The Next Stage in Diversity Awareness

Career diversity is all about the different motivations and values that employees
bring to work. We at The FutureWork Institute have identified five basic career
archetypes. Towers Perrin tested them on almost 6,000 people, and we
interviewed a number of people to discover the underlying motivations of each
of these archetypical approaches to work. We have presented our findings on
an ongoing basis to hundreds of workers in scores of companies. Most could
easily identify with one specific archetype at this stage of their career.

They described what it was like from the inside: what excites them about their
job, what drives them crazy.

They told many stories of having to submerge their primary archetype at work
to fit in better with a company’s “one size fits all” work culture.

They talked about the discretionary effort they could give their work if only they
were managed in a way consonant with their preferred way of relating to work.

Career diversity connects diversity and respect for individual differences with the business of the company. It takes a business-specific approach to diversity; no longer simply a “good thing to do” but a business necessity in any knowledge-based enterprise. It is the ultimate inclusion: it encompasses everyone.

At a time when workers’ discretionary effort spells the difference between
mediocrity and success for a business, understanding and using the insights
of career diversity is a most powerful motivator of talent.