Education is one of Omega’s core values, and we can achieve this in a variety of ways. We can read books and articles, listen to podcasts, watch Ted Talks, and we can learn from each other. At Omega, we believe strongly giving our employees the tools to grow. With that in mind, we started the Omega Book Club—our unique take on a business book club. We pay our employees to read and turn in book reports.
How Our Business Book Club Works
An avid reader myself, I have built a business book collection, which includes works about leadership, team-building, and company culture. During new employee orientation, I explain to new staff that they can participate in our book club as often as once each month. Here’s how it works:
- Book Selection. An employee selects a book from our library. Employees can suggest books be added to our collection, and in many cases, we approve them.
- Book Report. After reading the selected book, the employee writes a brief summary of the book, along with their takeaways. The goal is not to force them to write a scholarly article about the book, rather to get the employee to think about what they read.
- Pay Day. Upon turning in a satisfactory book report, we add $50 to the employee’s next paycheck. All hourly staff members can earn one book club bonus per month. Salaried employees are required to read and are not eligible for the reading bonus.
Omega’s Library: Our Top 10
As I mentioned before, Omega has a large collection of books that are available to our staff. These include books about leadership, working as a team, and in general, being better. Many of Omega’s employees are young, so I understand they won’t work with us forever. But I want them to leave Omega better and smarter than they came in. I want them to learn something while working at Omega that they can use in the future.
With that in mind, I strongly believe that the following books—along with the large number of titles available for our book club—are all valuable in teaching our staff valuable lessons. The Omega Book Club Top 10 are:
- Rhinoceros Success by Scott Alexander
- 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell
- Fish! A Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results by Stephen C. Landin, Ph.D,
Harry Paul, and John Christensen - Who Moved My Cheese? By Dr. Spencer Johnson
- The 7 Laws of the Learner by Bruce H. Wilkonson
- Good to Great by James C. Collins
- Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
- Napoleon on Project Management by Jerry Manas
- The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
What do you think of this list? Do you have any to add? Contact us with suggestions. We’re always up for new additions to the Omega Book Club library.
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