For the bulk of the 20th century, jobs at big corporations were pretty secure. It was pretty much accepted that if a company performed well, its employees were there to stay. Their jobs were not in jeopardy.
These days, however, the traditional "employer-employee compact" is no longer a given in the white-collar world. In this Harvard Business Review article, "Tours of Duty: The new employer-employee compact," the authors explain how globalization and the Information Age have deteriorated the compact.
The authors — Reid Hoffman (co-founder of LinkedIn); Ben Casnocha (coauthor with Hoffman of "The Start-up of You: Adopt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform your Career"); and Chris Yeh (entrepreneur, investor and blogger) — propose a new compact that "must recognize that jobs are unlikely to be permanent but encourage lasting alliances nonetheless."
Learn the three simple policies that the authors say can help make this new compact tangible. Download, "Tours of Duty: The new employer-employee compact."
Ginny Holden is an independent consultant who brings the practice of IT to life through memorable storytelling.
Comments
This dovetails nicely with the post about the need for "trisector" leaders. There is no way to get that breadth of experience and understanding if one spends an entire career at one company. Nothing wrong with specialists, but broader experience and skills in different environments will increase the demand (and compensation) for your services.