FAQ

1. What is It’s My Company Too about?
2. What is entanglement and how does it differ from engagement?
3. What is the impact on an organization by having entangled versus engaged employees?
4. What does self-efficacy mean and how is it important in building an entangled organization?
5. What makes the research in this book pertinent for leaders today?
6. What separates the companies highlighted in this book from others?
7. Who are the authors of It’s My Company Too and what are their credentials?
8. Where did the idea for It’s My Company Too come from?
9. Where can I find more facts about It’s My Company Too?
10. How do I book an author(s) of It’s My Company Too as a speaker for an event?

1. What is It’s My Company Too about?

It’s My Company Too is the culmination of several years of studying eight award-winning, entangled organizations. This book combines archival research and interviews, weaving stories of employees and leaders—told in their own words—into a backdrop of what the company does to create its entangled culture. Each chapter focuses on one of the organization’s strengths, working to develop a complete model of what it takes to transition from an engaged workforce environment to one that is entangled. As a result, these entangled workforces develop a high performance, highly customer-focused work environments with remarkable results.

2. What is entanglement and how does it differ from engagement?

Entanglement at the employee level is a dedication and commitment that goes deeper than the definition of engagement: being focused, productive, efficient and involved during the working hours. It’s more than coming in on a Saturday. It’s more than powering through a lunch hour. It’s opening the mind to company successes before, during, and after work. Entanglement is focusing discretionary thinking on how to help your department reach its quarterly goals instead of what you’re going to eat for dinner that night. It’s coming up with a solution to an issue at work and then actually doing something about it. It’s going beyond engagement into a whole new kind of positive commitment. The employee becomes a partner in the organization, not just a hired hand, and as a result, the employee, through the design of the organization, its policies, structure, and leadership behavior realizes, “It’s my company, too.”

Consequently, entanglement is the sustainable, competitive advantage that goes beyond what leaders presently imagine about company success. Employee entanglement breeds interpersonal and organizational commitment to each person, system, and component. This commitment is so deeply ensnared in the company’s mission, vision, values and goals that success is the only option. Employee entanglement goes beyond engagement, capturing employees’ discretionary thoughts to benefit all stakeholders. Entanglement is mutually beneficial to both the organization and to every person involved with the organization, both internally and externally.

3. What is the impact on an organization by having entangled versus engaged employees?

Having employees realize that they are a real part of the organization—that this is their company, too—means that they will be more inclined to work for the overall betterment of the organization. They want their organization to succeed, and they want to take pride in what their organization does. This sense of ownership is a powerful motivator that brings employees together as a team and brings leadership and the rest of the workforce together as partners. This phenomenon builds the powerful synergy and resiliency that the organization needs to conquer its problems, both internally and externally. Additionally, it helps the organization become more than it thought it could become. Because of the power of people working together, entangled working best serves the customer, the community, and each individual member of the organization.

4. What does self-efficacy mean and how is it important in building an entangled organization?

Many people fail to reach their potential because they do not try. Self-efficacy focuses on developing people’s mental states, instilling in them that they do have the ability and the skills to succeed. Building self-efficacy can occur with meaningful and focused training, setting realistic goals to encourage successes and reviewing successes and failures to develop a clear understanding of why either occurred. These actions help to build confidence and the notion that, with persistence and focus, one can achieve personal performance goals. Leadership can help by encouraging the kind of entangled organizational climate that helps to build self-efficacy and empower the worker to go above and beyond.

5. What makes the research in this book pertinent for leaders today?

It’s My Company Too goes beyond random experiences in an evidenced-based approach toward understanding why things work as they do. The authors spoke with members of the eight entangled organizations and reviewed their policies, practices, and leadership approaches. They related what they saw to demonstrated fields of empirical research conducted over decades, explaining why organizations experienced such remarkable results. The authors focused on the Malcolm Baldrige criteria to Positive Psychological Capital and a host of other proven concepts to provide a more reliable background of support on what it takes to build entangled organizations.

6. What separates the companies highlighted in this book from others?

Each company studied in It’s My Company Too is an award-winning organization. Authors analyzed different types (for profit, not-for-profit, retail, manufacturing, service, etc.) and sizes of organizations (smaller, with 100 employees to larger, with several thousands) to see how the synergy of the entangled organization applied to different organizational settings. The organizations are recipients of multiple prestigious United States workplace awards including the Malcolm Baldrige National Performance Award, Best Places to Work, Winning Workplaces, and several others.

7. Who are the authors of It’s My Company Too and what are their credentials?

It’s My Company Too authors have each been in the business and academia worlds for up to forty years. Dr. Kenneth Thompson, professor of management at DePaul University, is a Senior Examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige Award and Illinois State Quality Award Programs, a consultant, and a former chair of the Management Education and Development Division of the Academy of Management, as well as the author of four books. Dr. Ramon Benedetto brings the perspective of a lifelong leader—first through a distinguished military career, second as a long-time health care executive, third as founder of a consulting practice dedicated to building character based leadership, and fourth as an academic. Thomas Walter, a serial entrepreneur with over 40 years of experience in starting, building, sustaining, and acquiring businesses, has been involved in 32 companies, with active, current engagement in seven. Additionally, Molly Meyer, a creative writer who showed excellence in the classroom and on the field as an athlete, is the creative director of a creative marketing agency and brought the perspective of young, engaged employees who want to do the right things for long-term success.

8. Where did the idea for It’s My Company Too come from?

Several years ago, doctoral candidate Ramon Benedetto came to Thomas J. Walter to conduct an ethnography study of culture on his Chicagoland business, Tasty Catering. Tom agreed to the immersion as long as it would result in a book. After numerous conversations about Tasty Catering as well as other “entangled” companies, the two knew they had something special. When Dr. Benedetto’s dissertation won Dissertation of the Year in 2009, the pair knew what they wanted to do. They teamed up with well-respected author, Dr. Kenneth Thompson, a professor of management at DePaul’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, with the goal of writing a book on organizational entanglement.

9. Where can I find more facts about It’s My Company Too?

The entire first chapter and the table of contents are available to peruse, free of charge.

10. How do I book an author(s) of It’s My Company Too as a speaker for an event?

Please visit book an author if you are looking to schedule a speaking engagement. Information for all authors, including their schedules, clips from past speaking engagements and more are available on this website. To see a video clip of any of the authors speaking, please visit the speaking clips.