El Segundo, Calif., Aug. 1, 2006 — Career Partners, an executive talent management and human capital deployment firm, has begun operations in Southern California. The new company provides women who have “opted-out” of their executive careers to devote their full time as mothers or other roles a new option that enables them to return to their executive job while maintaining their personal life responsibilities.

Anticipating a skilled labor shortage by 2010 and a threatened supply of competent, effective corporate leaders, Career Partners targets untapped and overlooked labor pools such as the executive women opt-out market. “37% of professional women will voluntarily leave their jobs, many for family reasons,” says Sylvia Ann Hewlett of the Center for Work Life Policy. Many of these women take with them advanced degrees and invaluable experience employers need.

Executive mothers typically work 60-plus hour weeks and can become unmotivated due to unbalanced corporate cultures. Often they choose to “off-ramp” their careers, only to later find significant barriers to “on-ramping” or returning to the workforce. Alternatively, they step back in their careers, accepting less meaningful work, responsibility and pay in return for the flexibility they require.

Using an advanced personality-type and leadership assessment process, Career Partners matches pairs of high-achievers for single leadership roles. The resulting joint-leadership team manages people, organizations, budgets, etc., just as individual leaders do, with the ability to spend only half their time at the office, and the other half taking care of their children or other personal responsibilities.

“By tapping into this unique talent pool and using advanced matching technology, we provide companies with two flexible and experienced executives to share a single leadership role,” said Kelly Watson, founder and president of Career Partners. “Together, they can share leadership – and the time required – by working as one. Companies win because they get two smart, flexible, mature leaders in one role, leaders who have honed their management abilities and gained important perspectives while juggling life priorities. The executives win because they can stay on their career fast-track and still have a life.”

Our executive clients are corporate leaders who have honed their management abilities and gained valuable perspectives while having to juggle professional and personal priorities. In today’s war for talent, companies that recognize the value of innovative programs like this can recruit and retain more ‘A-players’ than their competitors, increasing their advantage in the marketplace.”

Ms. Watson, a former marketing executive, MBA and mother of three opted out of her executive career to stay at home to raise her children, but still wanted to be a part of the executive business world. While out of reach of the traditional recruiting mechanisms, she met other executive moms like herself, talented leaders seeking meaningful work and realistic work-life balance. “With a tightening labor market and other factors causing executive staffing problems for companies, traditional recruiting methods miss the mark. If employers want to keep employment costs from increasing, new labor markets must be tapped. We offer a way to do this, as well as the ongoing support to make it all work.”

In addition to filling current open positions, Career Partners helps companies retain existing “at-risk” executives by converting their roles into joint-leadership positions. This can be an important component of a company’s strategic succession planning program. Retaining executives through the life transitions they encounter means retaining knowledge and experience while continuously developing their talent.

Career Partners facilitates the entire process by bringing together complementary candidates and providing coaching, expertise and organizational development support. Prospective candidates complete an initial personality and employment history profile. If an employer match is found, Career Partners will conduct in-depth interviews and personality profiling before matching them with a potential career partner. After placement into an organization, Career Partners provides training, on-boarding, and ongoing executive coaching services to ensure long-term success and continued personal development. Partners also receive the benefit of the Career Partners Network — access to other executives in joint-leadership roles with whom they can share experiences.

Companies interested in offering the program, and executives wanting to join the network can contact Career Partners at 310-322-3778 or at www.the careerpartners.com.

Career Partners, LLC is a professional talent management and human capital deployment company, which uses proprietary technology to match pairs of talented executives with progressive organizations for joint-leadership roles and provides the ongoing organizational and personal support required to create lasting work teams. Career Partners is located in El Segundo, Calif.

SOURCE Career Partners, LLC
08/01/2006

CONTACT: Paige Wilds
310-666-5329
Paige.Wilds@theCareerPartners.com