Using real world examples, the authors of Closing The Engagement Gap show that consistently better engagement really is possible and can deliver a huge impact to the bottom line. On 19 May 2009, Susan Stamm interviewed Julie Gebauer. Julie was co-author of Closing The Engagement Gap. When people are truly engaged in their work they give more "discretionary effort" and make a huge difference to their company. They ask, "What's in it for us?" instead of "What's in it for me?" Yet an engaged workforce is as rare as it is valuable. Here is a groundbreaking global study, led by Julie Gebauer and Don Lowman of Towers Perrin showing that most people are not engaged and don't contribute as much value as they could. Not because they're inherently lazy or apathetic, but because their companies and managers don't know how to draw out the best from them.