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Book Review

The Enthusiastic Employee

How Companies Profit by Giving Workers What They Want

Wharton School Publishing - 2005 (362 pages in hardback)

Authors David Sirota, Louis Mischkind & Michael Irwin Meltzer

ISBN 0-13-142330-4

Employee morale is a constant concern and problem in the modern workplace. The same cycle seems to exist in most organizations today. A new employee is hired with a natural enthusiasm for their new job. They are eager to establish a new path in their career and to be part of a productive organizational team. However, in about 6 months something begins to happen to 9 out of 10 employees after this “honeymoon period” is over! The enthusiastic employee becomes discouraged or disillusioned and this has a serious impact on their performance. The Enthusiastic Employee maintains that this is the result of poor management practices. In other words, it is management that kills enthusiasm.

The three authors of this excellent work are members of the same consulting firm. Yet, they all bring with them diverse backgrounds in business that compliments each others skills and knowledge. The Enthusiastic Employee is not a book that simply parrots their own opinions, theories or ideas. It is the result of over three decades of research. Yet, most of the data presented is recent. The analysis presented in the book is from surveys taken between 1994 and 2003. Since 1994 the authors surveyed over 2.5 million employees in 237 private, public and not-for-profit- organizations located in 89 countries. The results consist of a combination of both qualitative and quantitative data.

Yet, the significant contribution of The Enthusiastic Employee doesn’t end with a sound analysis of the survey results. The authors go on to offer solid solutions to real world employee morale problems. They provide interesting data and stimulating “case studies” to show it is indeed possible to develop and maintain enthusiastic employees! Most of the book’s chapters discuss what the authors refer to as the “Three Factor Theory”. These are management practices that promote and maintain employee enthusiasm. Employees naturally seek to satisfy three important needs to remain motivated. These factors are equity, achievement and camaraderie. When these needs are being met by management, a great degree of enthusiasm, often beyond what they are being paid for, is generated toward achieving organizational goals. These three factors interact with each other in an interesting way and are what separate the great organizations for the good ones.

The final chapter of The Enthusiastic Employee (Chapter 12) ties the information together and shows a leader how the right kind of practices and policies can create a “partnership” culture. This chapter also provides guidance on how to generate a positive cultural change within an organization. The book concludes with a number of Appendices that publish much of the actual research and data the authors discovered during their surveys and research. This outstanding book comes highly recommended and if you are concerned about employee morale problems in your organization (or your own) you will become an enthusiastic reader of this well written publication.

weLEAD rating – highly recommended

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