The Corporate Lattice: Achieving High Performance in the Changing World of Work June 15, 2010

The Corporate Lattice
Achieving High Performance in the Changing World of Work

Authors: Cathleen Benko, Molly Anderson
ISBN-13: 978-0-07-021866-6
ISBN-10: 0070218668
©2010 | 1st Edition | 224 pages , Hardcover
Pub Date: August 2010
Price: US$ 24.95

The workplace isn’t what it used to be—and neither is the workforce.
Today’s companies have fewer hierarchical layers. The nature of work is also more virtual, collaborative, and transparent than at any previous time. Information flows move every which way, shifting from top-down to all-in. And the workforce is forever altered too. Sweeping changes in expectations across backgrounds, experiences, generations, and gender are challenging long-held, inflexible beliefs of the relationship between work and life—and the very meaning of success.

These transformations, observe Cathy Benko and Molly Anderson, are also upending the ways people advance along their career paths. Careers zig and zag. Work is what you do, not where you go. The traditional corporate ladder, firmly rooted in the industrial era, proffers a one-size-fits-all view of the world of work. In this book, the authors argue convincingly that a lattice model is better suited for today’s global business environment.

The Corporate Lattice provides a framework to scale options for how careers are built, how work is done, and how participation is fostered. The corporate lattice model offers leaders a strategic approach to making the most of the shifting landscape by:

• Recognizing that there is no longer a universal view of success but rather a multiplicity of ways to grow and contribute.
• Challenging traditional models that pit high performance and career-life fit as opposing forces.
• Providing a cost-effective, systematic method to deliver more individualized and engaging work experiences.

Offering much more than theory, the authors illustrate the lattice model using rich, in-depth case studies of exemplars including Cisco, Deloitte LLP, and Thomson Reuters. They also explore the changing role each individual plays in directing his or her own lattice journey.

As businesses are challenged to scale economies of innovation and flexibility, investing for the future using yesteryear’s corporate ladder blueprint is futile. The Corporate Lattice teaches organizations how to adapt to the changing world and reveals why lattice organizations are both more productive—and profitable.

Publicity

• Bloomberg BusinessWeek.com:  New Business Titles, Nov. 4

About the Author

Cathy Benko is the Chief Talent Officer responsible for driving the Deloitte?s strategy to attract, develop and advance a highly skilled workforce. She is also leading a pioneering approach to employee engagement called Mass Career Customization, a signature initiative of the Deloitte U.S. Firms’ Talent agenda. Cathy coauthored the best-selling book Mass Career Customization: Aligning the Workplace with Today’s Nontraditional Workforce (Harvard Press, September 2007) and is the author of Deloitte’s Change at Work blog which covers life, work and everything in between.

A respected and accomplished strategy consultant, Cathy specializes in driving transformational change. She is also active in the marketplace as the lead client service principal for an Office of the Chief Executive Officer (OCEO) client. Prior to her appointment as chief talent officer, Cathy led Deloitte Consulting LLP’s (Deloitte Consulting’s) high-technology industry sector and previously held the position of global e-Business leader for Deloitte Consulting. She previously coauthored Connecting the Dots: Aligning Projects and Objectives in Unpredictable Times (Harvard Press 2003).

In recognition of her professional skill and achievement, Cathy has been named one of the “25 Most Influential Consultants” as well as a “Frontline Leader” by Consulting Magazine. Cathy is also the recipient of Consulting Magazine’s inaugural “Leadership Achievement Award for Women Leaders in Consulting.” She has also been recognized several times by both Women in Technology International (WITI) and The SF Business Times, which named her as one of the most influential women in the Bay Area for the past five years. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Deloitte U.S. Firms and the Deloitte Foundation Board, as well as Catalyst’s West Coast Advisory Board and the Board and Executive Committee of the Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Northern California.

Table of Comtents

1. The Corporate Lattice
2. The Changing World of Work
3. Lattice Ways to Build Careers
4. Lattice Ways to Work
5. Lattice Ways to Participate
6. Lattice Journeys
7. The Individual’s Guide to the Shifting Landscape