Page 29 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

16B RE-ENGAGE

also a basic premise of this book—that in addition to keeping them-
selves engaged, leaders and managers are paid to engage those who
report to them.
Engaging and re-engaging employees—as leaders, this is our
charge.

:
“Leaving with a Sack in Their Hands”
Mark enjoys telling a story about his father, a successful
small-town Nebraska clothier with a passionate customer
base and employees whose tenure often surpassed 50 years.
As Mark was headed to college in the late 1970s, he sought
his dad’s counsel on the topic of success in business and in
life. One admonition stuck with Mark all these years: “Son,
it’s really pretty simple. Success in business starts with car-
ing deeply for your employees so they, in turn, care deeply
for your customers. And when your customers feel cared for,
they tend to leave the store with a sack in their hands.”
This fatherly advice succinctly captures the relationship
between an engaged workplace and customers. Want more
customers to “leave with a sack in their hands”? Care deeply
for your employees.

: LINKING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT TO KEY BUSINESS
SUCCESS

It is reasonable to ask, “If we invest more time and money into moving
a higher percentage of our employees into the fully engaged category,
what business benefit, if any, can we expect from this investment?”
The simplified cycle shown in Figure 1.1 shows how engaged workers
lead to business success.