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In this week\u2019s bonus episode, Bill Fotsch, a business consultant, explains why he thinks much of the effort that he and many others have put into creating employee engagement over the past three decades has been wasted effort\u2014well intentioned, but wasted. The fact is, Fotsch says, employees today are no more engaged than they were some 30 years ago when the concept of employee engagement first gained currency. So what\u2019s the answer? Fotsch has come to the conclusion that it\u2019s something he calls \u201ceconomic engagement,\u201d which happens to be the name of his consulting business. What exactly is economic engagement? He says it\u2019s getting employees to focus on serving customers, and doing so profitably. He says it\u2019s not so much about sharing financials with employees but about getting employees to understand the strategies and actions that really drive a business\u2019s profitability. Fotsch is so convinced that he\u2019s cracked the code that he\u2019s gone beyond mere consulting and has been buying stakes in businesses so he can implement his ideas and prove his concept. So far, he says, it\u2019s working.

Show Notes:

• See how you score on an economic-engagement benchmark survey.
• Here\u2019s Gallup\u2019s G12 employee-engagement survey.
• Bill Fotsch co-authored an article that argues economic engagement is a logical successor to open book management.