Widgets Author Rodd Wagner: 'The Game Has Changed'

HRM Canada recently interviewed Rodd Wagner, author of the business best-seller Widgets, calling it a “frame-breaking approach to leadership.” In response to a range of questions on employee engagement, human resources and management, Wagner noted that there are “at least a couple dozen game-changers” at work in the employer/employee relationship, and that “HR professionals can keep up by first recognizing the game has already changed.” When asked to name the biggest mistake leaders make in today’s environment, he said “The most serious strategic error by business leaders today is agonizing over the high levels of performance they hope to get from their employees without agonizing over the experience and rewards that will best motivate those people. This flaw ignores human nature, never mind the basics of a solid, two-sided bargain. Many executives expect employees to wrap themselves so tightly in the flag of the company that they forget about their own interests, which is ironic coming from the people who get the largest salaries and option packages.” Read the full interview >