The Alliance

1. The Alliance: A New Framework for Employer-Employee Relationships

The Alliance lays out a path forward for companies and their employees.

Trust through honesty. The alliance framework redefines the employer-employee relationship for the modern era. It acknowledges that lifetime employment is no longer feasible, but recognizes the need for mutual trust and investment.

Mutual benefit. Under the alliance, both parties commit to adding value to each other. The company invests in the employee's long-term market value, while the employee contributes to the company's adaptability and success. This creates a win-win scenario where both can thrive.

Team, not family. The alliance reframes the company as a team rather than a family. This allows for a more realistic and productive relationship, where members work together towards specific goals while maintaining individual aspirations.

2. Tours of Duty: Organizing Work Around Finite Missions

A tour of duty represents an ethical commitment by employer and employee to a specific mission.

Three types of tours:

• Rotational: Fixed-term, standardized roles for entry-level or interchangeable positions
• Transformational: Personalized, mission-based assignments to drive mutual growth
• Foundational: Long-term commitments for key employees integral to the company's future

Defined missions and timelines. Tours of duty provide clear objectives and time frames, typically lasting 2-5 years. This clarity allows both parties to invest in the relationship while maintaining flexibility.

Career development. Tours of duty are designed to enhance an employee's skills and marketability, even if they eventually leave the company. This approach attracts top talent and encourages high performance during the tour.

3. Building Alignment: Aligning Employee and Company Goals

Alignment means that managers should explicitly seek and highlight the commonality between the company's purpose and values and the employee's career purpose and values.

Shared objectives. The alliance framework emphasizes finding common ground between the company's mission and the employee's career aspirations. This alignment creates a stronger, more productive relationship.

Open communication. Managers should have honest conversations with employees about their goals, values, and desired career trajectories. This transparency builds trust and helps define mutually beneficial tours of duty.

Flexibility in alignment. Perfect congruence isn't necessary; the goal is to find sufficient overlap for the duration of a specific tour of duty. This allows for changing aspirations and company needs over time.

4. Implementing Transformational Tours: Steps for Successful Execution

The tour of duty you define with your employee should have a clear, detailed, concrete mission objective.

Four key steps:

1. Define the mission and expected outcomes for both company and employee
2. Set up regular checkpoints for feedback and progress assessment
3. Begin discussing the next tour before the current one ends
4. Manage unexpected changes collaboratively

Mutual accountability. Both employer and employee are responsible for the tour's success. Regular check-ins ensure alignment and allow for course corrections if needed.

Transition planning. Whether an employee moves to a new tour within the company or leaves for an external opportunity, proper succession and transition planning is crucial for maintaining the alliance.

5. Network Intelligence: Leveraging Employee Networks for Company Benefit

Think of each employee as an individual scout picking up data from the outside world—from articles, books, and classes, but most important, from other friends inside and outside the industry.

Valuable intelligence. Employee networks provide access to industry trends, competitive information, and potential opportunities that may not be publicly available.

Implementation strategies:

• Recruit well-connected individuals
• Teach employees how to ethically gather and share intelligence
• Provide resources for network building (e.g., networking funds, speaking opportunities)
• Create systems for sharing gathered information within the company

Mutual benefit. Encouraging network intelligence helps employees grow their professional networks while providing valuable insights to the company.

6. Corporate Alumni Networks: Maintaining Lifelong Relationships

Lifetime employment might be over, but a lifetime relationship remains the ideal.

Benefits of alumni networks:

• Hiring: Source of boomerang employees and referrals
• Intelligence: Insights on industry trends and company perception
• Business development: Customer referrals and brand ambassadorship

Investment levels:

1. Ignore: Missing out on potential benefits
2. Support: Informal assistance to alumni-led groups
3. Invest: Formal infrastructure and systematic benefits

Reciprocal relationship. Successful alumni networks offer real value to former employees in exchange for their continued engagement and support.

7. Adapting to the Networked Age: Long-Term Thinking in a Changing World

A business without loyalty is a business without long-term thinking. A business without long-term thinking is a business that's unable to invest in the future.

Balancing flexibility and commitment. The alliance framework encourages companies to invest in their employees' long-term success while maintaining the adaptability needed in today's rapidly changing business environment.

Cultural shift. Adopting the alliance mindset requires a change in how companies and employees view their relationship. It emphasizes mutual benefit, trust, and ongoing investment in each other's success.

Societal impact. By improving workplace relationships and encouraging long-term thinking, the alliance framework has the potential to create positive change beyond individual companies, benefiting the broader economy and society.

Last updated: August 23, 2024