Magic: Five Keys to Unlock the Power of Employee Engagement

by Tracy Maylett, Paul Warner

A Five-part Approach to Making Organizations Stronger, More Profitable, and Better Places to Work.

Employees and leaders intuitively know that when we find a place where we can throw our hearts, spirits, minds, and hands into our work, we are happier, healthier, and produce better results. Yet, most struggle to understand exactly why we engage in some environments, and don’t in others. Magic introduces the five MAGIC keys of employee engagement—Meaning, Autonomy, Growth, Impact, and Connection—and shows how leaders can help employees achieve higher levels of engagement, as well as how employees can be more successful by taking ownership for their own MAGIC.

The Research
Based on over 14 million employee survey responses across 70 countries—the most extensive employee engagement survey database of its kind—Magic combines principles of psychology and motivation with solid business concepts. Written by internationally recognized experts in leadership and employee engagement, Dr. Tracy Maylett and Dr. Paul Warner, Magic provides actionable advice that will reduce employee attrition, encourage initiative, drive growth and profit, and increase personal engagement in one’s work.

Engaging Content
In this book, leaders and employees will find real-world case studies, exercises, assessments, thought-provoking questions, and suggestions that increase engagement on the individual, manager, and organizational levels.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

255 pages, Hardcover

First published October 21, 2014

About the author

Tracy M. Maylett is the CEO of DecisionWise, an international consulting firm advising leaders in more than 70 countries in employee engagement, leadership, and organization development.

Dr. Maylett works regularly with executives across the globe on leadership and engagement. He has an MBA from Brigham Young University, and holds a doctorate in Organization Change from Pepperdine University. He currently teaches courses in leadership and organization behavior in the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University.

Tracy's work has been published in numerous academic and business articles, and his work on engagement and leadership have been cited by various business sources, including The Wall Street Journal and CNN.

Tracy lives in the beautiful mountains of Utah with his wife, Lindy, and 4 sons.

Reviews

[Sydney Merz · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you need a great book that used research and data to drive employee engagement decision-making, this is the perfect book. I wish every manager could have the opportunity to read this book. Hands down one of the best organization development books I have ever read!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

As was discussed in the introduction of the book, employee engagement is a serious concern in the United States. Many companies are taking part in extensive employee engagement programs that just aren't making the intended impact. The way that employee engagement is presented in "MAGIC: Five Keys to Unlock the Power of Employee Engagement" depicts the responsibility of both the employee and the employer to make engagement a reality. Because of this 50-50 proposition of organizational employee engagement, I believe this book can help anyone who reads it. We all participate in a variety of organizations, so learning the principles of engagement can help motivate us as employees and organizational members to more fully give our 50% and seek engagement. If we ourselves know how to engage we can help to collaboratively create engaging environments in the organizations where we work. The five principles of engagement, as summarized by the acronym M.A.G.I.C., can easily be related to for-profit as well as non-profit organizations. As this book was based on over 30 million survey responses from diverse global and national organizations, it's clear that the engagement concepts contained within it can relate to most all businesses regardless of variation in size, age, and purpose. After reading MAGIC I have a greater determination to bring my whole heart, spirit, and mind to the work I do, and I feel more capable of finding an employer that creates an environment that allows me to do so.

[Ken Lenoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

according to goodread's rating scale, this book was a 3/5 for me :O I liked it. I didn't "really like it" because it was mostly a discussion on engagement throughout the book with just a very small bit of it actionable: there was some 'engagement questions' at the end of the MAGIC chapters.

there are some actionable tools as appendices, which I am implementing imminently, so I may come back and edit it once my team and I have had a chance to go through the actionable stuff and implement it and see the results.

would I recommend it? I am not enthusiastic about it, but this topic is really important both personally and professionally.

it seems as if the author's intended audience scope was too broad to give real, specific actionable advice.

[Tyler Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

MAGIC provides an in-depth look at what makes organizations work. I really liked how the author discusses how engagement cannot be forced, but it has to be encouraged. People cannot be made to engage with an organization. Rather they need to have encouragement and support that will lead them to change their own attitudes and behaviors. I also really enjoyed the real world examples of different companies that were used to illustrate this point.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. Useful, actionable ideas about how to be and remain inspired at work, and how to create circumstances that can allow or invite the best work from others.

[Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great exploration on what makes employees engage in their work, what employers can do to make that happen, and the reasons employees might want to put in the effort to be engaged on their own.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The responsibility of employee engagement falls on the employee and the employer. The MAGIC model helps the individual and organization develop, drive and maintain engagement.

[Alex Wolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book that I would highly recommend to any business leader

[Gracelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as part of the Goodreads book give away. I truly enjoyed it and gave the book 5 stars primarily based on the relevance it was to my current situation and the manner in which it was organized. It was a relatively straight forward read and "engaging." There was a little bit of repetition; but, this served more for reinforcement of the concepts rather that monotony. The concepts themselves are not ground breaking nor earth shattering. However, the book pulls together scientific study, modern day organizational development theory, and real world examples to tie everything together. It clearly differentiates between "Employee Engagement" and "Employee Satisfaction." Companies spent countless dollars trying to manage employee satisfaction -- none of which may contribute to the organizations productivity or profitabily. Employee engagement, on the other hand, directly impacts an organizations growth. I'm one of those people who will find a way to be engaged no matter what environment I am in. I look forward to "creating conditions under which engagement can thrive."

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engagement is a complex topic. This book connected a lot of concepts for me and gave me some good ideas to implement. It will be a reference in the future since engagement is never a one time act, but an ongoing activity. I especially value many of the examples and the questions at the end - gives some good ideas for discussions among my team.

I received a copy of this book through Goodreads, but it did not affect the content of my review.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the framework they use for thinking about engagement: Meaning, Autonomy, Growth, Impact, Connection, as it breaks down the over-hyped, fluffy concept of "engagement" into concrete, actionable categories.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about employee engagement. I really like the term magic and how it can help you remember what really matters and not get distracted by the usual suspects that matter less like compensation, benefits, trinkets and other meaningless perks.

[Ryan Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a great framework for engaging employees! It seems actually applicable and adaptable into a corporate culture. Highly recommend for business professionals and chief officers alike.