Page 13 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

xiiB Preface

We are just beginning, for example, to see the impact of having four
generations at work, and our insights should go a long way in ad-
vancing the discussion of how the generations can work, dare we say
thrive, together. And our studies showing how company growth and
consequent increases in employee populations can negatively affect
employee engagement—and what can be done to fight that “tipping
point”—also break new ground.
In other parts of this book we offer gentle reminders of approaches
that have served successful leaders well for many years. Caring leader-
ship, compensation that is fair and justly administered, great team-
work—these basics of leadership haven’t changed, but they deserve to
be revisited, particularly through the eyes of winning employers.
In the course of writing this book, we’ve heard the voices of over
2 million employees, many of whom you’ll read about. We go to great
lengths to give them a platform from which they can help you under-
stand how the actions of their leaders affect them. You’ll hear many who
work in highly engaged workplaces speak of how lucky they feel to work
there. And you’ll hear others who are so disillusioned and disgusted
with their employers they can hardly wait to find another position. It is
quite apparent these good folks are giving us their verdicts about their
places of work. These verbatim quotes express raw and heartfelt emo-
tions that reflect the way they have been led and the workplace cultures
they have experienced. The good news from our point of view is that we
can influence for the better how employees feel about their workplaces.
Many of the outstanding employers we highlight tell us that “things
weren’t always this good” and that they needed to change their ways to
become great workplaces. Therein lies our hope.
The longshoreman-philosopher Eric Hoffer wrote, “In times of
change, learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beau-
tifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” In the course
of writing this book we have been reporters, observers, and, importantly,
learners, looking deeply into how we can manage the change that is in
front of us from “the world that no longer exists.” These remarkable em-
ployers are helping us to clearly see what that new world is all about.
We invite you to join us on the journey.