17 Rules Successful Companies Use to Attract and Keep Top Talent: Why Engaged Employees Are Your Greatest Sustainable Advantage

Product Author Bios

David Russo is Principal and CEO of Eno River Associates, Inc., a consulting practice that helps executives build high-performing organizations by developing win-win relationships with the workforce. Mr. Russo has consulted with many global companies and organizations, including American Express, Johnson & Johnson, Minitab, Inc., American Eagle Outfitters, and the CIA. Before his retirement in 1999, he was the senior human resources executive for SAS Institute, the world’s largest privately held software company, known as a perennial Fortune “Best Place to Work” for its quality work environment and focus on its people.

Want people who care, engage, work hard, support your strategies, and deliver results? Start right here. Through more than a dozen case studies, top workforce optimization consultant David Russo identifies exactly what great organizations do differently when it comes to managing their people. He distills these differences into 17 rules, covering everything from resourcing and compensation to leadership development, risk-taking to change management. You'll learn exactly how to apply these rules in your organization, whether you're large or small, high-tech or low-tech, profit-making or non-profit. Using Russo's techniques, companies can build genuine esprit de corps, virtually guaranteeing that the efforts, minds, and hearts of their employees are focused on the corporate mission, and challenged with producing outstanding results and competitive advantage. What's more, this book's techniques help companies attract and retain the kinds of talent best suited to their unique work environments, promoting long-term success, not just short-term "quick fixes."

Table of Contents

Introduction    1

Rule #1: Understand Why Employees Come and Why They Stay    9

Rule #2: Play “Win-Win” with Your Employees (and Allow Them to Be All They Can Be for Self and Company)    21

Rule #3: Cultivate Leadership, Not Management, and Know the Difference!    33

Rule #4: Provide Ample and Appropriate Resources    41

Rule #5: Demand Contribution; Be Worthy of Receiving It    49

Rule #6: Applaud Effort; Reward Contribution    61

Rule #7: Cheerlead; The “Magic” of M&Ms    71

Rule #8: Build a Workplace on a Foundation of Respect    81

Rule #9: Cultivate the Risk-Trust Dynamic    91

Rule #10: Make Room for Fun in the Workplace (Nurture Lightheartedness/Levity)     101

Rule #11: Create Opportunities for Employee “Alignment” with Vision, Values, and Mission    109

Rule #12: Understand Human Capital    119

Rule #13: Treat Employees as “Volunteers”    129

Rule #14: Know Your Culture    139

Rule #15: Understand the Nature of Change and Prepare Your Employees to Embrace It    153

Rule #16: Cultivate Organizational Ethics; Demand and Reward Ethical Behavior    165

Rule #17: The Last and Overarching Rule: Tell the Truth! (and a Few Action Items to Grow On)    177

Index    189