Here’s an interesting perspective on work and career management from the design world. Carl Alviani at Coroflot writes:

The punchline is that many other professions are starting to resemble ours. Increasingly service-oriented, globalized economies are bringing this type of transience to once rock-solid professions, to the point where analysts and middle managers are building portfolios too, or at least viewing their skill set as a portable thing, to be optimized for their own benefit rather than their employer’s. When this trend is discussed by those new to it, the reaction is often one of fear and outrage: how could the corporate world betray us so? For those of us who’ve already become accustomed to it, we get to shrug and smile, tell them to get over it and go grab another beer.

Most organizations talk about loyalty and engagement as if they are immutable characteristics shared by each hired employee. But that’s servitude, not a relationship…and that’s not going to work so well with today’s generation of professionals.

If organizations want to get loyalty and engagement from their folks, execs and leaders need to step up and be prepared to give what they want to get.