Waterman makes the point that the expectation of lifetime employment is a thing of the past and suggests that a new worker/boss covenant is needed with a focus for the workers on employability.

The employee's responsibility is to manage his/her own career.

The company's responsibility is to provide tools, an open environment, and the opportunity for the employee to assess his/her skill level.

A plan to enhance an individual employee's employability would include:

• Continuous learning
• Readiness to reinvent oneself in the face of change
• Readiness to take responsibility for his/her career management
• Commitment to company success during the time he/she is a part of it.

Waterman asserts the employers must shift their focus from "harvesting" employees to renewing them. Waterman likens the new employer-employee relationship as adult-adult rather than parent-child.

Both employer and employee must strive for greater competitiveness. They must keep close to their customers, stay on top of trends, and become more flexible. He says this will create a "nimble" organization.

The basis of career resilience for the employee is

• A self-assessment system
• Competitive skill testing -- benchmarking
• Right to demand training and challenging work

For the employer it is

• Openness with employees
• Provision of information to employees on company directions and market trends
• Provision of time to prepare and opportunity for new responsibilities
• Making it easy for employees to learn to be flexible through, for example, lateral transfers, job switching
• Making training available
• Committing resources to education (from 5% of time available for employees to 20% for managers)