12: The Elements of Great Managing
Encyclopedia
12: The Elements of Great Managing is a New York Times bestseller written by Rodd Wagner and James K. Harter. It is the sequel to First, Break All the Rules
, although the first book was written by Marcus Buckingham
and Curt Coffman. Both books are based on The Gallup Organization
's research on employee engagement
and database of employee opinions.
comparing employee attitudes with workgroup performance. These range from employee's "knowing what's expected" and having the needed "materials and equipment" to more emotional assessments such as whether the employees feels his or her opinion counts and whether he or she has had chances to "learn and grow." The story of each manager profiled in the book is interrupted mid-chapter to describe the psychology behind the particular question Gallup asks in its employee surveys.
The most controversial of the statements, write Wagner and Harter, is the tenth: "I have best friend at work." The authors claim friendships, in combination with the other "elements," create better customer scores, better retention, better safety, and higher productivity and profitability. "In the battle between company policy and human nature, human nature always wins," states the book. "Companies do far better to harness this kind of social capital than to fight against it."
The book also includes a chapter on compensation. The authors assert that pay is such a "status-laden, envy-inspiring, politically charged monster" that it cannot be measured in the same way as the aspects that make up the bulk of the book. Being based in research on how people react in real life, rather than in theory, 12 is a mainstream application of behavioral economics.
First, Break All the Rules
First, Break All the Rules, subtitled, What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently is a book authored by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman who try to offer solutions to better employee satisfaction with the help of examples of how the best managers handle employees...
, although the first book was written by Marcus Buckingham
Marcus Buckingham
Marcus Buckingham is a British-American New York Times bestselling author, researcher, motivational speaker and business consultant best known for promoting what he calls "Strengths." Basing most of his writing on extensive survey data from interviews with workers in countries around the world, he...
and Curt Coffman. Both books are based on The Gallup Organization
The Gallup Organization
The Gallup Organization, is primarily a research-based performance-management consulting company. Some of Gallup's key practice areas are - Employee Engagement, Customer Engagement and Well-Being. Gallup has over 40 offices in 27 countries. World headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Operational...
's research on employee engagement
Employee engagement
Employee engagement, also called worker engagement, is a business management concept. An "engaged employee" is one who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about their work, and thus will act in a way that furthers their organization's interests...
and database of employee opinions.
Content
12 tells the story of a dozen managers selected from Gallup's global database of 10 million interviews with managers and employees. Each of the chapters in 12 is based on one of the "Q12" statements that emerged from Gallup's meta-analysisMeta-analysis
In statistics, a meta-analysis combines the results of several studies that address a set of related research hypotheses. In its simplest form, this is normally by identification of a common measure of effect size, for which a weighted average might be the output of a meta-analyses. Here the...
comparing employee attitudes with workgroup performance. These range from employee's "knowing what's expected" and having the needed "materials and equipment" to more emotional assessments such as whether the employees feels his or her opinion counts and whether he or she has had chances to "learn and grow." The story of each manager profiled in the book is interrupted mid-chapter to describe the psychology behind the particular question Gallup asks in its employee surveys.
The most controversial of the statements, write Wagner and Harter, is the tenth: "I have best friend at work." The authors claim friendships, in combination with the other "elements," create better customer scores, better retention, better safety, and higher productivity and profitability. "In the battle between company policy and human nature, human nature always wins," states the book. "Companies do far better to harness this kind of social capital than to fight against it."
The book also includes a chapter on compensation. The authors assert that pay is such a "status-laden, envy-inspiring, politically charged monster" that it cannot be measured in the same way as the aspects that make up the bulk of the book. Being based in research on how people react in real life, rather than in theory, 12 is a mainstream application of behavioral economics.