The Truth About Employee Engagement the book

07/06

A really quick book review

The Truth About Employee Engagement (Lencioni) is a fable in typical Lencioni style, that provides an experiential journey of discovery about increasing employee engagement at a number of companies, including a Mon and Pop type pizza parlor. The hero in the fable is struggling to figure out the secrets of engagement and unravels a theory based on interactions with employees in different situations. The typical range of personality types populate the story. Therefore we hear reactions of various personalities to the ideas our hero wants to implement.

Three themes arise as the pillars of employee engagement. He refers to these as immeasurement (a made up word), irrelevance and anonymity. These are roughly defined as follows:

Immeasurement – a shortage or outright absence of daily measurement of those job aspects that give meaning to the work that is to be done. If it isn’t being measure it is not getting much attention. If an employee is not paying attention and therefore not measuring, then the thing they are supposed to be doing and doing well, is not being done well.

Irrelevance – if an employee does not appreciate the relevance, importance, of their contribution to the success of the operation, their own sense of pride and responsibility in their work, their worth, is undermined. Simon Sinek would speak of his ‘why’. Why does this task need to be done and done well and what happens when it isn’t?

Anonymity – employees are people who crave significance. We all want to be noticed and valued. When the manager, owner, leader, does not know anything beyond name and job description, the employee does not feel valued. Feeling valuable is massive incentive.

Lencioni explains his three pillars of employee engagement with the story. I can relate to the characters in the fable, as myself and as people I have worked with over the years. The signature Lencioni method of teaching is more engaging and memorable than simply listing the conclusions in an academic style text.

Easy to read. Easy to remember. Easy to use. I recommend The Truth About Employee Engagement by Patrick Lencioni.

Joseph Seiler MCC