Phil Burns, a well-respected business partner of mine and community geek-leader, posted a very interesting note on his blog today that I want to comment on.
As usual, I began my comment on his own blog, but got too carried away and figured I might as well donate an entire post on the matter.
To get a background on his idea, see his post today, Social Networks and Corporations.
I think this is an incredibly powerful idea. Even if it were only once in a while, why not allow your employees to market themselves a little and work on projects for your partners and clients (competitors?) on a consulting basis!
A problem I see frequently is that the best talent are often "walled up" behind corporate islands and relationship-firewalls that make it impossible to access their talent without headhunting them out and stealing them away (ahem, which I don't necessarilly mind).
Instead, to build relationship-equity with your own employees, why not allow them to be farmed out on occasion when an interesting project or need arises? Encourage them to beef up and use their LinkedIn network. Encourage and enable them to blog realistically about their job, their trials and successes. (Buy their domain and host their blog for them free as long as they work for you). Have them encourage others to call them or chat them up about opportunities they have on a strictly consulting basis.
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