Contented Cows Still Give Better Milk, Revised and Expanded: The Plain Truth about Employee Engagement and Your Bottom Line, 2nd Edition

Contented Cows Still Give Better Milk, Revised and Expanded: The Plain Truth about Employee Engagement and Your Bottom Line, 2nd Edition

by Bill Catlette, Richard Hadden
Released July 2012
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781118331804

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Book description

How to foster happier employees for a healthier bottom line

Managers could learn a lot from a message echoed by generations of dairy farmers: "Contented cows give better milk." This book is not, repeat, not a management tome. In this fully revised and expanded edition to a book which absolutely, positively makes the case that treating people right is one of the best things any business can do for its bottom line, Contented Cows Still Give Better Milk offers sound, practical advice for those who know that their reputation as an employer is as important as bandwidth.

  • Offers updated case studies and new examples from on-site research in a number of real organizations, as well as inspiring examples of companies that know how to do it right . . . and few that didn't

  • Fad-free prescriptive advice informed by the authors' combined four-plus decades of training and consulting with thousands of managers and employees, conducting employee engagement surveys, and translating the attendant learning to management audiences in a form they can appreciate and use

  • Coauthor Bill Catlette's Bottom Line Leadership Seminar has helped thousands of managers become more effective leaders

Direct from the horse's . . . actually cow's mouth, this fully revised and expanded second edition will teach readers that having a focused, engaged, and capably led workforce is one of the best things any organization can do for its bottom line.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Contents
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Introduction
  8. Part I: The Premise
    1. Chapter 1: Just the Facts
      1. The Fine Print
      2. The Business Case
      3. Where’s the Beef?
      4. Can You Hear Me Now?
      5. The Core of Our Philosophy
      6. Your Reputation Is Worth More Than You Think
      7. Pragmatic Ideals
      8. Look at What Works, and Emulate it
      9. Robert Owen and Scottish Millworkers
      10. Milton Hershey and the Town That Chocolate Built
      11. Ruminate on This
      12. Chapter Summary
    2. Chapter 2: Cows with Attitude
      1. Where Does Contentment Begin?
      2. Peach Limbs Don’t Grow on Oaks
      3. You Get What You Expect to Get
      4. Core Covenants
      5. Bogus Assumptions
      6. Assumptions Are a Two-Way Street: The Employees’ Perspective
      7. What Employees Want: The Contented Cows’ View
      8. The “Happy Curve”
      9. A “Sticky” Variable
      10. But Will They Be Contented Here?
      11. Chick-fil-A: Never On Sunday
      12. Contentability and Corporate Assimilation
      13. The Proof Is in the People
      14. Chapter Summary
  9. Part II: Contented Cows Are Committed
    1. Chapter 3: The “Vision Thing”: Passengers or Crew
      1. Burning Off the Fog
      2. Making It Stick
      3. “Moments of Truth”
      4. High Expectations Beget High Performance
      5. Chapter Summary
    2. Chapter 4: The Path to Commitment
      1. So How Do You Get People Committed?
      2. 1. What Is This Organization All About?
      3. 2. Where Are We Going, and Why?
      4. 3. How Do We Plan to Get There?
      5. 4. How Do I Fit In?
      6. Chapter Summary
  10. Part III: Contented Cows Are Cared About
    1. Chapter 5: First You Feed the Troops
      1. You Can’t Fake Caring
      2. The Best of All Worlds at Incepture
      3. Delta’s Gerald Grinstein—A Class Act
      4. R-E-S-P-E-C-T at Plantronics Mexico
      5. Order Up
      6. Safety Is No Accident at Alaska Clean Seas
      7. Motivation Doesn’t Necessarily Follow Money
      8. Google Is Great—But It’s Not for Everybody
      9. Pebble Beach Company—If You Care, You Listen
      10. Chapter Summary
    2. Chapter 6: Tell ’Em the Truth
      1. Truth or Consequences
      2. A Truth Recession
      3. The Strength of Coffee, Steel, and the Truth
      4. Nobody’s Perfect
      5. Liar, Liar
      6. Malice in Wonderland
      7. Not Every Performance Deserves a Standing Ovation
      8. To Tell the Truth
      9. Chapter Summary
    3. Chapter 7: When Times Get Tough
      1. If You Care, You’re There
      2. Marriott’s Response to Hurricane Katrina: Quick, Compelling, Sustained
      3. Hanmer MSL’s Response to the Mumbai Bombings
      4. Caring Means Going the Extra Mile
      5. Employee Engagement in a Headwind
      6. Give Us Some Recourse
      7. Don’t Expect Employees to Pay for Your Mistakes
      8. Layoffs—A Fact of Life
      9. Some Rules for “Staying Out of the Soup”
      10. There’s Got to Be Another Way!
      11. Doing Well by Doing Good
      12. Chapter Summary
    4. Chapter 8: Contented Cows Are Connected
      1. Where Everybody Knows Your Name
      2. Let’s Start at the Top—Recruiting
      3. Consolidated Health Services—Ambassadors for Connection
      4. Connecting in Layers at The Container Store
      5. Building Affinity at Incepture
      6. Connecting Doesn’t Get Easier with Size
      7. Chapter Summary
    5. Chapter 9: A Case for Some Useful Benefits
      1. Is There a Doctor in the House?
      2. What to Do
      3. Adults Only, Please
      4. All in the Family
      5. Programs, Programs, Get Your Programs
      6. Caring Can’t Be Legislated
      7. Bon Voyage, Vacation Policy
      8. Chapter Summary
  11. Part IV: Contented Cows Are Enabled
    1. Chapter 10: Empower This!
      1. The Etymology of a Buzzword
      2. The Next Step
      3. Identifying Four Types of Managers
      4. One Bad Apple Can Spoil the Whole Barrel
      5. Give People Back Their Work
      6. Chapter Summary
    2. Chapter 11: Enabled Employees Are Incredibly Well Trained
      1. Training Expands the Meaning of Professionalism
      2. The Hidden Costs of Ignored Training
      3. Training Sends a Message
      4. Training Moves Careers
      5. Beyond the Classroom and Webinar
      6. An Intelligent Learning Process
      7. Visibility Matters
      8. A Quick Self-Exam
      9. Chapter Summary
    3. Chapter 12: Enabled Employees Are Tooled
      1. Tools, Not Rules
      2. Be Careful What You Incent; You’ll Likely Get It!
      3. Help Not Hinder
      4. A Tale of Two Brands
      5. The Meaning of Mistakes
      6. Mistakes Must Absolutely, Positively Not Go Unpunished
      7. “Good Faith” Mistakes versus Errors of the Heart
      8. Chapter Summary
    4. Chapter 13: Enabled Employees Are Trusted
      1. Nordstrom Trust—As Simple as It Gets
      2. Rethinking the Break Room
      3. Opening the Kimono
      4. Raise Discretionary Authority and Spending Limits
      5. He’d Give You the Pants off His Legs
      6. Chapter Summary
    5. Chapter 14: When the Contented Cows Come Home
      1. The Contented Cows . . . What Next?
      2. The Path Ahead
      3. No More Big Brooms or Silver Bullets
      4. Keeping Them Fired Up and in the Game
      5. So What About You?
  12. Index

Product information

  • Title: Contented Cows Still Give Better Milk, Revised and Expanded: The Plain Truth about Employee Engagement and Your Bottom Line, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Bill Catlette, Richard Hadden
  • Release date: July 2012
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781118331804