The Workplace Engagement Solutions, David Harder

The idea that employee engagement is an essential part of the potential success of a company is not news.   Organizations spend billions annually on initiatives to boost engagement engagements.  However, with engagement at only 13% globally author David Harder suggests the problem is that leaders are not teaching employees the skills they need to navigate the ever-changing business world and that it is the role and responsibility of the company’s leaders and HR departments to be the role model for the behavior they want to see transcend their organizations.   Harder believes that engagement programs are not enough, that to truly engage your employee population leaders must take charge in developing programs that spread the conduct throughout the organization.  Examples of this take charge movement may include C-suite executives owning the personality of their organization’s culture and changing the view of engagement from an expense to a source that generates higher profits.

Harder wrote this book to help business leaders to respond effectively to these and other challenges. They, in turn, would be well-advised to keep in mind this passage from Lao-tse’s Tao Te Ching:

“Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know;
Of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people will remark
We have done it ourselves.”

Harder is able to paint a portrait of what an engaged leader may look like by giving the reader a multitude of information, insights, and advice to navigate what may work best within their organization.  Overall, the book outlines a compelling answer to the billion-dollar question of how to actively engage your employees.