without the structure and support of the MCC framework.
These choices range from turning down a promotion (Pace)
to care for an elderly parent to reducing the number of hours
worked each week (Workload) to fit with childcare responsibilities. Some, particularly women, have stepped out of the
workforce completely, while others have moved from one organization to another, searching for that elusive career-life fit.
Many cases of informal MCC appear at first to be unusually
well-managed sequences of FWAs. In retrospect, however,
they turn out to be seat-of-the-pants progressions that happened to work out well. Relatively few individuals are able to
navigate multiple steps off and back on either a career ladder
or informal lattice over several to many years.
The example of one employee, Tina, is a good illustration
of how informal MCC occurs in many enterprises. Tina’s case
is typical in marking a progression of one-off FWA negotia-
reer dimensions and making these part of discussions between
supervisors and employees.
The Option Value of MCC
With the MCC framework, employees collaborate with their
employers to create real options—whether or not they ever
take advantage of these options. Knowing they have options
and seeing others pursuing their own objectives is a strong inducement for employees to stay in a continuous relationship
with their employer—and for sought-after recruits to sign on.
We believe countless high-performing, high-potential employees who opted out or in other ways underperformed relative to
their potential could have been retained and engaged if the customized career option had been visible and viable.
Solving the misalignment between the workplace and the
“Drawing on the success of mass product
customization for inspiration, MCC delivers
distinct competitive advantage.”
tions that happened to work out well and, indeed, includes several features of the MCC framework. That said, it is a look
back through the rear-view mirror of a best-case FWA scenario, not an illustration of the road we envision ahead.
Think of Tina’s career journey as a pseudo-sine wave with
rising and falling phases along a baseline, which over time
rises steadily as she advances in her personally calibrated
blend of career and family life. This process negotiated and
navigated by Tina and her supervisors over more than a decade
enabled Tina to expand her professional skills and experience
at a pace that meshed with her family priorities. She also established a foundation for 30 years or more of future professional
growth and rewards.
new realities of today’s nontraditional workforce is an urgent
priority for all C-level executives. The corporate-lattice organization, grounded in the MCC framework, is a comprehensive solution, delivering both immediate options and
far-sighted planning for employees. For the enterprise, improving employee retention leads to significant savings in the
HR and operational budgets. A high rate of employee retention is also fundamental for improving customer service, customer retention and, ultimately, revenues, as well as achieving
growth projections.
Solving the “my life doesn’t fit into my work and my work
doesn’t fit into my life” conundrum is a lofty goal for both employer and employee. MCC offers a compelling answer that
does just that.
Managing Trade-Offs
We know that some executives and managers will have serious doubts about implementing MCC. Won’t everyone opt for
part-time schedules or no-travel provisions? How will we meet
our business needs? A series of MCC pilot programs proves
these fears to be off the mark. Many participants, especially
younger employees, were interested in dialing up, to advance
further and faster. The results underscored the importance of
understanding the interdependence and trade-offs between ca-
* U.S. Census Bureau, “Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers, 1961-2000,” Current Population
Reports (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 2005). The report notes a
dramatic increase in married women with children in the workforce between 1970 and 1990.
** Ellen Galinsky, James T. Bond, and E. Jeffrey Hill, When
Work Works: A Status Report on Workplace Flexibility (New
York: Families and Work Institute, 2004), 4-25.
