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According to the Harvard Business Review, companies spend over $720 million each year on employee engagement – an amount that is projected to rise to over $1.5 billion per year – yet, employee engagement is at record lows. Just 30 percent of employees are currently considered engaged, according to the Gallup Organization, roughly the same percentage as when Gallup first started measuring the topic over 15 years ago.

What’s wrong with this picture? Why is increasing employee engagement so difficult? There’s no refuting Gallup’s extensive longitudinal research that systematically identified the core variables that distinguish high-performing organizations from their competitive also-rans in the marketplace. But knowing what those organizational pressure points are and positively impacting those variables apparently is more difficult than anyone could have predicted.

Or are these engagement scores the proverbial tail wagging the dog? Are companies spending extraordinary amounts of effort (and money) to chase higher engagement scores while overlooking the fundamentals that are necessary for actually better engaging today’s employees?

A painting entitled The Treachery of Images, by Rene Magritte, the Belgian surrealist, hangs in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art … The work depicts a man’s smoking pipe over the words Ceci n’est pas une pipe (“This is not a pipe”). It’s basically making the point that the representation of something is not the thing itself. In the same way, engagement scores that represent employee engagement are not engagement itself. Perhaps it’s time to focus on the behaviors that truly impact employee engagement, and not just the scores that measure it. This book seeks to do just that.

About This Book

Recognizing and Engaging Employees For Dummies is a reference book that contains a wealth of ideas, suggestions, tools, techniques and best practices of engagement, recognition, and motivation. There are lots of examples and some case studies – many from my own experience in applying these concepts with hundreds of organizations. You can dip into this book anywhere to find advice, examples, and best practices that can instantly provide you help today. Sidebars are skippable, but you won’t want to skip them, because they provide interesting tangents, tips, and real-life stories that help to bring these topics to life.

I conceived this book to better address the specific actions needed to increase employee recognition and engagement of your employees. I want this book to be helpful to you, whether you are a manager, a team leader, a human resources professional, an executive, or a front-line employee – regardless of your level of experience with employee recognition and engagement.

Although there are many other good books available to supplement this one, including some that I authored – such as 1501 Ways to Reward Employees, The 1001 Rewards & Recognition Fieldbook, 1001 Ways to Energize Employees (all published by Workman Publishing Company), and The Management Bible and Managing For Dummies, 3rd Edition, published by John Wiley & Sons – I wanted this book to stand alone as an ongoing resource and an application guide to help you get the best results from your recognition and engagement efforts.

Many of the items I discuss in this book direct you back to your employees for answers as to how they best like to be recognized, ways you can better involve them in decisions, discussions you should have with them about their work preferences, plans and ambitions as well as to just generally get to know them better!

Foolish Assumptions

By purchasing this book I’m assuming that you’re a manager, business owner, or human resource professional that is looking for answers and ideas about what you can do to better motivate and engage your employees. You might also be a front-line employee who’s looking for ways to get your boss to be a better manager to work for, one who makes time for you, supports and encourages you, and thanks and recognizes you more when you’ve done good work. Perhaps you’re a coach or consultant who works with managers and organizations, trying to help them improve their recognition, engagement, and motivation efforts.

If my assumptions are correct, you’ll find that there is something within these pages for you, so long as you are open to considering some new ideas and willing to experiment to learn how best to apply the ideas I include here in your work with others.

Icons Used in This Book

Throughout this book, you’ll come across icons that call out different kinds of information. Keep your eyes out for these icons as you’re reading:

This icon indicates an especially useful insight or practical nugget of advice. It’s usually something quick you can put into action right away.

This icon calls out something that is especially worth retaining. It’s usually a key principle or concept that is critical to your success on the topic being discussed.

This icon relays a personal story or company example I’ve had in my work that relates to the topic being discussed. These are usually fun and interesting asides!

This icon accompanies slightly longer company examples.

When you see this icon, be aware! It describes a mistake or problem you should try to avoid.

Beyond the Book

In addition to the contents of this book, you can access some really great, related material online that you can access anytime at www.dummies.com/extras/recognizingandengagingemployees. These extra web goodies are shorter than the book, and give you quick bit of information and guidance on-demand.

The eCheat Sheet gives you a quick rundown of 14 different engaged workplace behaviors, and the ways in which you should recognize your employees to get them. Sometimes, when a recognition issue arises, you’re right in the thick of things at work and may not have time to go back through this book to find the right chapter. The eCheat Sheet articles present info like how to recognize and incentivize employees from different generations in an efficient way so you can solve the problem and keep moving. To access the eCheat Sheet, go to www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/recognizingandengagingemployees.

You can also access some additional helpful bits of information, such as how to get certain business results through recognition, ways to recognize core values, do’s and don’ts of workplace recognition, trends that impact managers’ roles today, and ten common questions about rewards and recognition.

Where to Go from Here

One of the great things about this book (and most For Dummies books) is that it’s written in a modular format in which each chapter stands on its own, enabling you to jump around in the book however you prefer. Of course, you can also read it through from beginning to end as well!

Along the way, if you have any questions or comments about what is discussed, please send me an email at bob@drbobnelson.com, and I’ll do my best to answer your question. If you’re potentially interested in having me present or consult on the topics discussed in this book to your management team, association, or conference, you can contact me directly about that as well. My direct phone number is (858) 673-0690, and I’m based in sunny San Diego, California, USA. Thank you!