The New Compact: The Age of Freedom-Based Partnership at Work

This new approach may just unlock the kind of engagement, innovation, and loyalty that control could never deliver.

There’s a persistent myth, rooted deep in a century of management orthodoxy, that the only way to secure commitment from employees is through control. Control the job description, the office hours, the reporting lines, the performance metrics—remove ambiguity, and you’ll get the productivity that the organization requires. For decades, work was engineered as a compliance system: show up, do the tasks, and reap the security (well, maybe on that part). Any semblance of autonomy was carefully rationed.

But that’s past tense. If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that the era of control-based management, while not fully over, is at least fundamentally weakened. The tidal wave of resignations in 2020-22 was not, at its core, about escaping bad bosses or even seeking higher pay. It was about people confronting the reality that work, as traditionally designed, simply doesn’t deserve their loyalty unless it’s worthy of their agency. They realized they are, and always have been, free to leave. That’s a structural change. The toothpaste is out of the tube.

This isn’t a prelude to chaos. The most robust workplace cultures to emerge in this new era are not leaderless or boundaryless—nor are they consensus machines that dilute decisions down to the least risky option. Rather, they are cultures intentionally designed around the principle that the essence of commitment is freedom. I choose you, and you choose me—again and again, in explicit, renewable terms. If this is going to work, it’s going to work for both of us. We are partners.

From Control-Based to Freedom-Based: Why Partnership Eats Compliance for Breakfast

We need to be honest about the mechanics of traditional control. Even when dressed up as “performance management” or “structured flexibility,” control-based systems fundamentally rest on the idea that if you relax oversight, quality and output will suffer. If you believe, deep down, that’s true, then I’m sorry to say that I have data that tell a strikingly different story: elements of culture in our research dataset that are about employee freedom, customization, and empowerment correlate with higher engagement, and higher engagement correlates with organizational results (and lower turnover).

Commitment built on freedom is stronger for a simple reason: when we freely choose, we act like owners and stewards. This is where the “tour of duty” concept, first described by Reid Hoffman in HBR (and later as a book, The Alliance), becomes especially impactful. A “tour of duty” reframes the employment relationship, not as an implied marriage, but as a series of explicit, negotiated commitments. Each tour is a mutual agreement: for this next leg, here’s what you (the employee) will contribute and gain, and here’s what we (the organization) pledge. At the end, we both return to the table—to affirm, to adapt, or to part ways.

When you understand employment through this lens, loyalty is no longer the result of inertia. It’s the result of continuous choice—and therefore, continuous commitment. When partnership is at the foundation of the new compact, durability and outperforming become standard.

What Does Freedom-Based Partnership Look Like in Practice?

Let’s be clear: freedom doesn’t mean “anything goes.” What it offers is clarity about where agency and partnership can thrive. Today’s leading organizations are making freedom operational through concrete redesigns in everything from scheduling to performance to even time itself.

• Customization as Core Design, Not a Perk:
  The pandemic forced a mass experiment in role flexibility and location independence. New research (see Alex Soojung-Kim Pang’s Shorter, and more recently Juliet B. Schor’s Four Days a Week) now shows that time flexibility—when implemented as a system, not a privilege—consistently delivers not only greater well-being, but also higher productivity and business results. I know there are people clamping down on this right now and forcing people back to the office, etc. My own belief is they will pay a hefty price for their actions.

• Structured Agency Through Negotiable Agreements:
  I think more organizations should be adapting the “tour of duty” model in real time. Annual or biannual check-ins should evolve into structured conversations: What does the next chapter look like for you? What skills or experiences are you looking to build? What do we need from you, and what can you expect from us? When commitment is re-upped instead of assumed, you get real buy-in—and the courage to course-correct, not just quietly disengage.

• Feedback Flows That Go Both Ways:
  True partnership isn’t possible when feedback flows only downward. On high-functioning teams, employees expect (and get) a say in not just how their work is measured, but even in how their work is structured. “Stay interviews” and participatory goal-setting are becoming standard practice. When you want people’s best, you have to consult them about what “the best” even means, given their unique role and life context.

Three Moves to Build a Freedom-Based Compact

This isn’t just a philosophy—it’s an emerging practice. If leaders want a culture people commit to, rather than quietly abandon, then it’s time to start putting the pieces in place. Here are three places to start:

1. Make Commitment Explicit and Renewable

   • Map out where implicit obligations are masquerading as mutual agreements. Shift those to explicit “tours”: What is each party contributing? What does each need right now? What kind of time-length makes sense for this agreement?

   • Begin with pilot “tour of duty” conversations at team or department level. Use the new agreement as the jumping-off point for feedback and performance discussions, not as a threat.

2. Design for Customization—Within Boundaries

   • Treat flexibility and time autonomy not as favors, but as essential levers for productivity and commitment. That doesn’t mean infinite options; it means honest negotiation. Where can roles flex, and where is alignment non-negotiable? Document the rationale for both.

   • Revisit your systems—hiring, performance reviews, workweek structure—to explicitly address customization needs. Don’t let hidden norms kill an emerging partnership.

3. Shift Measurement Toward Agency and Accountability

   • Add new culture metrics that track not just retention and satisfaction, but the quality of choice—how often people are renegotiating their path, recommending your culture, or actively shaping their roles.

   • Run “compact health” check-ins so teams know how their autonomy and freedom are trending over time.

The Bottom Line: Freedom Is the Precursor to Real Partnership

As power continues to rebalance, organizations that act as if commitment can be coerced will lose—slowly, at first, perhaps, but I would argue eventually abruptly. The best workplaces of the future will operate with eyes wide open: employees are free to leave, and that very freedom is what makes their ongoing commitment meaningful. Design your culture, your contracts, and your daily decisions to honor that autonomy—make every “stay” feel like a choice, not an obligation.

Because when freedom and clarity fuel commitment and partnership, you don't just retain talent. You unlock the kind of engagement, innovation, and loyalty that control could never deliver.