When They Win, You Win

April 4, 2022
“Managers everywhere are systematically failing,” according to this cursory debut from Laraway, the chief people officer at Qualtrics, a management company. Citing studies that report “global employee engagement to be 15 percent, which is shockingly low,” Matthews encourages managers to keep team members motivated by applying his “big 3” approach: direction, coaching, and career guidance. This means ensuring “every member of their team understands exactly what is expected and when it is expected,” and coaching employees on both their short and long-term goals. Laraway makes a fine case for fairly standard business ideas, such as nailing down a “vision” and “purpose” to keep teams productive and on track, and dishes out a number of chatty stories about employee engagement turnaround at companies where he has worked. But he offers little beyond simplistic directives to solidify one’s mission, to care about employees as human beings, and to avoid bragging about overwork. While the presentation is peppy—“my dream is that readers of this book will join me in my quest to rid the world of assclown managers everywhere”—there’s not much new. The tone is a nice change from the status quo, but many managers will find most of this all too familiar.

May 20, 2022
Focusing on the integral role of managers, Laraway shares his ""Big 3"" leadership structure to aid leaders in bolstering employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention. An abundance of evidence demonstrates that employee engagement is primarily impacted by managers; this truism has repercussions, positive and negative, on business outcomes. Based on that reality, Laraway's straightforward framework is relevant and beneficial to managers at all levels, from first-time leaders to C-Suite officers. Drawing on a deep well of experience, he provides concrete methods for measuring employee engagement and manager effectiveness. The importance of gathering solid, qualitative data cannot be overstated. These methods, paired with the management framework, result in a solid resource for all managers to read and revisit. The case studies featured run the gamut from basic, entry-level learning experiences to complex scenarios that play out on big stages.This volume is recommended for public library as well as business school collections.

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