How do employees become unplugged? By which we mean they lose their sense of purpose, connection, direction, meaning, value and place in the organisation. And importantly, how do you get their energy back?
This is the crux of this book which takes you step by step through these questions, along with ideas on how to get a culture of engagement. The authors describe this kind of culture as having:
* Perceived opportunity
* Personal accountability
* Inclusion
* Connectedness
* Validation
Although the wording here may be different to what you have read before, the concepts of engagement remain pretty universal. Perception is reality and if you don't try and shift it then you may find yourself with a workforce with low satisfaction, and therefore an increase in deviant workplace behaviours (workplace incidents, policy breaches, sick leave when not ill, low productivity etc.).

Interestingly, in this book the authors pose the question of why Gallup reports that less than a third of Americans are engaged at work and this number has remained consistent since 2000. If this number isn't changing, then we need to ask why. Are companies focusing on the wrong things? Or are they not focusing at all? Are the managers focusing on "doing things right" rather than "doing the right things"? Are they concerned with compliance and attention rather than employee growth and ownership?

If these questions interest you, and you are in a role that can help mould your organisation (Business owner, HR, Senior Manager) then I highly recommend this book. The authors mention a couple of case studies to illustrate their points, but mostly it is an easy read to give a framework of what to consider when looking at how to inject energy back - or keep energy - in your organisation and stop disengagement.
I really enjoyed the read and highlighted a number of passages to go back and do some further research. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Wilson Learning, for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.