Book Review by Dr. Sally Gelardin

Ron Elsdon, principal in New Beginnings Career and College Guidance, has presented a case for workplace affiliation that is unprecedented in the workforce development and human resources fields.  His book "Affiliation in the Workplace: Value Creation in the New Organization" (Praeger, 2003) provides valuable information and guidelines for corporate and non-profit leaders, career professionals, and human resource specialists. What makes this book worthy of consideration are both the author’s message of the need for affiliation in the workplace and his inclusion of extensive statistical research to back up his thesis.

The problem that leaders and HR need to address, according to Elsdon, is that traditional organizational structures no longer work in a world where decision-making needs to be speedy and flexible.  The world is moving from stability to change, constant skills to constant learning, lifelong commitment to engagement for mutual benefit, paternalism to self-reliance, local to global, hierarchy to fluidity, abundance to scarcity of skilled people, and internal to external. As the workforce becomes more global, the author advocates a culture of inclusion. He supports workforce diversity within organizations, partnerships with other organizations, philanthropic outreach to the community, and global pursuit of a greater good.

The author presents a framework for leaders to synthesize organizational and individual goals.  He points out that the following are critical issues that impact the decision-making of leaders and HR: (a) values regarding relationships with employees and other stakeholders, (b) rapidity of change and the need for flexibility, (c) importance of accumulated learning, (d) availability of key skills, (e) opportunities for individual development, and (f) competencies that leaders need to develop in order to implement workforce strategies. Elsdon asserts that listening to individual needs is the basis upon which leaders can build a strong sense of affiliation and a foundation for future prosperity.

To connect individual development with organizational value creation, Elsdon applies mathematical modeling techniques. Citing statistical research from studies conducted from 2000 to 2001 in five U.S. organizations ranging in size from just over 10,000 to almost 200,000 people,  and spanning industries ranging from high tech and healthcare to financial services and manufacturing, he  summarizes the main reasons employees leave and are attracted to organizations. In the following order of priority, people’s reasons for leaving are:  (a) lack of career development opportunities, (b) lack of recognition / appreciation, (c) negative work environment, (d) financial reasons, and (e) lack of promotional opportunities. Coincidently, the top five attractors to the new organization are:  (a) greater career development opportunities, (b) financial reasons, (c) more meaningful work/adding value, (d) increased promotional opportunities, and (e) greater challenge.

Elsdon describes a study of the value of person-to-person career counseling at Sun Microsystems resulting in a return on investments of 183%. Factors that influenced retention included: (a) relationships with others, (b) clarity of expectations, (c) resource availability, (d) valuing of individual ideas, (e) recognition, (f) development, and (g) the opportunity for people to do their best work. Through person-to-person career counseling at Sun, employees could respond more rapidly to a changing environment and customer needs, the needs of minority groups could be addressed more broadly, the affiliation needs of employees with five or fewer years of service could be supported, and the needs of different segments of the employee population could be tracked and addressed more carefully. The study demonstrated that people more than hard assets are the key source of an organization’s competitive strength.

Elsdon outlines six key processes for leaders and HR to link organizations with the workforce: (a) creation of a transcending purpose, (b) communication, (c) building a supportive environment, (d) understanding of workforce dynamics and analysis, (e) measurement of workforce contributions, and (f) prediction of evolving needs. To predict evolving needs, he suggests that leaders serve their employees by assuming the various roles of guide, mentor, coach, conductor, artist, visionary, entrepreneur, innovator, general, change agent, and connector. Within an organization,  Elsdon lists five steps to implement organizational change while building a greater sense of affiliation: (a) define needed outcomes, (b) characterize the workforce, (c) understand employee issues, (d) implement solutions, and (e) monitor and adjust as needed. To build external partnerships, he recommends the following stages: (a) define outcomes, (b) define preferred relationships, (c) identify partnership opportunities, (d) negotiate agreements, and (e) measure success.

Right livelihood can be compared to “wearing a comfortable pair of familiar shoes on a journey to a place of peace, full of new discoveries,” Elsdon says.  He emphasizes the importance of personal work quest as an integration of work and personal life. At the same time, he notes that the goal of organizations is to link individuals to the broader communities in which they operate.  The author argues that value creation in financial terms, particularly related to shareholder value, is simply a subset of this larger contribution. “People,” he proposes, “are the key sources of value creation.” Therefore, leaders and HR must create a highly efficient internal job market and build a work environment in which intellectual capital can prosper. The principles expressed in this book certainly can inspire leaders to add value  to their organizations.