A Practical Guide to Human Resources Management

There are also a number of good “self help” management books which explore one area of human resources or another. Books helping you hire, fire etc. are all great and very useful and I hope you will find this one equally so when you have finished. I have organized the book more or less in the same sequence as the employment experience as follows:

Chapter 1 looks at the subject of how to hire the right person. From defining the job to recruiting to interviewing to making the final offer I believe this is the cornerstone of what any leader does in their organization. In reading President George W. Bush’s latest autobiography chapter three was entitled simply “Personnel”. The first section of that chapter dealt with the various hiring decisions he was faced with and how he made those decisions. While none of us is likely to hire the next Secretary of State all hiring decisions are important and provide for your organizations future success or failure and in many ways reflects on your decision making ability.

Chapter 2 will discuss the best way to onboard employees. Commonly known as “new employee orientation” we will talk about what makes the first 90 critical to the success of the new hire and if done properly may keep you from having to repeat chapter 1.

Chapter 3 will explore some possible ways to measure employee performance. While most managers look at the “performance review form” as the performance management system it is simply one of several tools available to provide employees with the feedback they require to improve and sustain their performance.

Chapter 4 will look at compensation from the perspective of how to get the most out of what you need to pay employees to remain with the organization. While the concept of “you get what you pay for” may seem a gross over simplification in my experience you do get pretty much exactly what you pay for and you need to consider what you are really looking to achieve to move your organization forward. Figure out what you want and pay for it.

Chapter 5 will examine benefits in the new Obama Care world. While obviously health insurance is the single largest insurance cost item you will face there are other benefits that your employee may find valuable as well, at a fraction of the price.

Chapter 6 deals with keeping employees safe both from a physical and emotional perspective. While the workplace today is not the dangerous place it was 50 years ago and workplace deaths are less common, there are a number of safety related issues that are unique to the 21st century.

Chapter 7 deals with the employee relations issues you will encounter from time to time. While there is no magic formula to solve all of these potential employee problems there is a sequence of events you may find useful when dealing with that uncomfortable employee problem.

Chapter 8 is actually one of my favorites. How to stay out of court is a constantly evolving subject and represents a chess match between you and plaintiff attorney.

Chapter 9 looks at the challenges of training employees on a tight budget. I have never met the employee who has received enough training and I have found so much money is wasted in this area that it can be discouraging, particularly to small business owners.

Chapter 10 will end with a discussion of how to discipline and fire them. I know this may a tough way to end the employment relationship but eventually all employees leave the organization and hopefully if we have done 1-8 well they will leave due to retirement and not involuntarily.’

Chapter 11 will deal with the unique challenges of dealing with unions. Most leaders would agree that we want to prevent unions from entering our workplace and this chapter will discuss union avoidance as well as how to deal with them if they do get in the door.

Chapter 12 may be helpful to those of you who work internationally or may be thinking of doing so. While this could be a book by itself (and may be some day) there are some ideas and concepts that may help as you continue your journey overseas.

Finally Chapter 13 will take a whimsical look at the future and explore 10 areas you should think about with human resources in the years ahead. I have also included several resources that may help you in your future research. These include a number of websites that I have found to be very useful over the years.

Finally I hope to share some funny stories with you including at least one travel story per chapter. For those of you who travel often, airline and hotels say the silliest things and I want to share some of my favorite moments with you.

Buckle up. I hope you find this book useful and at times humorous. If I have learned anything in the last 30 years it is that you might as well laugh at this stuff or else you will most definitely start to cry!