Changing the deal while keeping the people

Companies are in danger of losing the voluntariness that makes possible much of a business's ability to compete. As whole industries undergo restructuring, psychological contracts—those unwritten commitments made between workers and their employers—need to change in order to be kept. Service, quality, and innovation require higher contributions from people and therefore, a new psychological contract involving commitment and trust. In high contribution work settings, that means changing the deal while keeping the people. Changes which violate a contract or fail to substitute another effective one in its place won't do. And, even though the psychological contract is not legally binding, today's executive must know how successful firms transform it.