findings are significant for companies as well as policy makers in order to implement a more flexible approach to careers.
