The New Rules of Engagement: Life-Work Balance and Employee Commitment.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: BookSHELF - Brief Article - Book Review

The New Rules of Engagement: Life-Work Balance and Employee Commitment. By Mike Johnson. CIPD, 170 pages. $47.

A relatively quick, snappy yet insightful read on the evolving workforce, The New Rules of Engagement has a key underlying premise: today's younger worker is far more interested than his or her older counterpart in lifestyle issues, making flexibility and engagement critical concepts. Johnson, a British-based consultant and the author of six previous books, says this new focus on lifestyle has evolved in the past few years alone. "People want to be themselves at work, and we need to cater to that," he writes.

While the book is refracted through a British lens, the trends Johnson finds are common throughout developed economies. And, the need for change is palpable, he argues. "We are currently reaping the harvest of our inability to give those we erroneously call managers the right skills to manage people ... These people are doing daily damage to our...