Employee engagement is critical to the success of any business, and ensuring that employees feel motivated to take their job seriously and perform their functions to the best of their ability should always be the aim of any business.

However, there are many books on employee engagement, and it can be hard to know which ones are worth reading over the others. Let’s look at some of the best books on the subject of employee engagement, and how they can help any business.

1. The Truth About Employee Engagement: A Fable About Addressing the Three Root Causes of Job Misery

Author name: Patrick M. Lencioni

Book Summary:

Through the story of a CEO turned pizzeria manager, Lencioni reveals the three elements that make work miserable -- irrelevance, immeasurability, and anonymity -- and gives managers and their employees the keys to making any job more engaging.

The book is a great book for anyone who is into HR or interested in how to improve employee engagement strategies at their workplace.

The book is full of examples, practical advice, and very practicable solutions to a variety of problems you may face. It is easy to read, the author has taken care to make it so. The author has done a great job of presenting solutions to the issues at hand. He has also shared his experiences and stories.

2. The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

Author name: Michael Bungay Stanier

Book Summary:

Michael Bungay Stanier distills the essentials of coaching into seven core questions. And if you master his simple yet profound technique, you'll get a twofer.

The Coaching Habit explains why asking is the most powerful tool we have for creating change. It is a method for focusing on performance by asking great questions.

Asking questions creates a conversational rhythm between an individual and a coach and allows the individual a chance to explore her thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

The leader, on the other hand, can draw upon his experience to help the individual find a solution to the problem or to see the opportunity in front of her. The book is written in a storytelling manner which makes the manager’s voice shine through.

3. Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work: Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of RESPECT

Author name: Paul L. Marciano

Book Summary:

In Carrots and Sticks Don't Work, Paul Marciano argues that engagement stems from respect. Employees don't want to be treated like cogs in a chain.

Instead, they want to feel empowered, have autonomy, receive supportive feedback, and be treated considerately.

The book is a must-read for all the managers and entrepreneurs out there. The book talks about how managers can bring out the best in employees by understanding and implementing the basics of Employee Engagement.

The book delves into the main reasons for the lack of engagement, its solution, and possible implementations to increase the performance of employees.

4. The Employee Experience Advantage: How to Win the War for Talent by Giving Employees the Workspaces they Want, the Tools they Need, and a Culture They Can Celebrate

Author name: Jacob Morgan

Book Summary:

The Employee Experience Advantage is a book about moving away from old concepts and stepping into Employee Experience as a design feature of organizations. In today's business world, experiential organizations are far and away the most successful when measured by almost every metric.

The book is about a management consultant who looks for companies that have great employee experience and then dissects their practices in an attempt to emulate them. Mostly, his advice revolves around making your employees' lives easier--introducing a comprehensive "basecamp" management system.

His research seems pretty thorough, and he backs up each of his points with a lot of hard data.

5. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

Author name: Simon Sinek

Book Summary:

Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team. It covers: Sinek's idea is that leaders should always start by clarifying their purpose. This is what he calls "start with why".

Because it's not just about "how" you lead an organization. It's about getting the right people to buy into what you're doing, and that has to start with "why" you're doing it in the first place.

Sinek gives great, actionable advice on how to choose your "WHY" and then find the right "HOW" that supports it.

He says that we need to start with a "WHY" and then build outward from there.

The best books on Employee Engagement are the ones that help you get started on the right foot. Pick one of these and start applying what you learn!