About the Book

So why write a book on how to lose a great employee? During nearly 20 years of witnessing problematic interactions between managers and members of their staffs and dealing with the fallout, author Barbara Otis observed how frequently inattention to good management practices resulted in devastating effects on those involved in the exchanges—as well as on those around them.

Even managers who had good intentions were making big mistakes, sometimes because they had let their guards down and acted without thinking through the consequences and other times because they thought that their misguided management styles were somehow going to achieve their desired results.

Because so many people were suffering from these managerial misbehaviors, and because so many organizations were being damaged, Otis wanted to call attention to these issues and the huge negative impact they have on productivity.

Otis’s tongue-in-cheek approach to the subject makes for a good read, hits at the heart of how some managers surprisingly think, and jolts us into realizing how some of our own behaviors might be driving great people away from the organizations we’re working so hard to help succeed.

101 Ways to Lose a Great Employee — Sample Pages

No. 6		No. 16
No. 85		No. 101

Reader Reviews

“Full of wisdom. I cannot [envision] anyone picking this book up and not learning something. You will find every manager you have ever reported to in the pages—and possibly even yourself. Excellent reference book! Make sure a copy finds its way to your management team.”

“This is a must-have book for anyone with employees. It is clear and concise, easy to use as a reference manual, as well as very easy to read and entertaining. It’s the manual that every HR and manager should have on their desk.”