8 Books Every HR Professional Should Read
Challenging yourself through continuous learning is essential for professional development. Reading books is a proven method to better understand information collected by others. All the textbooks we list are recommended literature for various human resources courses at universities. These books will help you gain an in-depth understanding of human resource management practices. Most modern HR books give a good overview of popular HR topics. They will also help create a vision for the future of HR.
1. Human Resource Management
When we talk about what an HR professional should read first, the first book that comes to mind is Human Resource Management, by Gary Dessler. This 760-page book serves as a Bible for any HR professional. The last edition was a collaboration with Biju Varrkey. It covers a practical, step-by-step explanation of the pillars of HR. They are defined in five parts: recruitment, placement and talent management, training and development, remuneration and social relations.
2. The HR Scorecard
This book on our list is undoubtedly the oldest of all, but also the most timeless. In the HR Scorecard, Becker and colleagues explain how employees, strategy and performance can be linked and quantified. Human resources management has never been considered an exact science. Aligning HR activities with organizational strategy and measuring the impact on the employees does not come naturally to HR. However, when done well, it allows HR to quantify its impact and measure the effectiveness of its work. Quantifying HR work allows you to speak the same language as the business. The company focuses on key performance indicators (KPIs) and achieving return on investment (ROI). Once HR can quantify some of its activities, it will help build credibility.
3. Victory Through Organization
In this book, Ulrich and his co-authors David Kryscynski and Wayne Brockbank take a closer look at the HR function. The research on which this book is based is a study of HR capabilities among a sample of over 30,000 HR professionals, business leaders and colleagues - the largest HR sample ever conducted. Based on this research, the book tells you everything you need to know about how HR can add value. In fact, the book shows not only how value is created for HR and the employee, but also for the business, investors/owners, communities and line managers. Additionally, topics such as employee performance, integrated HR practices, HR analytics and HR information management are explored. While the book isn't the funniest or easiest to read, it is undoubtedly one of the best books on this list and a must-read for any senior HR manager.
4. Investing in people. Financial Impact of Human Resource Initiatives
In the book investing in people, KirsWayne Cascio, John Boudreau take a highly structured, data-driven approach to solving common HR problems. The book, originally published in 2008, examines strategic HR measurement and complements and focuses on specific HR topics. After explaining the basics of proper measurement in HR, the book discusses a series of case studies. It's about absenteeism, turnover, employee well-being, engagement and much more. Each of these topics takes a structured approach to explore them in detail, and the reader is provided with tools to assess the costs and measure the impact of interventions. Like the other books on this list, this is not the easiest book to read, but it is certainly very valuable when you are tasked with measuring HR or other quantitative HR challenges.
5. The Talent Delusion - Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic
The book is full of golden thoughts, which shows that despite increased spending on leadership development, confidence in leadership has plummeted. It is easy for an employee to convince his boss that he is doing his best. However, it is not possible to always be on top of your performance. People can only do this for a limited time before returning to normal performance. Therefore, it is almost impossible to judge a person's performance based on one or two months of data, especially when the person is motivated to perform well. The trick, then, is to select individuals whose normal performance is similar to their maximum performance level. They are described as conscientious and hard-working, and over time they are likely to outperform their less conscientious counterparts.
6. Work Rules! - Laszlo Bock
Google has always been a model of good HR practices. In his book Rules of Work! Laszlo Bock, former vice president of people operations at Google, describes HR best practices at Google. The book is subtitled "Insights from Inside Google" that will change the way you live and lead. The book does just that. This is a very practical book that focuses on the importance of company culture, how Google is able to systematically select the best employees, the importance of data in human resources, why you should be paid unfairly (different results should be rewarded differently), and how to deal with it. with mistakes. in HR. This is a book you can finish in one day. Laszlo is able to show you what good practices you can copy tomorrow in your own organization to better manage people.
7. HR Disrupted: It’s Time for Something Different
I thought it would be a good idea to end this list with a book that looks at the future of HR. What will be the role of an HR professional in the future? How can we lead, manage, engage and support employees in radically different ways? According to Adams, breakthrough HR rests on three pillars. First, treat employees not as children, but as adults. Secondly, employees are treated like consumers, abandoning a one-size-fits-all approach. And third, employees should be treated as human beings. Through a series of interesting and recognizable examples from his role as HR Director at the BBC, Adams illustrates how people can be better managed in an increasingly digital and disruptive business environment.
8. Thinking, Fast and Slow
Although not an HR book, this book offers an in-depth explanation of modern psychology. This classic explains much of Kahneman's research and connects it to many well-known psychological theories and biases. The book explains that there are two systems of thought. System 1 is fast, automatic thinking and system 2 slow, logical thinking. These systems constitute competition. System 1 is our intuitive, quick response, while System 2 is our logical, more considered response. Every time we are faced with a new situation or ask a question, these systems present answers that are often different from each other. This book is probably the hardest to read of all. While it's full of quizzes and practice examples, it's very detailed, which slows you down when reading. I try to read books cover to cover, but at 75% I stopped reading. I would recommend reading all the chapters, especially the beginning, but don't be afraid to look at other parts of the book once you understand the main ideas.
Conclusion
Reading requires concentration and improves your ability to concentrate, but many people struggle to find the time they need. A thorough discussion of your ideas will provide additional context and detail to help you better absorb the information. Learning from books broadens your perspective and gives you more resources to face obstacles and solve problems. We have undoubtedly left some HR books off this list. You can list them below and we will be happy to add them in a later version!