by Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh
As the HR champion at Inovo, I was anxious to read The Alliance and hear Reid Hoffman et. al propose a bold new vision of the employee-employer relationship. This has important implications not only for large, innovative companies but smaller firms as well. Guaranteed long-term employment contracts are a notion of the past, employee engagement is at an all-time low, and entrepreneurs are fleeing corporations to join start-ups. To address this trend, the authors propose three strategies for attracting and retaining entrepreneurial talent and, thereby, increasing the odds of successful innovation:
- Time-limited “tour of duty” engagements focused on particular objectives and/or projects
- Tapping corporate alumni (a.k.a. former employees) who can serve as contractors and bring a fresh perspective
- Encouraging employees to expand their networks and mine them for intelligence
While the authors’ people strategies have been tested primarily with technology companies in Silicon Valley, they could certainly make it easier to attract and retain entrepreneurial talent (including millennials) at any size corporation.
If you’re interested in trying out these ideas, The Alliance offers a practical guide to implementing each of these strategies using a combination of successful case stories, social networking and straightforward coaching techniques for managers.
Inovo is a great place to work on interesting projects in a collaborative and open environment. Despite this, we realize that everyone here has a life journey that, at some point in that journey, will not include Inovo. The Alliance shows how both Inovo and the people on our team can benefit from this fact.