The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age

As you’ll see, despite evidence of pent-up demand for stronger alumni relationships, few companies have a good strategy for maintaining a relationship with former employees. Conversely, few of the alumni themselves realize how helpful a former employer can be to their career.

example, when employees return from a conference, they’re asked to host a brown-bag lunch (“Lunch in Learn”) to share with their colleagues what they learned.

As the expression goes, no one ever washes a rental car. A Foundational employee would never allow the company to cut corners to meet short-term financial goals.

People think career development means moving up the ladder, but moving from side to side can be just as valuable. We want to help people develop different skill sets that can help them and us

After all, Silicon Valley is where an engineer can update her LinkedIn profile in the morning and have five job offers by lunchtime.

In a real family, parents can’t fire their children. Imagine disowning a child for poor performance. “We’re sorry, Susie, but your mom and I have decided you’re just not a good fit for us. Your table-setting skills aren’t delivering the exceptional customer service experiences we’re known for. We’re going to have to let you go. But don’t take it the wrong way; it’s just family.”

In a famous presentation on his company’s culture, Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, stated, “We’re a team, not a family.”

Employees need to tell their bosses, “Help me grow and flourish, and I’ll help the company grow and flourish.” Employees invest in the company’s success; the company invests in the employees’ market value. By building a mutually beneficial alliance rather than simply exchanging money for time, employer and employee can invest in the relationship and take the risks necessary to pursue bigger payoffs.

You just experienced the fundamental disconnect of modern employment: the employer-employee relationship is based on a dishonest conversation.

The idea of a sports team defines how we work together, and toward what purpose, but the idea of a family still has relevance because it defines how we treat each other—with compassion, appreciation, and respect.