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The 12 New Rules for Managing Your Employees as If They’re Real People

McGraw-Hill, 2015

15 min read

10 take-aways

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Engage and motivate your employees by treating them like human beings.

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Employee engagement expert Rodd Wagner accurately diagnoses the troublesome state of the modern-day workplace and offers sensible, long-term solutions for employee engagement. After the turmoil of the recession, employees are wary. Employers must guarantee stability if they expect employees to be loyal. To re-establish connection, Wagner suggests organizations start by treating their workers like people instead of “things” or statistics. A healthy dose of humanity can do wonders to repair the damage some companies inflict on their workforces. Wagner anchors his material around 12 logical rules that getAbstract recommends to executives and managers.

Summary

Reciprocity Is Key

Understanding the principle of reciprocity is pivotal for leaders who want to engage their employees. Employees will work harder and be more loyal if they believe their employer is investing in their well-being. Absent that encouragement, resentful employees will underperform and eventually seek other professional options. The recession permanently tilted the playing field. Employees who felt betrayed by threats of layoffs can no longer count on financial security from their employers; they need other reasons to stay motivated and find fulfillment. These “12 new rules” provide a map employers can follow to inculcate honest, effective engagement.

1. “Get Inside Their Heads”

In this egocentric age of Facebook and Instagram, employees expect employers and colleagues to treat them as unique individuals. Everyone has different needs and abilities. The employer’s job is to lead and manage people according to their distinct qualities. In the best-case scenario, every employee should be “recognized as a category of one.”

Direct supervisors must ensure that their staffers have a meaningful, pleasant work experience. Employees invariably say ...

About the Author

Rodd Wagner, BI Worldwide’s vice president of employee engagement strategy, is an expert on personal effectiveness in the workplace.

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J. W. 7 years ago

I think the best take away from this Segway is that there is greater value in voicing appreciation and promoting continuation in the selected field as well as taking a direct and personal investment into the employees promotional characteristics than you will ever get by just a financial gesture; however both of these need to be in harmony or you will get the same negative result at some point.
D. G. 9 years ago

"Your people are not your greatest asset. They’re not yours, and they’re not assets.” A powerful phrase and one which leadership and management would do well to understand. I'd be interested to know if the book deals with what behaviours and skills a leader needs to retain in order to effectively apply and execute the 12 Rules.

Rodd Wagner

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The 12 New Rules for Managing Your Employees as If They’re Real People

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Summary

Reciprocity Is Key

1. “Get Inside Their Heads”

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