CONTENTED COWS Still Give Better milk: The Plain Truth about Employee Engagement and Your Bottom Line -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: How Do the Best Get Better? -- Discretionary Effort-Nobody Has Moved the Cheese -- Personal Capability - Minimum Requirements = Discretionary Effort -- It's Your People, Stupid -- Part I: The Premise -- Chapter 1: Just the Facts -- The Fine Print -- The Business Case -- Where's the Beef? -- Can You Hear Me Now? -- The Core of Our Philosophy -- Your Reputation Is Worth More Than You Think -- Pragmatic Ideals -- Look at What Works, and Emulate It -- Robert Owen and Scottish Millworkers -- Milton Hershey and the Town That Chocolate Built -- Ruminate on This -- Chapter Summary -- Chapter 2: Cows with Attitude -- Where Does Contentment Begin? -- Peach Limbs Don't Grow on Oaks -- You Get What You Expect to Get -- Core Covenants -- Bogus Assumptions -- Assumptions Are a Two-Way Street: The Employees' Perspective -- What Employees Want: The Contented Cows' View -- The "Happy Curve" -- A "Sticky" Variable -- But Will They Be Contented Here? -- Chick-fil-A: Never On Sunday -- Contentability and Corporate Assimilation -- The Proof Is in the People -- Chapter Summary -- Part II: Contented Cows Are Committed -- Chapter 3: The "Vision Thing": Passengers or Crew -- Burning Off the Fog -- Making It Stick -- "Moments of Truth" -- High Expectations Beget High Performance -- Chapter Summary -- Chapter 4: The Path to Commitment -- So How Do You Get People Committed? -- 1. What Is This Organization All About? -- No Identity Crisis at J&J -- Sellin' Chicken -- Core Values on Display at Zappos -- 2. Where Are We Going, and Why? -- Lost in Space -- The "Crayon Test" -- 3. How Do We Plan to Get There? -- Play Scripting -- 4. How Do I Fit In? -- Chapter Summary -- Part III: Contented Cows Are Cared About.

Chapter 5: First You Feed the Troops -- You Can't Fake Caring -- The Best of All Worlds at Incepture -- Delta's Gerald Grinstein-A Class Act -- R-E-S-P-E-C-T at Plantronics Mexico -- It's the Little Things . . . Always the Little Things -- A New Take on "Employee Engagement" Whoda Thunk It? -- Order Up -- Safety Is No Accident at Alaska Clean Seas -- Motivation Doesn't Necessarily Follow Money -- Google Is Great-But It's Not for Everybody -- Pebble Beach Company-If You Care, You Listen -- Chapter Summary -- Chapter 6: Tell 'Em the Truth -- Truth or Consequences -- A Truth Recession -- The Strength of Coffee, Steel, and the Truth -- Nobody's Perfect -- Liar, Liar -- Malice in Wonderland -- Not Every Performance Deserves a Standing Ovation -- To Tell the Truth -- Chapter Summary -- Chapter 7: When Times Get Tough -- If You Care, You're There -- Marriott's Response to Hurricane Katrina: Quick, Compelling, Sustained -- Hanmer MSL's Response to the Mumbai Bombings -- Caring Means Going the Extra Mile -- Employee Engagement in a Headwind -- Give Us Some Recourse -- Don't Expect Employees to Pay for Your Mistakes -- Layoffs-A Fact of Life -- Some Rules for "Staying Out of the Soup" -- There's Got to Be Another Way! -- Doing Well by Doing Good -- Chapter Summary -- Chapter 8: Contented Cows Are Connected -- Where Everybody Knows Your Name -- Let's Start at the Top-Recruiting -- Consolidated Health Services-Ambassadors for Connection -- Connecting in Layers at The Container Store -- Building Affinity at Incepture -- Connecting Doesn't Get Easier with Size -- Chapter Summary -- Chapter 9: A Case for Some Useful Benefits -- Is There a Doctor in the House? -- What to Do -- Adults Only, Please -- All in the Family -- Programs, Programs, Get Your Programs -- Caring Can't Be Legislated -- Bon Voyage, Vacation Policy -- Chapter Summary.

Part IV: Contented Cows Are Enabled -- Chapter 10: Empower This! -- The Etymology of a Buzzword -- The Next Step -- Identifying Four Types of Managers -- One Bad Apple Can Spoil the Whole Barrel -- Give People Back Their Work -- Chapter Summary -- Chapter 11: Enabled Employees Are Incredibly Well Trained -- Training Expands the Meaning of Professionalism -- The Hidden Costs of Ignored Training -- Training Sends a Message -- Training Moves Careers -- Beyond the Classroom and Webinar -- An Intelligent Learning Process -- Visibility Matters -- A Quick Self-Exam -- Chapter Summary -- Chapter 12: Enabled Employees Are Tooled -- Tools, Not Rules -- Be Careful What You Incent -- You'll Likely Get It! -- Help Not Hinder -- A Tale of Two Brands -- The Meaning of Mistakes -- Mistakes Must Absolutely, Positively Not Go Unpunished -- "Good Faith" Mistakes versus Errors of the Heart -- Chapter Summary -- Chapter 13: Enabled Employees Are Trusted -- Nordstrom Trust-As Simple as It Gets -- Rethinking the Break Room -- Opening the Kimono -- Raise Discretionary Authority and Spending Limits -- He'd Give You the Pants off His Legs -- Chapter Summary -- Chapter 14: When the Contented Cows Come Home (Speculations on the Near Future) -- The Contented Cows . . . What Next? -- The Path Ahead -- No More Big Brooms or Silver Bullets -- Keeping Them Fired Up and in the Game -- So What About You? -- Notes -- Index.