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PRO READS Culture Shock
Gallup is to the analytical and reports world as Obi-Wan Kenobi is to “Star Wars.” Gallup is the Jedi master, highly respected, skilled, with years of work in the field. That is why when I saw the book, “Culture Shock,” by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter, providing Gallup’s solution to the biggest leadership issue of our time, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, I ordered it right away. According to the publisher’s description, “the COVID-19 pandemic caused an awakening that shocked the world — a structural change in how and where people work and live. One thing we now know for certain: Nothing is going back to normal.” Clifton and Harter lead the reader through the Gallup path, a well thought-out plan that aims to lead the reader to revenue growth, earnings and stock increases. If that doesn’t grab a business leader’s attention, I am not sure what will. Thousands of large, medium and small businesses have used Gallup’s Dashboard Q12 employee engagement survey. This authors posit that it is crucial to change these much-used employee survey questions following the pandemic. As a leader, CEO or business owner, the stress of making sure you are doing the right things to increase productivity and see growth and profitability in your business rest squarely on your shoulders. Let’s face it, your employees are your face, the direct contact to your customers, to clients and to other businesses. So how do you keep your employees engaged and productive? In work environments that would allow a remote situation, should you force employees to come to the office? Do you create a blended work arrangement or a full-scale remote work situation? If the work task requires the employee to come to work, how do you keep employees engaged?
Gallup answers these questions and more in “Culture Shock,” but the authors do even more. They also provide the reader with detailed reports, surveys and analysis on how they came to their conclusions. If you and your company practice the philosophy of Strength Finder 2.0, you are in a great position for agilely moving into the future. The writers provide a CEO Playbook that will set you and your company’s leadership well into the future. I found “Culture Shock” to be an engaging, easy read that spells out a great method to move into the future. I highly recommend it. - by Ron Cramer
8 Frederick Business Quarterly
Fall 2023
istockphoto.com / PeopleImages
by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter