We: How to Increase Performance and Profits through Full Engagement

by Rudy Karsan

Achieve a fully engaged workforce What if every single employee-every single one-worked in their dream job, utilized their best talents, worked with an inspirational leader and was fully engaged in their role?
For companies, this scenario leads to breakthroughs in productivity, customer service, profitability, and shareholder value. For individuals, it means better health, stronger relationships with family and friends, and greater happiness. We sketches the landscape of today's changing job environment and gives managers and individual employees alike a road map to full engagement.
Achieve breakthrough results for yourself and your organization with the power of full engagement from We .

Genres: Business, Leadership, Buisness

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2010

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a consultant and entrepreneur who has worked with thousands of business owners, managers, and their employees to help them achieve corporate and personal growth, I was captivated by the opening exercise in the engaging book. By asking a simple question, the authors demonstrate the book's premise, that nothing is more important to the organization or the individual than engagement with their work.

It's easy for the business owner to accept this concept. They know that productivity increases and profits grow in direct relationship to the devotion of the workforce to performance. Given the demise of job security in today's economy,however, it's a lot more difficult for the employee to recognize the value of engagement to them. Karsan and Kruse spend most of the book making that case to employees and showing employers how to change their organizations so that they can reinforce it in daily operations.

Their premise is based on findings from millions of worker surveys done on behalf of their clients. Most of the case studies and anecdotal material comes from the same source. While this could have turned the book into a thinly-veiled ad for their businesses, it doesn't read that way at all. The concepts and research are presented openly, as are actionable items that could easily have been hidden behind "hire me and I'll tell you."

I was particularly intrigued by the way the book is integrated into a website full of bonus material like videos, activities, exercises, and other value-added features. Each chapter ends with a one-page summary of key takeaways for both managers and employees that can be printed as a pdf from the website for future reference. Bonus material includes videos by the authors and others that expand on the concepts presented in each chapter. The website provides a great deal of extra value for the reader.

[Christy Stewart · Rating 1 out of 5]

Establishment propaganda.

We is written as a tool for grooming drone workers into being "fully engaged" in their jobs so that they don't identify as individuals independent of the corporation they are working for but as a working part of the beast. It tries to press the outdated idea of pride in your workplace and employer instead of seeing your job as a means to an end and it does this by trying to appeal to you in a feel-good, new-age way that every crap book since the Secret has used.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book, totally agreed with the author's premis on how to achieve engagement in the work place and how critical engagement is to the success of companies and individuals. Good stuff for anyone in a management position.

[Katie Ange-Felker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best self help/continued learning book I’ve ever read! Lots of information, not repetitive, lots of quiz and individualized material so you can apply concepts to yourself.

[Giovanni Gelati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do I have any employees no? The Scoop and The G-ZONE is a one man band. My wife and some of the kids kick in on occasion, but what you see is what you get with this. So what I am doing posting on not just a non-fiction book but one that has to do with employees? A guy can hope can’t he, besides that it is just a strong book, and a nice read. The next few days are going to be busy here on the blog. I am going to try to make up for last week and being involved in the Improvised Digital short Story “Hunter”. I am going to be using both Friday and Saturday for digital shorts this week and give Graphic Novel Friday a week off. TGIF will just have a different flav this week. Also I want to thank all my well-wishers from Tuesday on Facebook, you made the day that much more special for me. And for those of you still asking, yes Mrs. Gelati made me eat leftovers on my birthday. Her cooking is still good the second time around. Anyway, let’s get to it shall WE:
“Achieve a fully engaged workforce
What if every single employee-every single one-worked in their dream job, utilized their best talents, worked with an inspirational leader and was fully engaged in their role?
For companies, this scenario leads to breakthroughs in productivity, customer service, profitability, and shareholder value. For individuals, it means better health, stronger relationships with family and friends, and greater happiness. WE sketches the landscape of today's changing job environment and gives managers and individual employees alike a road map to full engagement.
• Anchored with specific metrics, based on studies of 2 million people, includes engagement, retention, customer loyalty, and profitability
• Scientific research and academic insights are translated into actionable steps
• Includes Web links and unlock codes to access online assessments, videos, simulations, and games
• Offers an unlock code for a complete set of professionally developed corporate training materials so you can facilitate a "We Workshop" in your organization
• Authors have extensive experience in cutting-edge human resources solutions
Achieve breakthrough results for yourself and your organization with the power of full engagement from WE.”
Whether you are a one man band like me or have hundreds if not thousands of employees the stuff in the book makes just too much sense. Why wouldn’t anyone want to follow some of these guidelines have employees be happier, healthier, and more stable? As a consumer I would enjoy going somewhere where the employees are happy, thinking and unzombie like. If I am fortunate one day to have scads and scads of employees or even just one as my minion, I would like him or her to be a happy minion and I fully intend to follow many of the core examples outlined in this book. For me as I read through this, it is as if they sat down and constructed a blueprint for anyone wanting to have a business that runs not just on a smooth even keel, but to speed ahead with a fully integrated staff, all smiling with their hair blowing in the breeze. Success for all, not just the few, share the wealth, not just monetarily but, but emotionally, metaphysically and all reap the full benefits of a collective consciousness. That my friends is powerful, and good reading. Be fully engaged: drop the dime on this non-fiction bomb and have some fun, whether you are a lean army of one like me or a leviathan of industry.
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[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was given to me to read for work. We are going to be getting together to review it once we are all finished. The problem I have with it is similar to the problems I hae with many self help/work focused books; it rehashes everything we already know at some level. I was hoping to find some more practical "next steps" after reading it. Some of the activities are good but I didn't learn anything new from it.

[Gayle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought there was some really interesting ideas.....for instance the difference between being valued and being rewarded....and you should not be concerned about people complaining but rather when they stop complaining

Lots of on line quizzes and survays to help the reader...intersting combination of book and on line.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought provoking in places, energising in others, but also somewhat muddled from time to time and in some cases takes existing ideas and simply adds complexity to them when I'm not sure they needed more complexity.

[John Stepper · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a How To book, it doesn't tackle the actual how To until 80% of the way through. And then it's too little, too late.

Yes, employee engagement matters. Now what? There just isn't enough new or useful material presented to warrant book-length treatment.

[Thabile Khumalo · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is nice to think that people are able to make work fun and engaging. Unfortunately the working-world is not that way. Nevertheless if more people believed in making their job an enjoyable part of their life more people would be happier. A comforting notion.

[Steve Larson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disapointing, thought there would be more "how to or insight." There was neither. Basically just a long commercial for Kenexa.

[Ken Andrus]

Very good take on a topic a lot of people have written about. His perspective was excellent. I also liked the way the authors weaved in online resources and chapter summaries.