Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed To and What You Can Do About It [Paperback]

Ferdinand Fournies (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071486151 | ISBN-13: 978-0071486156 | Publication Date: May 17, 2007 | Edition: 2

The New York Times bestselling guide to getting the best out of every employee-updated for the modern workplace

Based on the actual experiences of 25,000 managers, Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed to Do… gives you proven, straightforward methods that work on real jobs, in the real world. This results-oriented guidebook helps you handle the top 10 situations in which employees don't perform the way they should, including a detailed analysis of the causes and the plans for preventing the same problems down the road.

Featuring fresh insights on outsourcing, temp workers, flex time, telecommuting, and technology, this no-nonsense resource arms you with the people-management skills you need to consistently elicit the highest levels of performance from your workforce.

“In simple, straightforward language, Fournies offers practical solutions to the problems of employee performance…[This book] should be on the desk of anyone who manages others.”-Entrepreneur

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ferdinand F. Fournies was an internationally acclaimed business consultant and author of bestselling business books that have been translated into multiple languages. An expert in management and sales techniques, Fournies consulted to companies around the world, including Kodak, Merck, Hewlett Packard, and 3M.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 2 edition (May 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071486151
• ISBN-13: 978-0071486156
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,059 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Start for Those New to Management, November 3, 2007

By 

Amy Graham (Scottsdale, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed To and What You Can Do About It (Paperback)

Reading Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed To...and What To Do About It is just one book out of a "set" that I checked out from our local library that I am currently reading my way through. My housemate was recently promoted to a general manager position at a national pizza chain and was supposed to receive on the job training...but typically, has received none. So, we thought it might be helpful to do some reading on the subject of leadership, management and supervision of employees. This is our second read and overall, I'd say it covers the basics and is a great lead off for doing a reading set (as we are) but this book would probably be useless to anyone who had had adequate management experience or for those who have already done extensive reading in this area.

Fourines leads off with the premise that there are essentially 16 reasons or "root causes" for conflict between employees and managers and he sets out to systematically explain, clarify and give examples for each. It might have been nice for the author to acknowledge that his moderate and positive approach to these issues and problems do not always work...and he offers no progression or escalation of steps beyond the very basics...so if you have one of the problems he's describing and the solution given doesn't work, the author really hadn't helped delineate what the progression from there might or should be. The writing here is simple, concise and accessible and the author makes his point very well (with the exception of escalation of problems beyond the scope given). We both enjoyed reading this and feel it's best used by those new to management who are not receiving mentoring or adequate on the job training as they are starting out. Long-time managers or those well read in this area might enjoy it as a reminder or refresher for the basics of management but won't find much else to inspire or learn in these pages. Ultimately I give Fourines book 3 stars...a good place to start, but don't stop here!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent resource, June 19, 2008

By 

V. Lesniak (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed To and What You Can Do About It (Paperback)

This is an excellent resource for both Human Resources professionals and managers. It offers practical and useful advise as to the root of the reason for the non performance of an employee. I've used this book to assist managers in coaching and counseling sessions for many years.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource, easy read!, February 8, 2008

By 

K. Terry (GA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed To and What You Can Do About It (Paperback)

This book is a an easy read and a great resouce. Each chapter is short and to the point. I used this as a development and training tool for my management team. Great way to develop supervisors!