In fact, 64 percent of employers in a recent CareerBuilder.com survey found social interview skills and the ability to communicate well as the most important assets in a potential employee.

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One way to torpedo that earnings potential is by establishing a reputation as a bad employee.

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Conant's use of employee engagement has been so successful that it is held up as a model in the book Closing the Engagement Gap--How Great Companies Unlock Employee Potential for Superior Results, by Julie Gebauer and Don Lowman.

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