The Alliance (extra book)

I always love when RAs come back with a really enthusiastic “you gotta read this book”…. As happened when the stellar Samir came by to encourage me to read The Alliance, by Reid Hoffman (who is the cofounder and chairman of LinkedIn), and two other colleagues.  The book captures the change in relationship between employer and employee.  Gone are the days where an individual devotes all of their life to one company, yet how will a company get the loyalty from an employee, albeit a shorter stay at the company then for the days when a pension kept people there forever.  Hoffman and his colleagues share how employment in the networked age needs to change.  As noted in the book, “the old model of employment was a good fit for an era of stability”…. Yup, those days are definitely gone!  Businesses need a new model that builds a framework for mutual trust, investment, and benefits.  Think about how much money is spent on training of staff nowadays.  How does a company leverage that relationship long-term?  They create … the “alliance!”  Supervisors need to create honest conversations about each other’s goals and aspirations.  Hoffman suggests in this era of constant turn-over that employees should be completing a “tour of duty” which is a letter of commitment that companies should have to an individual.  These “commitments” can last 6 months to 5 years.  There are different type of tours, such as, rotational (where employees work in different areas of a company), transformational (high level impact on the company), and foundational (where permanence is possible with the company).  The book shares how LinkedIn uses the model described above.  Additionally, the authors share how “constant conversations” and review of the long-term goals of the individual are critical to the success of both the company and the employee.  Finally, there are some really neat ideas of how a company can have long-term connections with employees after they leave the firm, of course only if they leave on good terms, through an alumni network (much like higher education does for students who graduate).  The book also contains copies of some forms that might be helpful for anyone looking to implement this type of ‘alliance’ with their staff.  In many ways it seems like some common sense approach to employee relations.  It is too bad that most companies don’t seem to do that for their staff, their most important commodity.  Some good common sense approaches and worth the read.  Should be able to finish this one in a few hours for sure.  Thanks Samir for giving me some good things to think about.