“Managing people is the most challenging part of any leader’s day.”
How true is that? I spend LOTS of hours a week managing people and it is the most challenging part of my job….no doubt about it.
The Big Book of HR will provide any HR professional, manager, or business owner of any size organization the information they need to get the most from their talent. It is filled with information on everything from the most strategic HR-related issues to the smallest tactical detail of how to manage people. Each topic covered includes information on associated legal issues, and includes stories from leading organizations to illustrate how Human Resources can positively impact the organization. Each chapter ends with discussion questions to test your understanding of the topic and encourage additional thought. Many sample forms and templates plus a list of additional resources are included, as well.”
The Big Book of HR will clearly and comprehensively explain how to:
- Identify, motivate, and retain superstar employees.
- Determine the kind of employees needed and when to hire them.
- Select the best applicants.
- Assimilate new talent into the organization.
- Manage using total rewards and performance management.
- Maintain positive employee relations and manage conflict.
The Big Book of HR is broken down into 5 sections to allow you to focus on exactly what you need to depending on the task. Section One: Selecting and Assimilating New Employees describes workforce planning (succession planning), job descriptions, hiring criteria, recruiting, the interview, and making the job offer. My company is going through succession planning at this time. We have a lot of key executives approaching retirement and realized that we need to be thinking about who will take over their job. I found this section very helpful. I now understand why we are analyzing our current workforce and performing a Gap analysis. However, I learned that we have skipped a step….an important step. We need to go back and determine what knowledge/skills are required for the company to reach its goals in the next year to five years.
Section Two and Three of The Big Book of HR, Employee Engagement and Retention and Total Rewards reminds us how important it is to engage employees so they are as productive as they can possible be and retention impacts the bottom line. A hot topic covered in section three is compensation! It is very interesting the steps a company should go through when developing a compensation structure.
My favorite section of The Big Book of HR was Section Four, Employee Development. I especially liked the chapter on coaching and mentoring and performance management. I believe in coaching and mentoring employees, but it can’t be a forced relationship. I have found those that don’t work are forced. I think they should develop naturally and both the mentor and mentee should want to work at it. I once had a “personal” coach before kids and I absolutely loved it. It was a group session and we were assigned different topics/tasks each session and met every two weeks to discuss our findings/progress. I still miss those meeting and my coach.
The Big Book of HR Section Five, Employee Relations discusses employee and labor relations, conflict and risk management. I am very thankful I have a department that handles those very sensitive issues.The Big Book of HRis an easy-to-use guide filled with examples, tips, and sidebars. Each chapter can stand alone for quick reference, and the appendix is full of forms and samples that can be easily assimilated into any organization’s HR operations.
Meet the Authors: Barbara Mitchell is a human resources professional and management consultant who is a recognized expert in the HR field. She is co-author of The Essential HR Handbook. Prior to co-founding The Millennium Group International, LLC, much of her HR career was spent with Marriott International. She is now managing partner of The Mitchell Group, a HR consulting practice.Cornelia Gamlem, SPHR, is president of The GEMS Group, Ltd. She co-authored Roadmap to Success: 5 Steps to Putting Action Into your Affirmative Action Plan. She has served on the National Board of Directors of the Society for Human Resources Management and on the Federal Advisory Board founded by the U.S. Departments of Labor and HHS. Both authors live in the Washington, D.C. area.
