New Book on Workplace Culture Highlights 1,001 Best Practices to Engage and Retain Employees

Cary, NC, April 04, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Stan Phelps, best-selling author, professor and popular keynote speaker, released his second book in the “Goldfish” series aimed at driving employee engagement in business. According to a Gallup poll, 69% of US employees are either “not engaged” or “actively disengaged.” What's Your Green Goldfish? Beyond Dollars: 15 ways to drive employee engagement & reinforce culture, available on Amazon, seeks to flip the human resources paradigm by urging businesses to put employees first if they value talent retention and customer satisfaction.

The book is based on research conducted for the Green Goldfish Project, 1,001 crowd sourced examples of companies that provide signature extras for employees. “After writing What's Your Purple Goldfish and looking at 1,001 examples of organizations that did the little extras for customers, I started to see a pattern,” says Phelps. “It became clear that those successful companies also did the little extras for their employees. Many of them began with their employees first. The Green Goldfish Project was started to figure out different ways you can reinforce a strong corporate culture and drive engagement.”

Examples used in the book include Facebook, which gives employees a $4,500 bonus for having a baby – just when they need it most. Weber Shandwick's “No Boundaries” program was designed to give employees five extra vacation days and $1,000 to explore a personal passion. Rackspace recognizes employees who live up to their value of being "fanatical" about customer service. Deserving employees are rewarded with the "Jacket," literally a straightjacket. Finally, Patagonia makes the world – and employees’ lives – better through two weeks paid time off to work in the green nonprofit of their choice.

When it comes to business, Stan Phelps is on a mission to help businesses realize where they should begin investing. By putting employees first, companies can increase customer satisfaction and gain a positive reputation, like Zappos, Amazon or Five Guys Burgers and Fries. As for expectations of the book, Phelps states, “My hope is to change a mindset. Culture is the starting point and organizations need to place an emphasis on driving employee engagement. Actions speak louder than words. Their bottom line depends on it."

The eBook is free to download on Amazon through April 5, 2013.

Quotes about What's Your Green Goldfish?

Brian Solis – author of What's the Future of Business #WTF, The End of Business as Usual and Engage.
“Stan is the sherpa that guides executives along the journey between the heart and mind of business stakeholders. At a time when company vision and culture matters more than ever, it takes inspired and engaged employees to bring them to life.”

Barry Moltz – author of Bounce, Crazy! and B-A-M
“What's Your Green Goldfish shows how to manage employees by commitment and not control.”

Ted Coiné – author of Five Star Customer Service and Spoil 'Em Rotten!
“If you're looking for ways to inspire your employees to love your company, and if you're smart enough to realize that money can't buy you love, then you need real-life, uber-successful examples from real-life, uber-profitable companies.”

About Stan Phelps: Stan Phelps is an “experience architect,” author, professor, CMO of 9 INCH marketing, and popular keynote speaker. He believes that marketing must focus on differentiation to win the hearts of both employees and customers. Having collected over 2,000 examples of purple and green goldfish, he's fluent in illustrating complex business concepts, communicating in ways that resonate, and provoking creative thought and innovation. Stan is available to keynote conferences, consult with companies and engage employee groups in seminars and workshops.