The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age

Excellent book, and interesting and lucid. Must read for anyone at manager or above position.

I am enlightened by the concept propagated by the authors Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh. Transforming contractual terms of employment into vision/mission driven relationship is the need of the hour. Self driven employee any day contributes far more towards overall organisational objectives. I have liked the concept of Employee Alumni to form longer term Alliance. It certainly forms robust network.

Good reading.

The complete title of the book is The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age. So that is the premise of the book - it is oriented towards leaders & HR managers - and consequently its first few chapters are wonderful. Corporations across the world have been living a charade with their employees. Everyone knows there’s no job which comes with any guarantees, the ultimate aim of any organization is not to give you a comfy life but to make money for the promoter/shareholders. Yet we keep speaking about being a family at work, spouting warm sweet nothings to maintain a facade of great commitment to each other. What if we could avoid this and be honest and upfront. Where organizations and managers tell employees honestly when they don’t see a future and likewise employees also are open about any ambitions beyond the company. While this utopia makes sense, in reality its easier said than done. The authors give a bevy of reasons about why both sides should ‘honour the alliance’ – but honestly, I don’t see it working. From an organizations perspective – an employee, however valuable he or she may be – is always likely to be one of many. And while you’d like to do your best to retain and stay on good terms with everyone, it may not really be possible. The potential dent (to your employer brand, morale, performance) made by a single exit or unhappy employee is unlikely to be a large enough incentive to play fair with everyone. Especially when it is often impossible to play fair with everyone, the pie is limited and there will always be someone who will lose out. The balance of power or the leverage is too skewed. For an employee, the reasons to trust the organization will honour ‘the alliance’ are similarly low. Who knows when the next recession and impending layoffs will hit, the leadership will change and a new generation of ass-kissers will get promoted, a merger happens leading to a restructuring throwing your closely honed plans off track – and when this happens who will play fair? Also in a world with the huge number of opportunities around, you’re unlikely to become ‘unemployable’ yourself because you ‘broke the alliance’. Where this concept would probably prove useful is (a) with top management employees, who’re likely to care more about their reputation and have to be more choosy which organizations they join and (b) with employees who’re extreme superstars in their domains – who’re always going to be in demand, which is where the whole Silicon Valley best practice comes in. The rest of the book is filled with suggestions on how to ‘align’ the organization and the employees goals, how to ‘understand’ each others motivations and so on.Which is again based on questions like who’re 3 people who have inspired you and list down 3 qualities of there’s, opening up about events that have influenced you in your life and general gyaan along these lines. And there’s a section on alumni networks which I found really good, both in concept and in feasibility – however it doesn’t seem to be a core thrust of the book. So yes, the Alliance is a great concept but call me cynical – it’s going to take really nice people and a world with everything in plenty to actually make it work. A breezy read with food for thought however as someone said on Amazon – might have been better suited as a 10 page HBR article.

a very practical approach

Good one. Not a great one

This is an amazing book. It describes the techniques Silicon Vally companies use to attract and retain top talent. There are live examples of companies like Amazon, LinkedIn and Apple. Very helpful for people who want to engage and retain high performing people at their company.

本の状態とても良い。配達早い。

Die Zeit verändert sich und auch die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Mitarbeiter und Manger ändert sich. The Alliance zeigt ein Weg für neue und zeitgemäße Umgang für beide Parteien.

"We're happy to have you on the team. We expect a great future. Now, please sign this form that says we can fire you at any time for any reason." The classic model for employment is gone. The days of job security are no more. While there are benefits to employees being able to easily switch companies, it has slowly created a culture with a problem. The employee/employer relationship has turned adversarial. Employers are trepidatious to support employee growth because they fear employees are just waiting to hop ship. Employees want to look out for themselves, and have a problem with loyalty when they know they're expendable. The Alliance addresses these issues and provides a solid foundation for how to reframe the relationship. Yes, spending your full career with a company is no longer likely. That doesn't mean there shouldn't be a lifetime relationship between companies and their employees. The Alliance explains how these can be mutually beneficial. Companies should accept that most employees are only there for a short time. "Tours of Duty" are a good way to make sure that both the company and employee get the most of their time at the company. Employee networks are becoming more and more valuable. Companies need to be harnessing these to help both themselves and their employees. Finally, companies need to think about how they'll maintain contact with their employees if and when they leave the company. If any of these sound like issues you've seen as an employer or employee, you definitely need to pick this book up. It's a quick read with a lot of pragmatic advice. It's time we start changing the employment paradigm, and I hope the Alliance catches on.

I really enjoyed The Alliance! I found the concepts really described my career trajectory and planning. I had learned some of the ideas over the course of my career, but this book puts them into a concise package. Reid Hoffman's ideas are a combination of current best practices and a peek into the future. I think this is important reading for people that want a different approach to planning their careers or for anyone involved in other people's career development! I think the ideas are very powerful. I have purchased copies for the people managers that I know.

This book reveals the importance to have a career planning for employees and employers. If you have difficult to draw your career path this book is for you. And if you are manager and find a way to controls the turnover maybe this book can help you to create a long term relationship.