Who the Hell Wants to Work for You
Mastering Employee Engagement
Who the Hell Wants to Work for You is an invaluable business book—entertaining, enlightening, and empowering.
Tim Eisenhauer’s Who the Hell Wants to Work for You is the rare business book that’s a joy to read.
The author’s expertise and passion are apparent. Eisenhauer, the president and cofounder of Axero, breaks down his advice for how to keep employees engaged and inspired in the workplace. This book stands to serve as a useful guide for managers looking to boost productivity and increase profitability through employee empowerment.
Who the Hell Wants to Work for You draws from a wide array of case studies and personal anecdotes, such as Eisenhauer’s reaction to a summer intern’s concern about work-life balance when he was trying to make the workplace as inviting as possible, or how Martha Stewart’s public persona belies what a hard-driving businesswoman she is.
The research shows. News stories are used to highlight the different workplace cultures of Google and Apple; academic studies from prestigious universities are cited. Chapters start with quotes—from business leaders like Jack Welch, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin, but also from business outsiders including Franz Kafka and Nelson Mandela.
Writing is widely engaging, drawing from a deeper cultural well than most business tomes. The book is packed with practical advice for the corporate world, including on making employees visible, recognizing effort, and managing workplace culture. It makes a compelling case that empowering employees improves the bottom line, pulls in more revenue, and boosts the stock price.
The book sells its premise well, with the zeal of a true, ever-inquisitive believer. It looks both at successes, like after-work parties that reward employees with fun—if that’s what the employees actually want—and at failures, such as the quickly revoked unlimited vacation policy at the Los Angeles Times that alienated workers accustomed to cashing in their unused days.
This project grew out of a company blog about workplace engagement, which is apparent from its conversational tone and the occasional profanity that is sprinkled in amid learned citations from Bloomberg Businessweek, Fast Company, and Fortune. The book is also distinguished by its humor, and its pages brim with personality.
Who the Hell Wants to Work for You is entertaining, enlightening, and empowering. This invaluable business book will empower managers at all levels to get the most out of their people and deliver results.
Reviewed by
Joseph S. Pete
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
