Opt Out Revolt

As never before, workers are searching for a life that is richer, more balanced, authentic, and challenging. And when they find that their needs can't be met in the traditional workplace, they are taking control and walking away. "The Opt-Out Revolt" delivers the facts behind this growing phenomenon: how the universal need for authenticity, balance, and challenge drives career and life decisions for women and men alike; the critical role gender plays in the patterns of today's careerists; what choices women are making and why; how men's priorities differ from women's and how they affect their career paths; and what the best organizations are doing to stem the flow of talent heading out the door. With research data from the authors' five-year study of over 3,000 professional women and men, and co-published with WorldatWork[registered]/Alliance for Work-Life Progress, this one-of-a-kind look at today's workplace profiles hundreds of modern-day trailblazers who have created Kaleidoscope Careers - defined by personal needs, life values, and a new 21st-century definition of success - inside and out of traditional corporate boundaries. Featuring dozens of examples from leading companies that have achieved remarkable success in turning around this threatening "brain drain" trend, this timely book offers a blueprint for designing a workplace that encourages loyalty, retains talent, and, ultimately improves the health and competitiveness of the organization.