4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What differentiates the best places to work from all the rest, January 29, 2010
This review is from: Re-Engage: How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times (Hardcover)
Have you ever wondered what employees think about their companies when they really want to work there vs. when they really do not want to work there? If you could unzip the minds of thousands of employees and understand how they see their companies, think what you could learn about your own organization.
"Re-Engage" gives you a front row seat to millions of interviews by employees of 10,000 companies as they completed the "Best Place to Work" survey. Leigh and Mark have analyzed the entire range of survey responses and have found key insights that differentiate the best places to work from all the rest. Put these insights to work in your organization.
Here are a few of key drivers of employee engagement highlighted in the book:
- Trust level in senior leadership
- Coaching and feedback provided by managers
- Being recognized and valued for one's contributions
- Having opportunities to learn and grow on the job
"Re-engage" presents a model of six universal drivers of employee engagement that come directly from the survey data. But more importantly, each driver is illustrated by many verbatim quotes and comments as well as the highest scoring company for each driver - who the company is, what they do and how they have optimized employee engagement.
There are many leading practices, approaches and methods described throughout that offer tremendous potential if they were to be leveraged in your company. If you want to reduce the number of habitual underperformers, chronic complainers or professional victims, and increase the percentage of high performers, you will want to take advantage of Leigh's and Mark's recommendations.
I think one of the most critical chapters is the one on building effective teams. Since so much of our work today is done by multi-function or multi-geographic teams, companies can no longer afford to have teams who do not execute well. Customer satisfaction, productivity and quality depend on what these teams deliver. This chapter describes how to set up the conditions for effective teamwork and can provide a road map for you to use in your own organization.
Companies all over the world are faced with unprecedented levels of change in today's business environment. The demand for leaders at all levels who can guide engaged teams to meet their marketplace challenges far outstrips the supply. "Re-Engage" provides new insights and real world guidelines that can help you meet your organization's challenges today.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wake-up call for leaders and managers, June 1, 2010
This review is from: Re-Engage: How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times (Hardcover)
The great recession will be over soon, and we'll once again confront the reality of competing - both within the U.S. and overseas - to bring the best and brightest people onto our teams. Today's most talented individuals, whether they are Boomers or Millennials, actively seek out workplaces where their contributions are valued, they are part of the team, and they are treated with respect and consideration. Employees and team members who are not "engaged" do not stay long, and take valuable brainpower and skills out the door when they leave. People have been sitting tight for 3-4 years, and when the upturn comes, those who are restless will be on the move. The cost of losing dissatisfied people is more than simply monetary, it affects those who remain behind and can even impact the firm's brand in the marketplace. How can you take action now to retain your strongest employees and attract the talent you need to get a head start on the economic recovery?
Leigh Branham and Mark Hirschfeld explain in detail why and how your workplace can create a culture that consistently values every employee. Containing both provocative questions and practical tools, this book gives leaders exactly what they need to turn their firms into engaged workplaces that attract and retain the best talent available. This is not a quick patch-up: Branham and Hirschfield have created a robust outline that takes time and dedication to implement, and that will produce dynamic results. Their comprehensive program ties in to business strategy, brand identity, development of current and future leaders, and firm culture from top to bottom.
The real life stories alone are of great value to every leader, manager, and human resources director. These case studies show real people solving real problems for their companies, and many of the solutions and ideas can be used by any firm. This book is stuffed with top-notch research, and compelling quotes from people who have disengaged - and then reengaged - with the workplace. The authors have issued a wake-up call to managers and leaders across the board. I recommend they read this book, pay attention and take action.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth Reading, with Caution, March 29, 2010
This review is from: Re-Engage: How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times (Hardcover)
Written by a pair of business consultants, the principal message of "Re-Engage" is both simple and entirely consistent with the human relations school of managerial thought: treat adults like adults, and they will work like responsible, motivated employees. The authors' views were informed by a great deal of quantitative and qualitative data. Collected by Quantum Workplace on an annual basis since 2004, the research portion of this project consisted of some 2.1 million surveys with more than one million qualitative responses. Employee engagement seems to be defined as a heightened sense of commitment felt by an employee for a particular company, job, or manager and that produces desirable outcomes such as greater levels of effort or longer employment tenures.
Statistical analyses pinpointed several actions taken by leading companies in order to inspire higher levels of engagement. These include nurturing trust, aligning employee efforts with organizational objectives, encouraging professional and personal growth, and recognizing/rewarding positive performance, among others. Throughout the book, the authors refer to what they dubbed three "crosswind factors." These are variables, including generational diversity, diseconomies of scale, and difficult economic conditions, that greatly influence the enactment of various engagement principles. In other words, context matters!
There is plenty to like about this book. For one, it is teeming with rich, qualitative data. This allows the reader to see, in telling fashion, what the "good companies" do well and what the "bad companies" do poorly. The authors' grasp of reality is another noteworthy strength of Re-Engage. So often, human relations literature becomes somewhat aloof, almost acting as if "being nice," by itself, will drive employees to higher levels of productivity. One can sense that the authors of this book have a firmer understanding of what is and is not realistic.
Of course, Re-Engage also contains notable shortfalls. Consider the following:
~ Are these truly America's best places to work? Were all U.S.-based, Fortune 500 companies included in this research? Certainly it is not possible to involve every major American company, but neither should the authors/publisher use the title "America's best places to work" if several Fortune 500 companies did not participate. Also, the survey itself leaves something to be desired. A copy is not included in the book, but the reader can access it online at [...]
. One might reasonably question subjective survey items such as "My employer is family friendly" and "We have enough staff to get the work done right." Questions of validity and reliability are not answered. The book references several appendices that are supposed to be available at the book's website. If they exist, I could not locate them.
~ Re-Engage is no masterpiece in literary terms. While books such as Good to Great offer considerable insight through extensive commentary, this particular book relies most heavily on employee responses that are simply transcribed into book form. There is little weighty discussion. Indeed, some portions of Re-Engage look and feel more like a workbook than, say, something written by Drucker, Senge, or Collins. Do not be fooled by the page count. The book can be read rather quickly--comparatively speaking.
~ Probably due to confidentiality, the authors mention company names very sparingly. Indeed, most companies specifically mentioned by the authors are not Fortune 500 caliber. One fault that might be laid at the feet of the authors is an overreliance on certain companies. For instance, they use an interview with the management of Gaylord Palms Hotel and Resort in a few different chapters.
~ Thorough analysis is withheld at times. For instance, the authors, in the opinion of this reader, fail to sufficiently consider questions such as those that follow: Could these attempts to enhance employee engagement generate a higher sense of employee entitlement? Could it be that the best places to work are simply better hirers? Is it possible that the "best places to work" are better only in comparative terms, i.e., if the neighboring ship is skippered by the devil himself, then my ship, though it be commanded by Captain Bligh, appears to be the "best place to work." Furthermore, there is little acknowledgement of the fact that many employees surveyed probably had an "ax to grind."
If nothing else, Re-Engage is not boring. Indeed, the reader's mind should be stimulated by this book, and her preconceived notions should be challenged. Where it lacks scientific rigor, thorough analysis, and rich commentary, it compensates with penetrating questions, often implied, that test the reader's assumptions about employees and their engagement with the company. Re-Engage deserves a good rating, yet it falls well short of a business masterpiece.
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