The Essential Hr Handbook Book Summary By Sharon Armstrong & Barbara Mitchell

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The Essential HR Handbook (2008) is an comprehensive guide to help you better manage your human capital.

Whether you are a manager, supervisor, or HR practitioner, this book will provide you with the essential tools and knowledge needed to effectively lead your team.

In its pages, you'll find important insights on recruiting practices, staffing strategies, employee development skills, performance management systems, compensation planning and more.

Additionally reap the benefits of valuable sections on workplace communication practices, diversity advancement and labor relations advice.

So if you're looking for an invaluable resource that offers sound advice on how to better utilize your biggest asset - your people - then The Essential HR Handbook (2008) is an essential book to have!

The Essential Hr Handbook Book

Book Name: The Essential HR Handbook (A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager or HR Professional)

Author(s): Sharon Armstrong & Barbara Mitchell

Rating: 3.8/5

Reading Time: 14 Minutes

Categories: Corporate Culture

Author Bio

Sharon Armstrong is the founder of Sharon Armstrong and Associates and a distinguished human resources consultant and trainer.

She has co-authored countless books including two successful business books, as well as the heartwarming book - Healing the Canine Within: The Dog's Self-Help Companion.

Sharon's experience in the HR world has given her knowledge that she wishes to share with others through her writing, making her a great author for The Essential HR Handbook.

How To Find And Keep The Most Talented Employees In Your Business

Your Business

If you want to become a better talent manager, The Essential HR Handbook is a must-have for any business.

It covers all the important aspects of hiring and managing employees, enabling you to make sure that your team members are the best in their fields and able to stay motivated.

You’ll learn techniques such as how to identify top talent even when they’re not placed in traditional job postings, what constitutes good training programs and giving effective performance reviews.

Following this handbook will help you become an outstanding talent manager who can attract and retain exceptional people in your business.

The Role Of Human Resources In Achieving Organizational Goals

In order for an organization to be truly successful, it needs to link its HR planning with its overall strategy.

Put simply, a strategy must exist that outlines the goals of the organization and how they’re to be achieved through available resources, such as people.

Human resources is responsible for the acquisition, training, appraisal and compensation of an organization’s employees; but it also has a critical role in terms of guiding the organization on their path to success.

It receives a large portion of the budget to spend on salaries and benefits; therefore, having HR planning that is in line with organizational goals will help ensure that those goals can be met.

For instance, if the correct people are not recruited according to specific organizational targets – by way of providing desirable benefits packages – it can make it difficult for them to attain top talent which might otherwise have propelled them forward.

So for any organization wanting to go above and beyond must ensure their human resources planning is adequately aligned with their greater strategy – after all, this could very well be the difference between success and failure.

How To Conduct A Talent Hunt In The Digital Age

Optimal staffing in the current job market requires that you outpace competition and focus on an applicant’s prior experiences.

This can be done by understanding not just what constitutes a successful hire, but also why your organization is a great place to work.

It’s important to develop a strategy for attracting top talent so that job seekers know what you have to offer.

You can do this by stressing the benefits of working with your organization, such as competitive pay, paid holidays and professional development opportunities.

Once you’ve established yourself as an appealing employer, it’s important to then review resumes thoroughly to make sure applicants fit the specific qualifications of the position.

After screening for basics like qualifications and salary expectations, you should move onto conducting behavioral interviews in order to gauge past performance and determine whether or not the candidate would measure up against the expectations of their role.

Doing so will help make sure your staff is well-prepared for any situation that may arise.

By taking these steps to recruite optimal staff, employers will have an easier time hiring people who are best suited for the job – meaning fewer wastes of time and resources for everyone involved!

Make Sure New Employees Understand Your Organization And Make A Good First Impression To Ensure They Feel Welcome And Part Of The Team

New Employees

When you hire a new employee, it’s essential to make sure they have an efficient and seamless transition into the organization.

The key is to give them proper orientation and onboarding.

This means orienting them to the history and culture of the organization, as well as providing a detailed view of how its departments and procedures work.

Furthermore, giving a good first impression is very important; this will lay the foundation for your relationship with the new hire since it provides a sense of comfort and inclusiveness within the company.

Laurie Friedman from Strategic Business Consulting emphasizes that organizations have great opportunities to win over prospective employees during the onboarding process.

From setting up interviews in pleasant environments to emphasizing respect for their ideas and opinions – small gestures can go a long way towards making new hires feel welcome.

At the end of the day, by providing your new hires with proper orientation and onboarding, you give them an incredibly valuable gift – one that will allow them to begin their journey with the organization on a positive note.

The Effective Use Of Training To Ensure Employee Development And Success

One of the most important steps in the hiring process is training, and that’s especially true for new hires.

Training new employees not only helps an organization stay competitive, but it also ensures that your employees are properly equipped with the skills they need to be successful.

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For new employees in particular, it’s essential they receive training on the skills necessary to get their job done well.

This could include customer service training if they’ll be dealing with customers – teaching them how to be polite yet effective – or team player training if their role requires working closely with colleagues.

Once the training program has been completed, you should measure its effectiveness using a four-tier approach developed by Professor Emeritus Donald Kirkpatrick in 1994.

This includes conducting pre- and post-training tests (level 2), transferring newly acquired skill into actual work (level 3), and determining whether there were measurable benefits from the training program (level 4).

By providing good, consistent training for your new hires, you’ll ensure that everyone at your organization is upskilled and ready for success!

Performance Evaluations: A Chance To Motivate Employees And Improve Managerial Skills

When it comes to HR and management, providing feedback is essential.

Performance evaluations are a great way for you to be able to tell employees about the organization’s goals and expectations and give them a sense of purpose in their work.

But these evaluations don’t just help employees- they also help managers hone their skills.

A successful evaluation requires engagement – listening, asking follow up questions, and understanding both the employee’s perspective and that of the organization.

Just as importantly, evaluations offer employees an opportunity to learn how they’re doing and gain feedback on what changes they need to make in order to grow professionally.

In order for these evaluations to be effective though, positive and corrective feedback must be given at the right time with accuracy and specificity.

Positive feedback should use the acronym FAST – frequent, accurate, specific and timely – while corrective feedback should use BEER: behavior, effect, expectation and results.

This structured approach will ensure that your employees feel empowered by their progress rather than demotivated from negative criticism alone.

It Is Clear That The American Workforce Is Growing More Diverse And Managers Need To Be Able To Accommodate All Employees Regardless Of Their Backgrounds And Abilities

Managers

Managing an increasingly diverse workforce and keeping up with technological innovation can be challenging.

Those who successfully do it will come out ahead while those who fall behind may struggle to catch up.

The US workplace is becoming more diverse every day – a 2004 study by Hewitt Associates predicted that by 2008 78% of the workforce would be female and/or belong to a minority group, and by 2014 75% of the new workforce was expected to come from Asia.

This trend has continued and shows no signs of slowing in the foreseeable future.

As a manager, it’s essential that you create an inclusive environment where everyone is respected regardless of their knowledge, skills or abilities.

If someone speaks another language from the majority language used on your team, it’s important that they understand instructions as well as everyone else.

Technology can help with this, such as quick Skype calls or e-mails for communicating instructions or procedures.

Ultimately, your job is to anticipate any changes in the workforce due to changing demographics and technology advances, and make sure your investments and policies are ready for them.

With some foresight and preparation you can make sure your team keeps ahead of these inevitable changes.

Wrap Up

The Essential HR Handbook demonstrates that Human Resource management is a vital part of any organization’s success and should not be overlooked.

The book provides actionable advice on how to conduct firings in the most fair and appropriate manner.

The advice offered encompasses informing the employee of the reason for termination so they can use this knowledge when seeking employment elsewhere, as well as following standard procedures if the organization has any set regulations associated with firing an employee.

This should help to avoid potential claims of contract violation.

Overall, this book offers sound advice on how to effectively manage HR while also ensuring fairness towards employees and complying with procedural rules.

Arturo Miller

Hi, I am Arturo Miller, the Chief Editor of this blog. I'm a passionate reader, learner and blogger. Motivated by the desire to help others reach their fullest potential, I draw from my own experiences and insights to curate blogs.

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