Off-Ramps and On-Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success - Hardcover

By documenting the successful efforts of a group of cutting-edge global companies to retain talented women and reintegrate them if they’ve already left, Off-Ramps and On-Ramps answers this critical question. Working closely with companies such as Ernst & Young, Goldman Sachs, Time Warner, General Electric and others, author Sylvia Ann Hewlett identifies what works and why. Based on firsthand experience with these companies, along with extensive data that provides the most comprehensive and nuanced portrait of women's career paths, this book documents the actions forward-thinking companies must take to reverse the female brain drain and ensure their access to talent over the long term.

Legions of professional women step off the career fast track at least once to raise children, care for their 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 reentry, 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 thirty-four leading edge global companies including General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Lehman Brothers, and Time Warner. Spearheaded by Sylvia Ann Hewlett, over the past three years the task force has developed and driven eighteen best-practice models for companies seeking to recruit, retain and reattach talented women. In this book, you’ll find strategies for: