Cambridge Business Association
Irresistible
Book

Irresistible

The Seven Secrets of the World’s Most Enduring, Employee-Focused Organizations

Josh Bersin
Ideapress, 2022
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Engaging
  • Insider's Take

Recommendation

HR guru Josh Bersin applies his vast knowledge of motivation and learning to the challenging environment organizations face today. Based on extensive research into “irresistible” companies – those that maintain employee engagement over the long term – Bersin sets forth seven principles for attracting and retaining talent. His core theme: Field well-trained managers devoted to people’s growth and happiness, and reap the dividends as workers flourish. The book has won praise from luminaries such as Adam Grant, Arianna Huffington and Daniel Pink, and Bersin is developing an array of projects to highlight his findings.

Summary

Irresistible companies prioritize employee experience and reap the performance benefits in seven ways.

Josh Bersin chose “irresistible” to describe companies that maintain employee engagement over the long term – not just during their growth phase. These companies have organizational endurance, thanks to four factors: They pursue a compelling, timeless mission. They support employees’ productivity – and as a result, enjoy excellent growth and business outcomes. They make employee engagement a foundational value. And, finally, they support employees’ happiness by building trust, valuing fairness and creating social cohesion within the organization.

Bersin identified irresistible companies by analyzing more than 5,000 organizations in the Glassdoor database, which provides workers’ ratings of various aspects of employee experience at tens of thousands of companies. Although fewer than one-in-ten companies qualify as irresistible, these workplaces do exist in all industries and at organizations of all sizes and ages.

Irresistible workplaces attract talent, customers and other stakeholders, and they free people to contribute and innovate. Organizations ...

About the Author

Josh Bersin is founder and CEO of the Josh Bersin Company, a global leader in research, advisory services and professional development for HR teams. During a five-year stint at Deloitte, he served as principal author and architect of the Deloitte Human Capital Trends study and created the “Simply Irresistible” model for employee engagement. Bersin sits on the board of UC Berkeley Executive Education.

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