Deloitte & Touche USA is angling to be an exception. In response to higher turnover for women employees, the company launched a series of women's initiatives.

In the '90s, the company held a series of workshops on men and women as colleagues. The sessions helped erase some of the unease and misunderstandings between the sexes on the job. But they didn't stop there. The workplace today, they recognized, demanded a different career ladder, and so they now speak of a "career lattice."

Workers can choose to "dial up" their careers or "dial down," as personal situations demand, explained Barbara Adachi, national managing principal for the Women's Initiative. She spoke today at the Central Exchange.

Given options, the floodgates of "dial down" didn't open. So far, only 3 percent of employees chose to dial down, while 6 percent asked to work harder and progress faster.

Every employee _ women and men _ will eventually be asked to complete a "mass career customization" form where they will plot themselves in four categories: pace (for career progression), workload; location/schedule (indicating ability to travel for work), role (pursuit of positions and responsibilities.)

The "up or out" culture is past, Adachi said. Instead, the customized culture that lets us choose our coffee style, ring tones and sneakers, is migrating to the workplace. "Why not customize my career?"

Why not, indeed?

Deloitte & Touche reports greater productivity, decreased cost of employee churn and increased loyalty. The two-year pilot results did not get stuck in "analysis-paralysis." Deloitte will continue the rollout throught its U.S. workforce in the next year, with plans to add workers in India the following year.

For more information, click here.