The Essential HR Handbook: A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager or HR Professional

I've been an HR professional for more than ten years, and I can honestly say that this book is a great primer on human resources for all levels of management. The topics are discussed in a clear, jargon-free, and concise manner. In my opinion, this book should be required reading for line managers, supervisors, and department heads. Even if you're a seasoned HR professional, not only are there a few gems in this book, it's a much needed break away from the textbook-style books on the subject. The chapters I found the most valuable were: optimal staffing, performance evaluations, benefits, managing a diverse workforce, and the 21st century workplace. The chapters on benefits and performance evaluations alone are worth the cost of the book. It's a great, quick read and will serve as a reference to many.

I really liked this book. As a beginner in HR, this gave me a good grasp of what this field is like and what it all entails. It's relevant and provided good tips, so I recommend it if you're looking for a general HR book :)

I purchased this book from Amazon as an additional reference and study guide, as I am going to be taking the PHR exam this winter. While it's not the ideal study guide for the PHR, I was very impressed with the book. It packs a lot of content and real-world examples into one slim volume. It gives you checklists you can quickly put to use and I have already made use of the behavior-based interview question examples in chapter 2 on recruiting. I also plan to use the vendor selection criteria used in chapter 11 on technology, since we are in the market for a new applicant tracking system. The book consists of chapters written by various HR subject matter experts, who are currently practicing in the field. They understand what it is to be an HR practitioner in a constantly changing and challenging field. I am keeping this book on my shelf at work for future reference. My biggest pet peeve with the book was the high number of typos it contained. A better job of proofreading for the misspellings and typos would have benefited the book greatly.

I did look up some information online, and this left out many important issues. One thing I did not see in this book was to take a survey of the staff to see what skill they had or if any issues existed. Some other things that were omitted was work violence and hiring employees for tasks or positions you know little about. It is a good general book on HR.

I heard about this nifty little book from a friend and, although I've been in HR for nearly 30 years and read too many texts and popular "how-to" books on the subject, decided to give it a read. Well, even for an old hand like myself, I was impressed. The authors have made this a concise, readable book - truly a Handbook. It covers all the essential topics in an organized fashion that makes it easy on the reader to find the answers quickly without a lot of legalese to get in the way. I really like the sample documents they've included. The new manager or seasoned HR professional will appreciate having these examples to adapt and use. I highly recommend it to anyone in the field or who has the responsibility of managing others in the workplace. Bravo! Paul Shibelski, SPHR, GPHR

This is a handy book when it comes to HR subjects. Plain english and easy to understand. Concise and straight to the point.

I like this book because it explains in simple words exactly what is need it for someone that starts working in Human Resource Dept. It shows examples of some forms and go over rules, regulations and laws. I recommend this book to anyone that wants to know how HR works and even to an employee to learn about their rights.

As a training and workforce development professional who doesn't have direct experience with the various other responsibilities and concerns that my human resource colleagues must juggle, I have found 'The Essential HR Handbook' to be extremely helpful with the overview it provides. I would have liked to have seen more substance in the diversity section -- but then, that's at least in part due to my professional bias as a diversity trainer. Overall, this book is a little gem in an easy read format, quick and to the point -- and we busy folks like that! I highly recommend it!