“Brad Federman has created a practical, systematic, real world guide for leaders of all sizes and

types of organizations to truly engage individuals and teams. Employee Engagement will not only
convince any leader, from the CEO of the largest company to the owner of the smallest of small
businesses that engaged team members lead to efficient, profitable and successful organizations,
but it will also give them the tools to make engagement happen.”

Rick McCue vice president,

Brand Performance & Support Embassy Suites Hotels

“Brad Federman’s new book is a must read! It provides the critical keys for performance improve-
ment and employee engagement in the context of our ever-changing global landscape. It teaches
how to embrace technology overload without violating the sanctity of high-trust, engaged rela-
tionships. For improved business principles resulting in more profit, read this book!”

Don Hutson, co-author of NY Times #1 best-seller,

The One Minute Entrepreneur, and CEO of U. S. Learning

“Brad Federman offers new insight on the difference between employee satisfaction and
employee engagement. Any manager, business owner or HR professional who wants to be
successful in today’s world will benefit from his perspective on the importance of employee
engagement in reducing turnover, building customer loyalty, increasing profits and sustaining a
corporate culture built on integrity and trust.”

Rose Douglass, SPHR executive vice president

director of human resources Central Bank

“I have worked with Brad firsthand to transform our company’s sales culture. This book captures
the insights of his expertise and is a must read for driving your business to the next level.”

John Ray president and CEO TopRX, Inc.

“Nearly 90 years of evolutionary thinking on engagement in one resource. This is the roadmap
to engagement and excellence!”
Bob Chamness EVP, CLO & secretary Digimarc Corporation

“Like great architecture, Brad has clearly laid out a solid foundation that’s built to last the test
of time. Following his differentiating blueprint of connecting employee’s needs to a company’s
goals will positively transform people’s lives both in and outside the office walls.”

Courtney Rothstein executive vice president,

managing director Added Value

FREE
Premium Content
P

This book includes premium content that can be

accessed from our Web site when you register at
www.Josseybass.com/go/bradfederman
using the password professional
For my wife, Hollie, who has always believed in me, and our boys,
Aris and Elijah, who help me make believe.
Employee Engagement

A Roadmap for Creating Profits,

Optimizing Performance, and
Increasing Loyalty

Brad Federman
Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by Jossey-Bass
A Wiley Imprint
989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741—www.josseybass.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise,
except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act,
without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment
of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive,
Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com.
Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department,
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008,
or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further
information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it
is read.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best
efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the
accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied
warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created
or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies
contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional
where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any
other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential,
or other damages.

Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass
directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the
U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax 317-572-4002.

Jossey-Bass also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears
in print may not be available in electronic books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Federman, Brad.
Employee engagement: a roadmap for creating profits, optimizing performance, and
increasing loyalty / Brad Federman.-1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliogrpahical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-38815-0 (cloth)
1. Employee motivation. 2. Management—Employeee participation. 3. Employees—
Attitudes. I. Title.
HF5549.5.M63F43 2009
658.3'14—dc22
2009017416
Printed in the United States of America
first edition
HB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
PB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 Contents

Foreword vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
Section One: Engagement Foundations 1
1. The Case for Employee Engagement: Connections 3
Versus Transactions
2. It’s Not Just the Manager, Stupid! 29
3. Measure Twice, Cut Once 53
4. Thanks for the Gift 65
5. It Boils Down to Two Things 79
Section Two: Engagement Applications 103
6. They Lost the Game on Turnovers 105
7. Bring Them On 121
8. Engaging Leaders, Engaging Cultures 149
9. How Much Can You Bench? 165
10. What Is Your MPV? 187

vv
vi CONT ENTS

11. Eye of the Customer 205

12. Reaping the Rewards 221

Notes 231
Index 236
About the Author 242
 Foreword

Tom Schmitt
President and Chief Executive Officer,
FedEx Global Supply Chain Services

Brad Federman has spent most of his life with an eye toward
strategy, execution, and performance. In fact, as early as junior
high he showed an inherent knack for suggesting ways to
improve group performance. His abilities surfaced during a
weekend retreat and leadership seminar for student government
participants, when the camp director immediately recognized in
Brad a keen understanding of people and the issues that make
them what they are.
Brad is now widely recognized as an expert in performance
improvement and as a coach and leader. He has now made
the decision to share that knowledge on a broader scale, and
I predict that this book will be seen on quite a few executive
bookshelves.
Managing people in a corporate setting shouldn’t be rocket
science. After all, it requires only hiring qualified people, keep-
ing them reasonably happy with pleasant working conditions
and salaries, and motivating them to perform well and help the
company make a profit. Not too hard, right? Right!—As long as
“managing people” is the end goal.

vii
viii FOREWORD

Brad is on the leading edge of an area that has been evolv-

ing ever since Frederick Taylor first turned management into a
science in the early 1900s. It was only then that businesses got
the first inkling that their way of getting the product out the
door might be more than a little inefficient.
The business community has come even further since
Taylor’s day, taking a more holistic look at leadership. We now
look for traits such as emotional intelligence—the ability to
assess and manage our own emotions as well as those of others.
Leadership is finally being seen as a quality instead of an author-
ity. Good managers are not judged by how well they keep a team
in line and how much work that team produces, but rather by
how good they are at motivating a team to want to produce a
better product. We’re looking deeper at employees to learn just
what makes them tick—and, thereby, learning what makes
them work. Left-brain people learn and process information
much differently than right-brain people. Choose all of one type
and your team will suffer. Choose a balance of left and right and
you’ll have drive, strategy, and creativity.
Brad puts the icing on the cake with his in-depth look at
employee engagement as a strategy. He compares his model to
Herzberg’s “Two Factor” model. It is some of that and a little of
the old adage about “leading a horse to water.” You can put an
employee in a spacious office with an inspiring view, but without
what Brad calls the “enrichment” factor, you cannot force him
to be motivated or to care deeply about the company’s goals.
With rock-solid advice on everything from employee sur-
veys to hiring the right people, this book will live up to its claim
as a “roadmap for creating profits, optimizing performance, and
increasing loyalty.”