Why People Work : Leadership Strategies for Building Culture, Engagement and Retention

Why do people work? This appears to be a very simple and obvious question. And when we ask this question to people, we usually get a simple and seemingly obvious answer – “DUH! They want to get a paycheck.” The wise and insightful leader will go beyond this obvious response and come to grips with the fact that there are more complex and hidden human needs within the human spirit.

There are most likely thousands of leadership books written to equip leaders to develop the skills and behaviors necessary to encourage their teams to achieve goals and purposes. However, the primary focus of this book is to assist leaders in looking deeper into the expectations and motivations of the people they serve. So as the organization is achieving its strategic plans and objectives, it is also meeting the critical needs and ambitions of its most important essential resources, better known as its human resources.

In businesses and organizations today, everything begins and ends with leadership. The leaders, who go beyond the obvious to uncover these critical hidden expectations of their employees, are able to create a culture of engagement and retention where employees not only give you their hands but, most importantly, their hearts. The return on investment for this effort is that the leader will earn their employees’ best effort. Therefore, when you know your employees “why” game, they will bring their “A-game.”