Affiliation in the Workplace: Value Creation in the New Organization

(Hardback)

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Description

Provides organizational leaders and human resource professionals with a framework that strengthens organizational growth and productivity through the workforce while enhancing individual fulfillment. To succeed in the emerging work world, organizational leaders and human resource professionals will need to create a new relationship with individuals built around the concept of affiliation. This will mean changed roles and behaviors that respect mutual interests. It will also require a culture of inclusion expressed internally through workforce diversity, externally through workforce partnerships, at a community level through philanthropy, and globally in the pursuit of a greater good. This book draws on studies that quantify the link between individual development and organizational value creation; strengthening this link is the key to creating a strong sense of affiliation and a more productive workforce. The author provides frameworks for characterizing the workforce, listening to the organization, using inclusion as a key differentiator and the application of mathematical modeling techniques to explore and quantify related areas. Affiliation differs from the traditional concept of employee retention. Affiliation implies a two-way exchange between employer and employee, and it refers to the bonds that can be created and cemented in a redefined relationship that leads simultaneously to higher levels of employee retention and individual fulfillment. We are entering an era when it makes sense to move away from mere retention strategies of control, and toward more mutually beneficial strategies of affiliation. This trend can be traced to the recognition of the influence of the knowledge worker and the value of human capital in today's economy, and it has become more important than ever for competitive organizations to master the skills of creating an environment at work built around affiliation. This book describes how to do it in a step-by-step fashion by covering everything you'll need to know, including benchmarking of affiliation characteristics.

Reviews

"Not only a timely book, it is an important work in developing a better understanding of the relationship of individuals with their organization. It provides a framework for identifying ways to establish healthy and more productive relationships for individuals and their companies. It is about fundamentals and will be as relevant ten years from now as it is today."-Steve Leven, Senior Vice President Texas Instruments
"This book is filled with concrete ideas on how an organization can adapt to the changing workforce demographics and enhance the relationship between individuals and organizations. It is guaranteed to inspire, challenge, and help you create an environment to support individual development and strengthen your organization's ability to survive and thrive today, as well as in the future. It provides plenty of ideas and challenges as we focus on recruitment and retention matters that loom ahead. This is a must-read for leaders of any organization!"-Dorothy M. Moser Vice President, Human Resources & Training and Barbara J. Lewis Assistant Vice President, Training & Staff Development Easter Seals Inc.
"This book is thoughtful and thorough. Written by an experienced organizational career consultant, the book addresses how industry leaders and human resource executives can create a work environment that strengthens and inspires individuals and as a result enhances growth and productivity of organizations."-Betsy Collard Director, Office of Alumni Volunteer Relations Stanford University Alumni Association
"This book may surprise many readers who, from the title, might expect one more contribution to the field of human resource development. Instead the book delivers a potent challenge to all of us who manage complex organizations that we must uncompromisingly build the value of our organizations on the only value system that matters, the development of our people. By combining stories of organizations that have dared to do it differently with strong quantitative analysis of how they measured their success, the author moves beyond merely issuing this challenge to equipping us for the battle. This book is a must read for all of us who continue to battle for the hearts and minds of our people while simultaneously justifying the bottom-line impact of our efforts."-Pearl Sims Director, Leadership Development Center Peabody College of Vanderbilt University
"This book offers a critical analysis tempered by a humanistic approach, of the most significant element in our workplace today. The heart and soul of the workplace are the people who come to work each day hoping for much more than a paycheck. The author captures the science and the art of affiliation with documentation, case studies, introspection and insight. Not only is this book filled with hope for the future of our organizations; it should be required reading for the leaders of tomorrow's organizations."-Sue Aiken, MA, NCC, NCCC Chair, Career Development Graduate Program John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, California
A refreshing perspective for anyone interested in the application of career development in business and industry.-Harvard Business School
Academics will find the book's rich examples and practical outlook helpful to gain a very micro-oriented perspective. The author's observations may also stimulate ideas for research.-Journal of Asian Economics
Affiliation In the Workplace provides some hope for the practitioner charged with moving an organization toward enhancement and away from disenhancement....Elsdon builds a series of equations that allows him to map the relationships between organizational value creation, individual fulfillment, leadership's ability to create a sense of individual fulfillment, and the length of time an employee intends to remain with the organization.-Journal of Diversity Praxis
"A refreshing perspective for anyone interested in the application of career development in business and industry."-Harvard Business School
"Academics will find the book's rich examples and practical outlook helpful to gain a very micro-oriented perspective. The author's observations may also stimulate ideas for research."-Journal of Asian Economics
"Affiliation In the Workplace provides some hope for the practitioner charged with moving an organization toward enhancement and away from disenhancement....Elsdon builds a series of equations that allows him to map the relationships between organizational value creation, individual fulfillment, leadership's ability to create a sense of individual fulfillment, and the length of time an employee intends to remain with the organization."-Journal of Diversity Praxis

Author Bio

RON ELSDON is Director of Retention Services at DBM, which provides strategic human resource solutions for organizations by helping clients align their workforces to meet changing business needs.