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Building Profit Through Building People: Making Your Workforce the Strongest Link in the Value-Profit Chain 

Building Profit Through Building People cover


By Ken Carrig and Patrick Wright

2006, 195 pages, Paperback

ISBN: 1-58644-069-1

SHRMStore Item #61.16506

Order from SHRMStore or call (800) 444-5006 

Also available as an eBook through the SHRMStore as a PDF version or through Amazon as a Kindle version.

BUILDING PROFIT THROUGH BUILDING PEOPLE shows human resource professionals one way to become successful strategic partners in their companies. The book also shows upper management how strategic HR contributes to the organization's financial success. Carrig and Wright review the theory of the value-profit chain and provide specific approaches for evaluating a company's progress at critical links in the chain. The book focuses on practical steps in implementing Value Profit Chain principles and illustrates the steps with real-life examples from experiences at SYSCO, Sears, and Continental Airlines. 

In this book you will:

  • Learn how to measure the impact of staff quality on your company's bottom line
  • Get tools to build loyalty among your customers and your employees
  • Provides a step-by-step blueprint to link people and profit
  • Learn how to apply staff-building and profit-building techniques to your own company
  • See the best practices from five-star companies  

Supplemental Materials.

 Praise for the Book

"It starts with carefully selected symbols, right key messages, and committed leaders who motivate their followers. Then add simple processes to build or sustain momentum and use key metrics to steer by. These are building blocks to 5-STAR organization excellence. Ken Carrig and Pat Wright both tell a story and demonstrate how others can create their own story for success. The path is clear, the journey is up to the reader. There are lessons here for beginners, established professionals and masters of the art of managing and leading people in organizations."--John Hofmeister, President, Shell Oil Company

"Carrig and Wright provide evidence that theory works. This book takes us step-by-step through the important and complex process of linking people to profit. If linking people to profit is your challenge, this is a book for you. Carrig and Wright speak with authority borne out of first-hand, practical knowledge."--James Heskett, coauthor of The Value Profit Chain

"It is not common to find a book so well structured around real life examples and practical-proven tools to help companies and organizations to unleash the full potential of their people. The authors demonstrate how the Value-Profit Chain model can make a difference not just for employee commitment but bottom-line financial success."--J. Randall MacDonald, Senior Vice President Human Resources, IBM Corporation

"Every page of this pithy volume crackles with insights and guidelines for managing people in ways that drive better business results while enhancing the quality of working life. And it is real life stuff - every key point is supported with right-on examples and/or rock solid data. The authors' value-profit chain will dominate strategic thinking in customer-driven businesses for a long time to come."--Lee Dyer, Professor, Human Resource Studies, Cornell University

"Carrig and Wright bring together a unique combination of skills with academic rigor coupled with real world instinct. ... Their work shows specifically how to do strategic HR work and when strategic HR happens, companies succeed. The book is easy to use, well written, and pragmatic. It shows what can happen when good ideas are implemented by good people."--Dave Ulrich, Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan and coauthor of HR Competencies

"The 5-star management model that Carrig and Wright present is more than just another theory of business. Using actual data from SYSCO Corporation, they demonstrate convincingly that the effective management of people is a key driver of business success - with payoffs to employees, customers, and shareholders. They lay out a blueprint that both managers and scholars will find richly rewarding."--Wayne F. Cascio, US Bank Term Professor of Management at the University of Colorado at Denver and coauthor of Investing in People

"Finally business is getting it. ... when you build your people, you build your business. HR has for years been thought of as a soft support function. Ken Carrig and Pat Wright reveal, step by step, a process to make it a powerful force for business growth."--Rick Goings, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Tupperware Corporation

 Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1. A Compelling Argument: It's All about People
Chapter 2. The Value-Profit Chain Redefined
Chapter 3. Your Customer: A Critical Link in the Value-Profit Model
Chapter 4. Employee Loyalty and Satisfaction, and the Employer Brand
Chapter 5. The 5- STAR Model Employer Brand
Chapter 6. The 5-STAR Management Model
Chapter 7. Testing the 5-STAR Model
Chapter 8. Embedding the 5-STAR Model
Chapter 9. Building Dynamic 5-STAR Capability
Chapter 10. A Strategic Summons for Human Resources
Appendix A: Customer Satisfaction Survey, SYSCO
Appendix B: Cover Letter for the Work Climate Survey, SYSCO
Appendix C: Work Climate Improvement Survey, SYSCO
Appendix D: Lesson Outline from Strengthening the Frontline Supervisor Program, SYSCO
Appendix E: Some High-Impact Practices and Programs, SYSCO
Resources
References
Index

 About the Authors

Ken Carrig is an executive vice president and chief administrative officer of SYSCO Corporation and a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources.

Patrick M. Wright is Professor of Human Resource Studies and Director of the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, at Cornell University.

The authors are donating their royalties from Building Profit through Building People to Share Our Strength, one of America's leading anti-hunger, anti-poverty organizations that inspires and organizes individuals and businesses to share their strengths to help end hunger.