All Work and No Say—Ho Hum Another Day: How to Captivate Your Workforce, Boost Morale and Increase Productivity

Alexander Craig is a freelance journalist in Lennoxville, Quebec.

In this relentlessly chirpy book, a Vancouver-based motivational speaker
sets out to help others find meaning and joy in their professional
lives. Urquhart, who writes a monthly column titled “Creating More
Meaningful Work,” argues that workplace change “shouldn’t happen
to employees; it should happen with them. Since they are on the front
lines, employees need to feel included in change.” Her book, which is
presented largely in PowerPoint form and includes tests (“Is your
staff suffering from terminal seriousness?”), emphasizes the
importance of trust in the workplace and deals with topics ranging from
compassionate service to dealing with cranky co-workers and clients.

One feels, at times, that some workplaces might be unable to get much
work done because they’re so busy handing out rewards, compliments,
and various other forms of morale boosters. That said, there is
undoubtedly a big market for this kind of inspirational material, and
Urquhart is obviously committed to the goals articulated in her book’s
subtitle.