The Truth About Employee Engagement: A Fable About Addressing the Three Root Causes of Job Misery

So a little bit of background: I recently graduated from my master's program in I/O Psychology back in May, and one of my final assignments before I got my degree was to choose a book that was relevant to the field and share my thoughts on it with my cohort. My professor, who has been teaching I/O for over four decades now, recommended this book to me because of my interest in employee engagement. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who gives a damn or wants to give a damn about the employee experience. I won't spoil anything for anyone who is interested in reading, but something that I love about this book is that it is NOT one of those dry, self-help instructional books on how to foster employee engagement in your organization (who wants to read that??). Instead, this book is split into two sections: a story and a guide. The story, which ultimately culminates in the review of lessons demonstrated throughout the narrative (i.e., the guide), is so incredibly engaging (pun-intended) that it got me, a person who never reads for pleasure, to constantly feel the urge to read "just one more page" until I finished the whole thing in just under a week. Don't get me wrong, this book isn't just a story! As mentioned, at the end of the book, you are also provided with a guide that contains several useful tips the author learned throughout their career in promoting employee engagement. This guide gives you an idea of what you can try at your organization to achieve similar successful results. I can't rave enough about this book and how effectively it showcases the principles taught about employee engagement through the lived events of the story's main character and the antics they get up to during their search for a new challenge. Please give this book a shot!

I bought this on Kindle version. At first, I was skeptical about the content of this book. I left it hanging after reading it for a couple of pages. It confused me because I bought a practical book and instead I got a "boring" story about some CEO who resigned from his peak job to a retired version of himself. I literally left this book after the plot when he decided to live in the countryside, it bored me right away. Unfortunately, after months it left hanging unfinished, there's a time when I run out of "good book" to read about employee engagement, and that was the time when I just build up a new partnership business in food & beverages industry, this is a first time for me managing a noodle shop team. Idk why I got reminded by myself that I had a book where it told a story about retired CEO that bought dinner and try to manage the business there. I try to look it up for some inspiration or maybe some tips. I try to carry on with this book from where I last left off. I read it and I was amazed how relatable the story in the book with my current situation. I keep reading it and I was invested with the character and the plot. It was a simple story, about a retired CEO who get into a partnership with a restaurant owner and try to manage the existing crews there. Then he tries to dive in into each of the crew's life one-by-one and get to know them. He believes that everyone shouldn't be in misery when working the job they choose, and a manager's job is to help them avoid it. That's what this book is all about. A manager trying to work for the crews out of their misery. This is also where you can implicitly learn how he successfully manages a team from the abyss to its peak performance. Honestly, I took a lot of notes from the plot alone, and without realizing it, I was hugely invested on the characters. I love how the writer builds up each of the characters and let us be part of the journey of finding out things while struggling in managing the restaurant. Each of the crews has a diverse character, and each of them is set that way for the writer to show us how to handle each kind of employee with their own unique character. For example, there was an immigrant who has a language barrier but have a crucial part of the team, I believe the writer set this character to show us how that language barrier is not the main problem in bad management. There was also a delivery guy who hates his life so much and hard to fit with the new culture. It's a well-told story, well prepared and well-executed. At the end of the book, the writer also summarized everything practically in a direct way. Deep down, I felt sad when the story ends because I was too invested in the character's journey. Recommended for all of those who experience being a new manager. A lot of tips and methods you can implement literally to your team from this book.

Patrick Lencioni is one of my favorite authors and leaders when it comes to creating meaning in the workplace and he doesn't disappoint with this one! His ability to drive his point home through allegory and fable really bring the concepts he talks about to life! Spoiler alert! The three root causes of job misery (according to the book) are; anonymity, irrelevance, and immeasurement. Honestly, I'm not really "spoiling" anything because you still need to learn about how these look in context as well as what we can do as leaders and managers to make sure they don't set roots in our workplace environments. These three causes are what's affecting low recruitment and retention across the board! Read this book to understand a practical approach you can take to make sure your organization or your team doesn't succumb to them.

So essential, regardless of your title.I liked it alot..this applies to every role.Simple but essential for all to read.Fantastic Must read.

Patrick again makes something that appears complex easy to understand. In this case, employee engagement is clarified to three simple truths without leaving the reader in a theoretical realm with no actionable tools. The underlying symptom of job misery is a great place to start since managers are responsible for the work environment and culture. With the consequences of employee engagement (newest buzz phrase for creating an environment where human beings can flourish at work) being so important, managers will benefit greatly from reading this book. The restaurant context for this fable is fantastic for making his points! The quality and service dilemmas presented are a common experience for most of us. Great and easy read with a real return for your investment!

I love his books. This one was an aha moment for me. I put his lessons to work right away. His story telling technique makes his books easy to read but still very powerful.

Loved the format to make a point. I am recommending it to my business clients as a pre-read for one of my courses. Included many key points. Excellent information.

Funny how the author himself admits that his work is simple, intuitive even. It’s also true that it is so hard to implement. I guess this is because some of us need to be told that what something so obvious is so important. Hit the nail in the head with this one. Fun read filled with gems for business managers.

As Managers we struggle..getting employees to our levels of motivation and commitment. This book teaches us as how we can win on employee engagement.. Well written and rings a bell! The point just boils down to asking did I make a difference?? And in showing the mirror as how one can, howsoever humble the job is...a great read!!

This book is a joy to read and guides you through the thought process behind Lencioni’s employee engagement program. Following on as an observer as Brian discovers the keys to reducing his teams misery is a great way to get you thinking about how to implement a similar process with your team.

And by “it” I mean challenging myself to address irrelevance, anonymity and immeasurability within my own company. I haven’t taken any management training and have always tried to keep a “professional distance” from my employees. What if I had to fire them? Close relationships would make that hard to do. I realize that mentality may (ok, probably is) hurting morale and possibly even making our workplace... miserable? Oh my....

Patrick Lencioni has done it again with his well structured fable to represent any organisation. Nuggets come tumbling out so fast it's almost dangerous! I just love the way this guy writes his books. They are page-turners.

The Truth About Employee Engagement tells the tale of a retired CEO that returns to the work field to research and prove his vision on team work and its influence on employees at all levels. Our retired CEO first joins a small pizza shack and figures out the elements of his theory. After that he joins a bigger company to validate his theory on a bigger scale. Lencioni explains his theory through a fictional story which makes his theory easily accessible. Next to that he uses clear and plain English which makes the story easy to read and understand. The content is presented clearly and well structured. In my opinion it is also closely related to real life situations. After the intial fable, Lencioni explains his theory further in non-fictional terms. In this section he also gives examples of people and how they might come in contact with his theory. He also explains how his theory can solve the problems these people are having. This part is also well structure and the content is relevant. In this part, he also stays true to his writing style, making it easy the theory easy to comprehend. I was interested in this book as I was looking for ways to make my scrum team more effective. The book definetely helped me achieve that. I was able to use this theory directly in my one-on-ones with the team members and they also immediatly grabbed the concepts and their value. I was able to introduce two out of three elements last week, now I'm awaiting how it will play out in the future. However, during the talks, the team members already seemed more excited. So we're off to a good start! To summerize, I would definetely reccomend this book to fellow scrum master or managers in any capacity. The book will give you a lot of insights and inspiration. It well written and easily understandable. An absolute gemt, once again!