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How Do I Choose the Best Human Resource Management Books?

By D. Nelson
Updated May 17, 2024
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Human resource professionals are responsible for improving the environment in which employees work. Ideally, human resource professionals want to create workplaces where employees feel motivated to do a good job and where all of the workers feel that they are respected and treated equally. It also is common for human resource professionals to negotiate salaries and benefit packages and to participate in recruiting processes. To choose the best human resource management books, your first need to think about what you hope to gain with the books you choose. For instance, if you are taking classes in human resource studies or management, you probably should choose books that are listed on your course syllabus.

Many professionals use human resource management books to help them improve their own performances. To choose the best books, you should think about the processes that you need to improve. If you are interested in motivating employees in your organization, it probably is a good idea to focus on human resource management books that give tips for improving attitudes around an office. You might get tips for how to brighten the mood in otherwise drab rooms and how to encourage employees to express their ideas.

If you are in charge of a human resource department, look for human resource management books that give you tips about organization. You can learn how to delegate tasks and how to train and assess your employees. If you are interested in specific organizational management models, make sure that you choose human resource management books that speak directly to organizations that are the size of your organization and that have similar challenges and opportunities.

Human resource professionals often are responsible for dealing with issues of worker compensation and employee benefits. If you need help with these issues, try to find human resource management books that contain information that pertains specifically to laws and regulations in your area. It is especially important to find books that are published or approved by professional or government agencies and that were written by knowledgeable individuals.

For many human resource professionals, respect for diversity in the workplace is a top priority. This means that many human resource professionals want each employee to feel comfortable with who he or she is, no matter his or her ethnic background, income bracket, age group or body type. Human resource managers must take all harassment claims very seriously. You can benefit from human resource management books that provide sensitivity training. These books might include discussions about ideas, words and preconceptions that people often have and that can hurt the feelings of others.

WiseGEEK is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.

Discussion Comments

By anon985932 — On Jan 20, 2015

I think recommendations are the best way. In my case, Lori Kleiman's book "HR You Can Use" was recommended to me, and it became the best book I have read on HR. Not that there is a huge market for them, but word of mouth I think is always the best.

By Heavanet — On Nov 01, 2014

@rundocuri- Tell your friend that just about any human resource management book should have information about employee benefits. Since the job of educating employees about all of the company benefits usually falls under human resources, a manager in this position will guide the employees in all the benefits that the company has to offer. Human resource books usually have information about administering employee benefits including retirement accounts.

As a human resource manager, your friend should also feel comfortable giving the employees information about how to grow their retirement savings. Not only will a good human resource management book discuss the options, but it will also give information about how to openly discuss this very personal information. If your friend looks for a very detailed book with benefit information, she should be on her way to understand how to discuss employee retirement account information with her company's employees.

By Rundocuri — On Oct 31, 2014

Do some human resource management books also focus on helping employees invest? I have a friend who recently got a position in human resources in her company, and she is also in charge of guiding the company employees in choosing retirement saving options. Since she is new to the position, she wants to find some good information about the topic.

By Ocelot60 — On Oct 30, 2014

I have a friend who works in human resource in her company, and it definitely helped her to read books that focused on dealing with problems among coworkers. Whether working for a large company with numerous employees or a small office with less than ten workers, disagreements happen. Good human resource management books have at least one chapter than focuses on this issue, and provide advice about how someone in this field can deal with fighting among staff members.

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