Professional Resources Books

This book differs from the rest of the getting started in HR books. This book is not a how-to resource for running an HR department, but a real framework for pursuing an HR career. Most others sort of talk about what HR is and give generic advice for students. This book has some of that, but also looks at real-world people who by accident or design choose HR, or are chosen by it, further alon in their work life and need to build a career path in the discipline. Along with the content are chapter endin interviews with real, successful HR professionals that bring the subject of the chapter into focus.

Every once in awhile, a book is crafted that helps a reader see the smaller picture in context of the larger picture. This is such a book. Jeanne Palmer does a terrific job at walking the reader through decision trees around HR career strategies and tactics. She makes it easy to understand the "who, what, when, where, why and hows" of the Human Resources world, and makes plain what is often seen as complicated or elusive. In my world of executive search, she has given me greater understanding of the HR professionals with whom we interface on a daily basis. I would recommend this book to anyone who works in the human capital industry.

This book provides inspiration and practical information for readers at almost any stage of their careers. It is about cultivating an HR career over time. The chapters examine core competencies and key characteristics and how to: tell the stories behind career choices and accomplishments; lay out and track an HR career plan; plan your next career move well in advance; build a powerful network; overcome career missteps; come to terms with what you can't change and mitigate hazards to career prospects; successfully engage in senior-level interviews; and prepare for unexpected changes that offer new opportunities. Includes interviews with senior HR executives that provide lessons learned and insights. Appendices offer a map of career paths linked with qualifications and a list of valuable websites. Viewing this book as a senior HR professional and consultant (co-founder, Stern & Associates, hrconsultant.com) I wish such a book was available to me when I was first getting started. A must read for every HR practitioner and those aspiring to be one.

With so many HR professaionals helping others with their careers, this book enables such people to look after their own career through self assessment and interviews of successful people in HR. Surveying the HR landscape today, Jeanne Palmer enables you to map out your own career, assess what you need to get to your next goal, and how best to conduct yourself in acheiving it (including how to avoid common pitfalls and how to recovery from them). The Human Resource Professional's Career Guide is of particular help to those individuals who are at the beginning and all the way to the later stages of their career. For those who are at the end of their career or teach, it is an excellent tool for mentoring.

Jeanne Palmer and Martha Finney have delivered outstanding and practical advice for HR professionals at all levels. The tone is warm and encouraging, and the information is pragmatic and insightful.

The many roadmaps in this book show career-minded professionals how to prepare themselves with the focus on long-term goals while outlining the many different ways of getting there within this changing field.

The field of HR seems to be a moving target at times, and this book addresses that issue by presenting information to be considered in many different scenarios.

In summary, this book is a must read for HR folks who want to manage their careers in the same manner in which they do their jobs by handling the tactical issues while focusing on strategic plans.

Gostick and Elton have captured the essence of good management. They have given their readers clues to what makes employees tick and highlighted the dangers of not rewarding exemplary behaviour. This book makes a great companion to my book, "Always Remember: If it ain't fun, it ain't worth doing!" which also provides managers with the keys to making good employees out of virtually every staff member. Well done Adrian and Chester! Wayne Kehl

I am a huge fan of Chester and Adrian and my hat is off to them for writing a great New York Times Bestseller. Parables are huge these days and business people love 'em.

If you want an enjoyable read that is heart warming and informative this is it. And what's more, you might just learn something about how NOT to treat people who work for you.

Please understand I am biased in my opinion because if have gotten to know Chester Elton as a fellow author and he is simply a "stand up guy." You don't find people in this business like Chester, class all the way.

Mick Hager, author of MONKEY BUSINESS
7 Laws of the Jungle for Becoming the Best of the Bunch!
A Short Tale of a Company That Gets It! Gibbs Smith Publisher, March 2007

fantastic reading, clearly written in a jovial manner that gets the point across without confusing the reader. I urge everybody in a management position of any kind to read this book and discuss it with staff at your meetings. If every manager read and implimented a fraction of what is in this book, what a fantastic workforce America would have.

Thanks for a fantastic product.

Like the previous carrot books, this book gives great advice to help manage your employees. This is a must read for any manager wanting additional pointers to help in the difficult process of keeping your people motivated and engaged. As the head of HR for a major corporation I think this book can help all managers at all levels.

I came across the co-author Chester Elton at a seminar last year. He is very entertaining but most important, his message is one for all managers. It's up to managers to make their employees feel rewarded and recoginzed. The Invisible Employee tells us that this concept is one of the easiest and yet most overlooked aspects of our jobs. Using a fable format the authors drive home the point that happy employees do in fact perform better and contribute more. A great read for every manager!

This book is not only for HR professionals, but also a valuable resource for marketing professionals interested in tapping the growing Hispanic market segments.

With Latino Talent, Dr. Rodriguez makes a timely and thoughtful contribution to our national discussion about the changing face of the U.S. workforce. He manages to clarify and contextualize general Latino cultural norms and preferences while steering clear of counterproductive stereotypes. This kind of frank and deep exploration of our growing community's integration with "mainstream" America is critical to our collective journey toward true workplace diversity and inclusion.

Dr. Rodriguez does a remarkable job of clarifying the ambiguity that exists in defining Latinos. Regardless of how you interact with Latinos, including as an HR specialist or marketer of products and services, I highly recommend that you focus on Chapter 3 - "Latino Cultural Aspects." Dr. Rodriguez discusses how Latinos interact with others, including "collectivism, respeto, simpatia, personalismo, and communication" (p. 37). Knowledge of those concepts alone provides your organization with a competitive advantage. Without a doubt, I highly recommend "Latino Talent." - Dr. Jim Flores

This is an excellent reference for anyone that one that wants to gain a unique perspective on America's emerging workforce. Dr. Rodriguez treats the subject with unique insight based on research and practical experience. A "must have" for managers working with a diverse workforce.

The book was an easy read and very informative. It provided a lot of helpful insight into the Hispanic communitee. I have shared the book with my recruitment team to help my staff become more effective at recruiting top Hispanic talent.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone in the recruitment space.

Lisa Rodriguez
Director, Talent Acquisition
Abbott

I like this book, which I received as a gift. The humor is to the point. These cartoons are going to be displayed all over my classroom for all to enjoy. I can't wait for volume two.

Teaching can become a grind. When that happens it can grind you down. Don't let it happen to you. Seek out the pearls of fun, humorous insights and pleasure that occur each day, if you look for them. This book is full of really clever cartoons - the kind you see in better magazines - about the teaching experience. I use these cartoons for my bulletin board, to remind me that teaching can be fun, for my intra school memos, to make sure they're read, and for my Powerpoint presentations to get the audience interested in what I have to say.

The author is not only a fine cartoonist but an astute observer of teachers and teaching. As a teacher myself, I never knew that the profession could be seen as an endless source of humor. Now I approach each day with a new perspective on the profession. I have placed a few of the cartoons on my bulletin board and they attract staff members. The kids like them too. I really enjoyed this book.

I am a teacher and I think that this book should be required reading every day before a teacher enters the school building. Effective teaching is all about the right attitude and this delightful compilation of cartoons about the profession, will help you look at daily teaching situations in a new way. These 'New Yorker' type cartoons are really funny and display a knowledge of the teaching profession. Each cartoon is a gem. I have placed two of them on my class bulletin board. Reading this book has helped me stop taking myself so seriously and start relaxing and enjoying what I love to do best...teach!

This collection of professional cartoons aims at the funnybone and hits its target. A humorous spin is put on familar teaching situations. As a teacher,I realize that I was actually part of many of the situations presented in these cartoons. Ah, if only I had laughed then! These cartoons deserve a spot on the bulletin board in all teachers' workrooms. The cartoons also make useful ice-breakers and presentations for educational meetings.You thought teaching was hard work? Not to laugh at these cartoons is hard work!

I've been working on geochemistry and hydro-geochemistry for the last three years and this book represent an "easy-to-follow" compendium of the most usual problems and situations that you can find on field. The author's explanations to some problems are quite ingenious and help to solve, in a practical way, most of the difficulties that you can find in real natural systems.

The authors have managed to take a subject that can be dry and intimidating and make it readable and enjoyable. I have been in the consulting business as a hydrogeologist for 20 years, and found that I needed to review "the basics" due to a career change to Water Resources. I found the book to be well organized, well written, and especially useful were all of the examples provided. I think it would be a very good book for students (those just starting out) and for those, like me, who need to review subjects, such as "aquifer hydraulics." And, the chapter "How to Get Along with Driller's" should be mandatory reading for all students of geology/hydrogeology/engineering.

Greating readers. I have a PDF files that contains all of the corrections or errors know as of Nov 10, 2003. Please email for a copy of this document at wweight@mtech.edu. Happy Reading. Willis Weight

This book should be required reading by every professional entering the field of hydrogeology - especially those with limited experience in groundwater science. the authors present the material in an easy to read format as though they were mentoring entry level geologists. A job well done.

I've been working as a geologist for an environmental firm specializing in UST remediation for about six months. Having been working in a tangentally related field for six years, I needed a quick refresher. This book is providing that refresher - it will also prove an excellent reference for years to come. I found especially useful the portion on slug testing - my old college texts discuss slug testing but in a highly theoretical and impractical manner.

This book explains how it isn't just one thing we do but all of the "Life-Giving Systems" in our churches are interconnected.
The authors have counseled numerous churches and now they impart that knowledge to anyone who wants their church to grow instead of plateau.
Any pastor or lay-leader who wants their church to experience growth in the number of attendees and spiritually should read this book.

This book has 10 attributes of successful churches. I was so impressed I bought a copy for each Board member and had them read it. We then discussed it at a Board meeting and determined how well we matched up. Highly recommended to pastors and churches who want to be successful in carrying out the Great Commission.

A practical look at ten systems being used by churches to create a healthy and growing environment. The authors use examples from the real world to support their ideas and to encourage the reader to develop healthy systems.

Dan Reeves and Gary McIntosh are two of the best church consultants around and in Thriving Churches in the Twenty-First Century you get all their wisdom for the bargain price of a book. This book is based on real-life case studies that they have observed first hand. Buy this book - it will be the cheapest church consultant you wil ever hire.

I am so excited and don't know where to start after reading this book. I have bought copies for others on my staff.

This book has relevant topics for any Christian or church looking for ways to reach people. And ways to reach people that are beyond the traditional church Bubble.

There are some great insights for any Christian who wants a system to stay connected to God.

Great for a leader who is looking to start a new church. You will find some good foundations for building a vision and core values for your staff.

If you're a church that's been around there are insightful chapters on redefining and discovering who you are so you can better use what God has given your church (resources, gifts, Staff, etc.) to build on what you have and be open to change in society to continue to reach people. And reach people where they are at.

God desires us to know him and be used to help connect Him with others. In this book there are many great tools and systems to keep the church relevant (yet biblical) with the world we are in.

T. Rogers

'Pay to Win' captures the essence of successful CEO pay programs. Anyone who is interested in the details of top executive pay arrangements should read this book.

Reda's book, 'Pay to Win,' combines compensation theory with an unprecedented review of actual CEO compensation arrangements. 'Pay to Win' is a 'must have' reference source for corporate counsel, directors and CEO's alike.

Every business leader or human resource executive can learn more about how the top companies reward their CEOs and other top executives. If they don't, they clearly should. And Pay toWin can help accelerate this learning process. James Reda and James McMahon, as expert analysts of how people are paid, provide us with an in-depth analysis of how the executives in the top-performing companies in America are paid.

This book slices and dices the total compensation of executives in such brand name companies as GE, Oracle, Sun, Wal-Mart, and Enron, to provide you with guidance and solid benchmarking information you can immediately apply to the situation in your company.

Reda and McMahon study everything from the written executive compensation strategies of these companies, to how they pay in terms of base pay, incentives, and equity compensation, and provide actual proxy analysis about what is going on in American's elite companies. They provide a computer disk that you can use to do your own analysis of the information-this is an important tool you can put to work with your executive team. But this book is more than just a compilation of practice information-the authors provide analysis and commentary about what typifies the top-performers and suggest how you might add value to your business from taking their expert advice.

Each company in the study is summarized in terms of the elements of compensation, the composition of their board compensation committee, how they target total compensation and the market, and how they measures executive performance at the organizational and individual executive level. Whether you are interested in a specific company, a number of key companies, or top performers in general, Pay to Win will get you on the proper track.

Chapter 1 - Overview of CEO Compensation Trends. Defines executive compensation, reviews current trends in executive compensation, suggests the examples set by successful companies, and reviews developments in executive compensation as well as reviews what the authors predict we can see ahead. Chapter 2 - Findings of the Study. Reviews how companies were selected, reviews the importance of benchmarking top company solutions, reviews why a CEO is important, discusses roles and goals of the board compensation committee, provides information on characteristics of executive incentives, and reviews strategies of important companies. Chapter 3 - Analysis of Findings. Addresses the elements of executive pay including base pay, annual incentives, total cash compensation, long-term incentives, stock ownership and employment agreements and change in control agreements.

Chapter 4 - Good Corporate Governance. Provides a primer on what constitutes good corporate governance and guides us in crating a CEO employment agreement. Chapter 5 - Designing a Pay Strategy. Guides readers on shareholder and finance considerations as well as stock ownership among CEOs. Chapter 6 - How Small and Mid-Sized Companies Can Use Winning Company Strategies. The authors advise us that top compensation strategies and solutions are not just for the top companies. Instead, they provide sage advice to us on how best to work best practices in your company whether large or small. Chapter 7 - Two Case Studies: How Leadership and Pay Practices Impact Company Performance. This chapter discusses practice at IBM and National Presto Industries, two vastly difference companies. It shows how top executive reward strategies can help companies meet their business goals.

Chapter 8 - Profiles of the 200 Best-Performing Companies. This chapter provides an analysis of executive pay on a company-by-company basis to let you do some digging into the information yourself. Pay to Win closes with information on professional and trade organizations and a list of periodicals. The computer disk adds value to the book and permits you to continue the executive compensation developmental process on your own.

The information provided by the authors of Pay to Win is factual and based on solid investigation. This book should be read by those planning compensation in their companies or anyone interested in how some of the best companies define the concept of "pay for performance" for their executive team. It is a helpful tool to both the novice executive compensation reviewer or to those with considerable knowledge and experience. It provides a ready source of information on how a bevy or executive reward tools are and can be used and gives expert advice to those seeking knowledge on techniques and approaches to rewarding critical business leaders. This book belongs on your bookshelf along with the top-selling pay and reward books published during the last few years.

I believe that Mr. Reda's book is an essential reference for all those involved in executive compensation. Not only does it present metrics of world-class companies, but it also gives good practical advice to be used in real world situations for companies of all sizes. The insights presented on corporate governance issues and strategies for increasing shareholder value are timely and sound.

Our body system is nature's most perfect creation, balanced by intricate systems of feedback and communication. Our personal lives and organizational lives are often devoid of feedback; somehow we have lost these essential skills. This book teaches us how to become Aware of our Behavior and its Consequences through an eloquent description of how healthy feedback can change us personally and corporately. As a Family Physician and teacher of Family Physicians, I am certain that the ability to give and receive feedback promotes more healthy relationships. This is the essence of sustainable growth and change. We all have the power to change ourselves and this book is a good way to start that process!

The authors summarize their vast experience teaching executives how to give feedback to others...whether they be subordinates or equals. What needs to be fed back? How to "package" that feedback? What barriers keep us from trying? Why do we all think we are good at this basic function, when most of us are miserable and uncomfortable at it? This guidebook tells us how to do it and more importantly, tell us why we must. It stimulates and challenges and ends up inspiring us. It makes it fun. Our professional life is like our personal life. We have a duty to make others better and more productive. We need to invite others to help us to improve. Without feedback, there is no learning. Without constant learning, we stagnate. If we stagnate, our life was not worth living. So this book helps us to be better human beings. Read this book, then reread it. It's like a fine wine, getting richer with age.

As a consultant and trainer, I found "The ABC's of Effective Feedback" to be so very useful to all my work in Career Development. I have advised all 35 trainers who work with me to read it so they can use its gems of wisdom in their delivery as well.

This book could easily have been retitled: what I really should have learned in medical school about effective communication...but never did. The authors present an effective framework for not only learning basic communication skills, but for understanding the more fundamental behaviors which drive our language and communications. Always balancing their message with a caring, sensitive clinical perspective, (including several "right on target" examples) their message should hit home with every physician and caring professional who chose the healing arts as a labor of love, passion, caring and commitment. All too often, in today's healthcare environment financial pressures seem to take us further away than ever from the patient...changing us from patient advocate to adversary. The frustration is further heightened by the sense that "nobody really listens to us anymore." This book lays out a coherent, comprehensive, and compassionate approach to communication which, at its best, should enable and empower us to hear and be heard more effectively - not only with our patients, but with our colleagues, other healthcare industry leaders, and our families. I heartily recommend this book!!!

I had the opportunity to speak to the author and he is a very intelligent and humble person. During our phone conversation he gave me valuable information that he'd normally extend during his seminars. Additionally, the book is a must-have if you want to advance in this very aggressive and challenging world. As you know, we are constantly matched up against those to have an intellectual edge as well as acute (s)wordplay, to your advantage this book will give you the necessary verbosity to handle various situations you make face. Overall, if utilized properly one will characterize you as being well-informed, polished, articulate, eloquent and intellectual. Bottom-line, your words are symbols of ideas and represent you and of course- define you! -Leon B.

This book is a definite must have for anyone seeking to bolster their vocabulary and communication skills. I have recommended it to several of my friends and co-workers.

The Articulate Professional is a book that should be owned by anyone seeking to enhance their communication skills. It is not just a vocabulary book. The pages serve as a comprehensive easy to use guide with a strong focus on commonly used words in the business world. I especially liked the format of the book. Examples are provided for each word with its main, formal/semiformal, workplace and casual usage. I have recommended this book to other managers in my company as well as friends. I give this book the highest rating possible. It is an excellent tool.

I've been trying for several months to find a resource book that would assist me in developing a much stronger vocabulary. Having purchased 3 other books, I can say this one is a proven winner. Unlike typical vocabulary material that provides the standard definition and possibly the phonetical spelling of the word, this book also incorporates the word into several, not one or two, real life sentence structures. They include the formal definition, work place examples, casual usage and then other examples. The book also groups similar words together. Although these words are not ubiquitous, they have day to day applications. I found the book so helpful that I have purchased it for my employees. The only suggestion would be to include synonyms for the words. Otherwise it's a great book.

This handbook is a collection of ideas from companies for designing employee training and learning systems. It covers such areas such as creating the "learning organization", outsourcing, electronic performance systems, interactive multimedia training systems, diversity training and development, training for global operations and benchmarking for best practices.

This comprehensive handbook helps trainers design classrooms, self-study and computer and web based training programs. While delivering the latest information on how adults learn best, it shows trainers how to prepare lesson plans, create visual aids, and deliver dynamic and powerful presentations.

This is a great resource for HR professionals from tiny to mega corporations. Contributing authors are the most respected experts in their fields. Primary focus is on training and development: accountability, justifying programs, format, leadership, pros, cons, pitfalls, challenges . . . all aspects are covered.

As I research and write my Adult Education thesis, this book is the most useful tool I've found.

The ASTD Training and Development Handbook, Fourth Edition, by Robert L. Craig, is an essential reference book for faculty, teachers, educators, and learning system administartors at all levels including University, Corporate, K-12, and Community Colleges. It is easy to use, very comprehensive, and has great quick summaries. With the fusion of the teaching, training, and tutoring into a learner centered model this book is more useful than ever. A MUST BUY. The price is worth every penny.

The Handbook is arranged to cover almost all aspects of Training & Development. The topics are carefully selected and their authors picked from among the top names in their respective fields and therefore, the chapters are focused, targeted and provide the right mix of information and practical guidelines.

Each chapter addresses a single topic (like corporate universities, customer service training, leadership development, etc.) and is written in a straight-forward manner at the right depth making them easy to read and the perfect introduction to the topic without losing it's functionality as a reference.

No T&D professional should go without this book whether as a reference and a quick source of information when memory will just not oblige or an informative and valuable resource for information and ideas.

The Handbook is divided into 5 Sections:
1) The Training & development Function - Covering such topics as the learning organization, history of training and cost accounting for training.
2) Program Design & Development - The chapters on ISD; HPT; Adult Learning; & Evaluation are brilliantly written. I keep on going back to them again and again.
3) Media & methods - Includes some good case studies as well as Thiagi's excellent chapter on instructional games.
4) Training Applications - This is a brilliant discussion of almost all training topics that you might come across.
5) Resources - While these might be a little dated, they are still quite useful.

Check the table of Contents and some of the samples in the pages so obligingly provided by Amazon.com and don't be deterred by the length or the price of the book. This book is worth every cent and will last you long after you have forgotten the cost.