The Invisible Employee: Realizing the Hidden Potential in Everyone [Hardcover]

Adrian Gostick (Author), Chester Elton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2006

"There is magic in this book. It is the magic of a form of human engagement that allows you to see and your employees to be seen. Whether you are looking for a few good tips to keep a good thing going or need to recapture the very essence of a productive workplace, The Invisible Employee provides valuable lessons nestled among the pages of a clever and compelling story. A good read and a wise thesis."
—Stephen C. Lundin, bestselling coauthor of Fish!

"Gostick and Elton's simple-to-understand and teachable approach of setting and supporting core values and recognizing and celebrating those behaviors can be a very effective management technique for creating a committed and engaged workforce of 'visible employees.' This is a culture no organization can afford to be without."
—Michael R. Losey, past president and CEO, Society for Human Resource Management, and Secretary General, World Federation of Personnel Management Associations

"The basic principles detailed in The Invisible Employee are simple yet profound: (1) setting a guiding vision, (2) seeing employees supporting that vision, and (3) praising and celebrating that behavior. Restaurants do not sell merchandise that people can take home, we only sell memories. Engaging our entire staff by using these principles helps Friendly's provide great memories for our guests."
—John L. Cutter, CEO and President, Friendly Ice Cream Corporation

"The Invisible Employee is a very inventive and original book. Combining facts that will surprise you and a fable that will fascinate you, Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton have crafted a book that educates and entertains. The Invisible Employee is a wonderful read with a powerful message, and I highly recommend it to leaders at all levels."
—Jim Kouzes, coauthor of The Leadership Challenge

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This book has a simple message: praising employees is the "single business strategy" that meets "all your business objectives simultaneously." Praising employees generates commitment, which leads to high-level performance, which causes customer and investor loyalty, it argues. The authors' point is illustrated through a long, tedious fable about a tribe of "Highlanders" who are showered with gems by a tribe of "Wurc-Urs," until, that is, the Wurc-Urs start to disappear because they're so frustrated by the lack of praise. The book contains a list of 70 ways to recognize employees (buy them a garden statue, write them a funny song, etc.), as well as a few bits of more journalistic evidence (brief accounts of business studies, a story from the Wall Street Journal about an employee who quit when his employer gave him a gold Rolex without offering to pay the income tax on the gift, etc.). Savvy managers are unlikely to buy into the idea that lavish praise is all it takes to generate profits and make the stock price go up, but the book may provide them with a few new ideas for how to make their employees feel appreciated. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

This book has a simple message: praising employees is the "single business strategy" that meets "all your business objectives simultaneously." Praising employees generates commitment, which leads to high-level performance, which causes customer and investor loyalty, it argues. The authors' point is illustrated through a long, tedious fable about a tribe of "Highlanders" who are showered with gems by a tribe of "Wurc-Urs," until, that is, the Wurc-Urs start to disappear because they're so frustrated by the lack of praise. The book contains a list of 70 ways to recognize employees (buy them a garden statue, write them a funny song, etc.), as well as a few bits of more journalistic evidence (brief accounts of business studies, a story from the Wall Street Journal about an employee who quit when his employer gave him a gold Rolex without offering to pay the income tax on the gift, etc.). Savvy managers are unlikely to buy into the idea that lavish praise is all it takes to generate profits and make the stock price go up, but the book may provide them with a few new ideas for how to make their employees feel appreciated. (Mar.) (Publishers Weekly, January 30, 2006)

"...some great stuff on effective employee surveys, plus anecdotes and jokes that the reader could recycle for meetings and training sessions." (Personnel today, April 2006)

"...the message is sound..." (Professional Manager, June 2006)

"...this thought-provoking book nws a delight to read...practical and inspirational in showing readers how to change attitudes in very simple ways...." (Personnel Today, July 2006)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471777390
• ISBN-13: 978-0471777397
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.8 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #632,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whether you manage 1 or 50 people, this book is for you., February 24, 2006

By 

Manager from New Jersey (Summit, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Invisible Employee: Realizing the Hidden Potential in Everyone (Hardcover)

I came across the co-author Chester Elton at a seminar last year. He is very entertaining but most important, his message is one for all managers. It's up to managers to make their employees feel rewarded and recoginzed. The Invisible Employee tells us that this concept is one of the easiest and yet most overlooked aspects of our jobs. Using a fable format the authors drive home the point that happy employees do in fact perform better and contribute more. A great read for every manager!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Misleading title and a one-note solution for a multilayered problem, June 27, 2010

By 

Robin (Bethesda, Moldova, Republic of) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Invisible Employee: Realizing the Hidden Potential in Everyone (Hardcover)

The Invisable Employee makes a valid point, but its certainly not a groundbreaking one and it doesn't address the problem promised in the title. The premise of The Invisible Employee is that most people don't feel appreciated and that corporations take good work for granted. Since this is true, and its also true that expensive turnover can be avoided by noticing the good work of employees--and letting them know you notice, this book makes a good, if not ground shaking, point.

The execution of the book is poor. A number of chapters are written in a strange, corny parables that soon become excrutiatingly boring. If you really love playing Zelda or Final Fantasy, you might like them..but probably not.

The Invisable Employee gives almost no practical advice on how to address the issue of discovering hidden potential in companies that do not exist in a video game style fantasy. The problem of invisable employees is huge and its too big to be solved with praise alone. Many corporations barely know their people beyond the resume submitted when they hire them. They hire them, assume they can do only what they were hired for, lay them off a few years later while hiring other employees who are less experienced in company matters. Why does this happen? In happens in part because the employees are invisible and no one bothered to develop a skills database or consider the potential of employees to adapt and learn new things. The problem is heartwrenching and extremely expensive.

Unfortunately this book won't do a thing to attack that problem.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great tool in your management toolbox, April 6, 2006

By 

HR Head (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Invisible Employee: Realizing the Hidden Potential in Everyone (Hardcover)

Like the previous carrot books, this book gives great advice to help manage your employees. This is a must read for any manager wanting additional pointers to help in the difficult process of keeping your people motivated and engaged. As the head of HR for a major corporation I think this book can help all managers at all levels.