Amazon.com

Talent, as defined by Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, and Beth Axelrod, is shorthand for a key employee who possesses "a sharp strategic mind, leadership ability, communications skills, the ability to attract and inspire people, entrepreneurial instincts, functional skills, and the ability to deliver results." It's also, they contend in The War for Talent, an overarching personnel characteristic that companies of all kinds will require throughout their organizations in order to survive the competitive recruiting era that we appear to be entering. Michaels, Handfield-Jones, and Axelrod, authors of a 1997 McKinsey Quarterly article that uncovered a definitive connection between top performers and superior corporate achievement, spent the intervening years studying 13,000 executives in 27 companies to identify the programs and behaviors that help today's foremost firms attract and retain the best kinds of employees. The authors outline five common "imperatives" that they found these companies employed to strengthen their talent pools ("Embrace a Talent Mindset," "Craft a Winning Employee Value Proposition," "Rebuild Your Recruiting Strategy," "Weave Development into Your Organization," and "Differentiate and Affirm Your People") and construct a practical framework for making it happen in your company. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (13)

An outstanding, although not original, look at talent
I recommend this book highly for anyone who works in or owns a business. The information contained here is not original in concept, as many of the concepts can be found in (not surprisingly) successful and well know businesses.

The basic premise of this book is that the ability to attract, retain and engage the best talent available will give your business a competitive edge in the marketplace. Looking at these components in the "war for talent" the authors outline several strategies:

The first issue is that in order to be able to focus on talent, companies must "embrace a talent mindset" and realize that in this age of intellectual capital, getting the top talented people to work for you and your customers will make the difference in your results. "Embracing a talent mindset" means not just awareness of the importance of great people, but investing in development, setting high performance standards, and getting actively involved in people related decisions. In order to do this, companies must look closely at "EVP" or an "Employee Value Proposition" approach to keep top talent engaged in exciting work and value added opportunities.

The authors also discuss several different approaches to recruiting and identifying the key talent required for your business. In my experience, getting better talent up front makes all the subsequent processes better: training, communication, innovation, and of course business results.

The book also discusses a concept made famous by GE - differentiating performance and performers. While it sometimes feels like business Darwinism, differentiating your top performers and rewarding and investing in them accordingly will bring about better results than trying to raise the poorer performers up a level.

Overall, a great summary of the challenges and opportunities in this "war for talent" businesses are facing everyday.

A powerful tool for leaders across organizations.
In a market characterized by uncertainty and instability, one thing holds true for all organizations: building strong talent is crucial to success. "The War for Talent" delivers a powerful argument for why this is the case, illustrating the need for leaders to adopt a "talent mindset" and develop a strategic approach to talent management. Executives and managers will find this book a valuable guide that lays out the steps required to attract, develop, excite and retain highly talented employees.

McKinsey & Company consultants Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones and Beth Axelrod translate five years of in-depth research and analysis into a clear perspective on how to develop a corporation's greatest asset - its people. The authors artfully weave examples of success stories from such companies as Amgen, GE, The Home Depot and Enron into a comprehensive framework for addressing long-term talent management. Their approach continually challenges the reader to assess his or her own organization and to take action. Leaders from all levels of organizations will gain practical knowledge and an insightful roadmap for winning the war for talent.

The War For Talent Is About to Begin In Earnest
The War for Talent is a great book for the leaders of an organization to read. Why? They are the ones who can affect the culture of the organization. Most workers, even A Players, do not have the power to drive cultural change.

As a contract recruiter (www.recruiterguy.com), when I go into a company for the first time, I interview the managers and ask them, in their view, "Why would a top performer want to work for this company, in this position, for you?" As the competition for talent begins to gain steam over the next few months, companies who do a better job of addressing the needs of the Gen X'ers will find themselves in the enviable position of attracting the replacements to the Baby Boomers who are retiring or otherwise leaving the workplace. Sure there is still a surplus of workers as a result of the recession. However, companies who do not have a recruitment strategy will soon find themselves spending much more money to attract the best talent.

In The War For Talent, the authors used specific examples of companies who had either a recruiting or attrition problem and then solved it by improving their Employee Value Proposition (EVP). For instance, SunTrust had a problem where they were losing 46% of their branch employees in their Publix supermarket branches in Georgia and 55% of their high performers. The book discusses the steps they took to dramatically lower their attrition rate in a relatively short time.

Unfortunately for the book, it came out just as Enron was spinning into the ground. Therefore, some people have focused more on the Enron EVP and other qualities and possibly not enough on the other companies' qualities. Enron, while it was growing, appealed to a specific group of people who were not afraid to take what now appears to be excessive risks. There are many examples of other companies with other EVP's who have survived and possibly thrived during this recession. They were able to attract and retain the high performers, who generally tend to be more strategic and less tactical than their counterparts.

Just as Brad Smart in his book "Topgrading" focuses on recruiting, developing and mentoring the A Players, the authors of The War For Talent stress the importance of the A players in a company. It is surprising that "The Peter Principle" came out in 1969 and we are still discussing the concept but in different terms.

The War For Talent concepts should be discussed from the boardroom to your hiring managers. Your leaders need to embrace a talent mindset (title of a chapter in the book), develop a winning differentiation for your company, and develop recruiters who have the ability to attract A Players.

Read this book if you want to win "The War For Talent." .........

A worthwhile read
Easy reading, entertaining, interesting and informative. Light on details but a very good general overview of the topic.

Conceptually excellent. The value is in how you implement the recommendations - which is where you will find this book wanting.

If you get nothing else out of this book, the quote from Dee Hock (founder of Visa) will make it worth buying:

"Hire and promote first on the basis of integrity; second motivation; third capacity; fourth understanding; fifth knowledge; and last and least, experience.

Without integrity, motivation is dangerous; without motivation, capacity is impotent; without capacity, understanding is limited; without understanding, knowledge is meaningless; without knowledge, experience is blind."

Good theory but doesn't work in the real world.
This book is a good theory and in an ideal world it would all work out that way: the highly talented and highly skilled would get the promotions, good jobs, and plum assisgnments. But unfortunately, more often than not, the pie isn't divided so nicely. There are often other reasons, not work/talent related, that a person gets a promotion or a job. The classic example is the boss' son getting handed a top job in a company, which still happens today. Also how do you fit Affirmative Action into the equation? AA is not based upon talents, only gender & race. Personally I wish more management would read this book and use the basic idea but it probably won't happen. Companies keep talking about "needing good talent" but they don't walk the walk. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Top performers in sports and the performing arts never outgrow their need for coaching, say authors Ron Zemke and Kristin Anderson, so why should your front-line employees be any different? On the contrary, they insist, workers also need ongoing encouragement and assistance in order to upgrade their customer-service skills, maintain their daily motivation, and enhance their ability to react when new problems arise. Coaching Knock Your Socks Off Service, the latest entry in a popular series, offers a series of solid suggestions for achieving first-rate customer service in any business environment through sustained coaching by management and employees themselves. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

THE best book on customer service out there !
This is a superb book. I recommend it to everyone. It has a delightful fun tone about it, easy to read with lovely cartoons & it is THE book to read on how to easily & simply coach your staff about customer service.... AND get them to pay attention & actually do it ! It is so logical & so effective. I am a customer service consultant to the top 100 & I find this book invaluable. You MUST read it !

Outstanding practical guide on how to actually be a coach!
This book comes closest to being an actual "how to" coach book. It is a practical, easy to read plan to improve coaching skills or start developing them. Every new coach always asks "where is the book that tells you how to do it?" This is it! ... Read more

Book Description

Straight answers to your compensation questionsAn A-to-Z guide to compensation strategy and design, Compensation Handbook, Fourth Edition, has been completely revised and updated to keep you on top of the important changes that have taken place in this area. Editors Lance A. Berger and Dorothy R. Berger have assembled articles by leading compensation practitioners to give you authoritative solutions to a wide range of specific compensation problems. This important new edition shares with you the best thinking on attracting and retaining outstanding employees in a tight market...executive compensation...computers and compensation...how to use a mix of compensation devices...and much, much more. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Compensation Handbook
As a compensation consultant, I sought a comprehensive guide for all aspects of the field. The 4th edition of The Compensation Handbook provides simple and direct answers for every compensation problem. It is a virtual "who's who" of compensation professionals providing well-constructed, concise information on area of expertise. No matter what information I seek -- from base compensation, variable compensation, executive compensation, performance and compensation, compensation and corporate culture, or international compensation -- I can find pertinent, practical guidance in this one book. Compensation issues that are currently challenging every company - regardless of size, age, industry -- are especially well developed in The Compensation Handbook. The section on Corporate Culture containing chapters on "Culture and Compensation" and "Connecting Compensation, Behaviors, Culture, and Strategy to Win" by William M. Mercer consultants, "Rewarding Scarce Talent" by Patricia Zingheim, "Gaining a Competitive Edge by Improving the Return on Human Capital" by Peter LeBlanc, and "The Role of Work-Life Benefit in the Total Pay Strategy" covers issues that every compensation practitioner or human resources professional will grapple with in the forseeable future. Even the effect of technology and computers on compensation administration are handled in The Compensation Handbook. Information on global compensation strategies is relevant not only to practitioners by to anyone seeking employment on foreign soil or working for a foreign company. The Compensation Handbook is a winner. ... Read more

Book Description

How does emotional intelligence as a competency go beyond the individual to become something a group or entire organization can build and utilize collectively? Written primarily by members of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations, founded by recognized EI experts Daniel Goleman and Cary Cherniss, this groundbreaking compendium examines the conceptual and strategic issues involved in defining, measuring and promoting emotional intelligence in organizations. The book's contributing authors share fifteen models that have been field-tested and empirically validated in existing organizations. They also detail twenty-two guidelines for promoting emotional intelligence and outline a variety of measurement strategies for assessing emotional and social competence in organizations.

... Read more

Reviews (1)

Valid Scientific Writing - misses detailed "How To" answers
After being disappointed by Cary Cherniss' book on "promoting" emotional intelligence, I was rather reluctant to spend money on this one, so I ordered a used copy through Amazon (very satisfactory: the copy I got was as good as new). I must say that I find my money well spent. In fact, the only reason why this book doesn't get 5 stars is that it's too scientific for practical application.

For instance, chapter 5 is correct to point out that most tests don't measure emotional intelligence, BUT emotional competence, and then goes on to warn us that a test as Bar-on's EQi test certainly has disadvantages, given it is a self-administered test (In my experience, self-administration of EQ-like tests is particularly dangerous for recruiting and other forms of evaluation). Of course, then the question becomes: BUT I want to test EQ in the context of work, how can I do this in a reliable fashion? You'll find the answer halfway chapter 6, which indicates that Behavior Event Interviews will do the trick (I agree with this, since that's what I experienced as well). Unfortunately, you won't find what kind of questions to ask during such an interview, let alone examples of how to do it.

Also, I was glad that the author of chapter 8 pointed out the same pitfalls of hiring senior executives I have been warning companies for. The suggestions that were outline come close to what we have been doing for several customers, but again the real, practical how to's are missing.

The chapters on training emotional intelligence in part three of the book were more useful than the book "Promoting E.I.", so there is no need at all to buy that other book anymore. Once again, these 4 chapters contain many of the messages one should have when working to develop EQ.

My critique: Except the scientific parts, I found that many of the more practical things this book covers, are "old messages" that can be found in works of Boyatzis, McClelland, Prochaska, Spencer and Spencer, ...

Conclusion? Buy this book if you need a solid scientific basis for your knowledge of emotional intelligence. As far as the how-to's are concerned, this book will serve very well as an outline and a checklist by which one can evaluate the quality of work delivered by a consultant - however, it's not enough to really go out there and "just do it". On the other hand, if you are a consultant recruiting or training for emotional intelligence, this is a MUST READ. Don't get caught not knowing what's in here!... ... Read more

Book Description

Graphics for Learning teaches you how to design effective graphics for print or online and computer-generated materials—multimedia, texts, working aids, and slides—that will maximize learning, understanding, and reasoning. Based on solid research on how people learn, this crucial resource contains best practices and shows you how to go beyond the visible features of graphics to plan visuals that are based on their communication and psychological functions. Written by instructional design experts Ruth Colvin Clark and Chopeta Lyons, Graphics for Learning includes a graphic design model that guides you through the visual planning process—from needs assessment through production. No matter how much or little expertise you have working with graphics, this book will help you boost your return on investment by giving you the information you need to design and implement the most effective visuals. Graphics for Learning shows how to:

• Select the graphics that can impr ove learning and workplace performance.
• Plan the most appropriate visual for computer or paper instructional materials.
• Design the best graphics for instructional content.
• Tailor visuals for individual learners.
• Avoid using the wrong visuals for motivational purposes.
• Understand the characteristics of graphics that support (or disrupt) learning.
• Follow a systematic graphic design model that helps you plan graphics that match your instructional context.

Book Description

A shortand outline for almost every word in the English language.

The GREGG Shorthand Dictionary Simplified is divided into two parts: Part I contains 26,098 words most commonly used in notation with their official shorthand outlines. Also included are words that are frequently used in such fields as medicine, law, engineering, chemistry, and many others. These words represent a large range of vocabulary, omitting derivites that are not needed in shorthand. Part II contains 2,604 proper names and geographic expressions including a list of 72 commonly used abbreviations. This valuable reference should be part of the library of every shorthand writer.

Reviews (11)

Study this book! It's well worth your time.
Learning shorthand requires an effort, but it's well worth your time in the long run. Even if you quit after just studying the first half of this book, you will still be able to write at three or four times the speed of longhand. None of the systems based on the regular alphabet (such as Speedwriting, Stenoscript, Forkner or EasyScript) will let you attain such speeds. Moreover, Gregg shorthand is complete system of writing that you can use for all kinds of texts, not just for the stereotype formulas used in office dictation. And contrary to all the "modern", computer-based systems, Gregg shorthand is something you can use in all situations - you're not dependent on any kind of machine being at hand. It may take time and motivation to learn, but it's twice as useful as any of the "alphabet" systems, and it's a form of writing that will give you enormous benefit and pleasure both in your professional and your private life. I can recommend this book to anyone!

Every Skill Takes Practice Practice Practice
In order to become proficient in shorthand, you have to work at it. It is a skill that you must practice daily, not just when you feel like it. I found that if I would sit in from of the TV and try to take dictation from commercials, dialogue, or write a passage from a book, it helped me with becoming use to different cadences of speech. When you draft a letter, draft it with shorthand then transcribe it. If you do not practice you will never achieve any speed or accuracy. I learned shorthand during high school. It developed a dicipline that carried over to my work ethic. Although I only was a secretary for a short time, I loved being able to take notes for my college and MBA classes, then transcribe accurate information to study. All my classmates were jealous of my notes and bought many copies from me. Gregg is the best source of shorthand you will find today. It has been around for a long time. It trains your mind to think quickly because you are not bogged down with letters. It helps you learn to spell, because you are writing phonetically and know that sympols mean certain letters or blends. I have used it to teach my children spelling. IT WORKS GREAT. The poor ratings this book has received are probably from people who do not have the dicipline to stay with something that may be difficult at first. I highly recomment this series of books. You will succeed if you only have the courage to stay with it!

A very good book for a fantastic system.
When I was in my World History class last year, I could hardly keep up with the teacher spoon-feeding notes. I would scribble and scribble, but I would still be a note behind. Over the summer, I learned about shorthand. I purchased this book and learned the system. Now, I am able to write down mostly everything that this year's history teacher says. Unlike what one reviewer said, the book does teach the location of Gregg letters on a line. For instance, it says that a "b" should vertically cover the entire line, and "p" approximately half the line. By looking at the tables like that on paragraph 217, on page 105, it clearly shows where the strokes should be on the line and what words should look like.

At first, I thought that I could learn it by just looking at the rules and writing, but I found that after reading every page of reading and writing practice, I could read and write shorthand much more efficiently. With a decent amount of studying and practice, I eventually got a very nice speed. Also, since no one in the entire school has even heard of shorthand, it is very handy for note privacy.

Its printing is very good, and I am quite proud to have it in my library.

What this book REALLY is
Shorthand is a tough but sometimes worthwhile skill. It is complex because it pushes the boundaries of peoples' writing speed. Any shorthand system requires practice if you are to become fluent.

Gregg Shorthand is one of many systems you can choose from. They differ greatly, and the choice you make should depend on your preferences and needs. It is wrong to say that one is better than another in any absolute sense.

To learn Gregg Shorthand you must learn a new alphabet and spelling system. This takes lots of practice. At first the words may look like "meaningless squiggles," but with practice you can come to read them as easily as longhand.

Some shorthand systems are based on the ordinary longhand alphabet. They can be easier for a beginner to learn than Gregg, but once fluency is attained that difference vanishes. Also Gregg is potentially faster to write. Some experts can write Gregg at over 200 words per minute. If you use shorthand to jot down odd notes, speed doesn't much matter. But for dictation, it does, big time.

Gregg Shorthand Simplified, despite its name, is neither a dumbed-down shorthand nor a dumbed-down textbook. It is just the 1949 edition of Gregg Shorthand, and is so named because it is simpler than the earlier editions. Several further simplifications have been made since 1949. The current version is called Gregg Shorthand Centennial Edition.

Follow-up textbooks, shorthand dictionary, and other materials in Gregg Shorthand Simplified can be purchased only on the used book market, but they are plentiful and cheap. (Ditto for other out-of-date editions.) The Gregg Shorthand Centennial Edition books are still in print and costly.

...In Gregg, words are not written like Chinese, but are spelled alphabetically. It is true that abbreviations are only given for some words, but the writer is not expected to make up abbreviations for all the others. Instead he or she is supposed to spell them out in full, using the alphabet and spelling system furnished by Gregg. The textbook is designed to teach the user to do that. Gregg Shorthand can be used to write about any subject matter whatever, without made-up abbreviations or arbitrary symbols.

this was pretty disappointing
i've found this book good for learning what the shorthand symbols are, but when it comes to practicing writing them, it was seriously lacking. i used gregg-ruled notebooks to practice writing, but in the book, the symbols are shown without lines so it's impossible to learn placement of symbols. how do you know if symbols are supposed to extend above or below a line? you don't. learning to write english as a child, you were taught how to properly place letters on lines...it helps give perspective. otherwise an "h" could look like an "n" and vice versa. this book is very frustrating and i'm going to look into finding another that is more appropriate. ... Read more

Book Description

The answers to your performance improvement questions are here!

The first edition of the Handbook of Human Performance Technology has been the bible of this rapidly evolving field. This new edition, co-published with The International Society for Performance Improvement, adopts a more international approach and introduces you to many emerging technologies.

You'll learn how to:

Book Description

Human Resource Development was written primarily to serve as a comprehensive text for undergraduate and graduate courses that prepare students to train and develop people. As such, the book covers the entire field of HRD (as defined by the American Society for Training and Developments competency study), from orientation and skills training, to career development and organizational development. Human Resource Development provides a clear understanding of the concepts, processes, and practices that form the basis of success, and shows how concepts and theory can and have been put into practice in a variety of organizations. The book focuses on the shared role of line management and human resource specialists in HRD. It also reflects the current state of the field, blending real-world practices and up-to-date research. ... Read more

Book Description

Professional firms are forever trying to get their people to act like professionals -- to do the right things. Though their various incentives may create employee compliance, these don't often encourage excellence. David Maister, the world's premier consultant to professional service firms, vigorously challenges professionals to examine this essential, yet under-addressed question: What is true professionalism? His answer is clear: It is believing passionately in what you do, never compromising your standards and values, and caring about your clients, your people and your own career. In clear and compelling terms, Maister shows that this approach is not only ethical but also conducive to commercial success. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A TREASURY OF PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR PROFESSIONALS
A former professor at the Harvard Business School, Boston-based David H. Maister is the world's premier consultant to professional service firms. His core principles spring from good, sound logic: Believe passionately in what you do, never compromise your standards and values, and care about your clients.

Maister passionately believes we should do all these because they are the ethical things to do and because they are the primary road to commercial success.

True Professionalism is a candid treasury of practical wisdom in which Maister expounds some eternal truths about the individual professional, the firm, and the client.

Excellent Book - Speaks directly to consultants
Finally a book that speaks to the heart of what consulting is(or professional services in general), with no hype, no distractions or flavor-of-the-month thoughts. I had heard David Maister at a recent consulting conference and was quite struck by his focus on people and 'execution of strategies' as being the core of successful consulting firms.

This book is pithy without being trite and if you have been in consulting a while, you can directly relate to what the author is referring to. There are many suggestions in this book that are insightful, practical and feel right on the money to a practictioner.

While by no means a classic, it is certainly a must read.

Essentials Needed To Become a Successful Leader
David Maister does a great job of explaining the fundamentals essential to anyone that has a job or is looking for a job in consulting. Splitting the book into three sections made it flow well and easy to follow and comprehend. Furthermore, Maister really focuses on the things that you should look for within yourself as well as the firm and clients. He makes you think about what one should really focus on in your career and the benefits you can receive from your job. This book also guides an employee in explaining situations that will probably occur at some point in their working career. David Maister gives you the tools that you need to be successful; all the person has to do is apply it to their everyday life.

The principles that Maister discussed in his book showed me that there is a balance between the client, the firm, and yourself. This balance is important because it dictates how successful you will become. It is also important to value your client as well as engage with them so that you really know who the client is and what their needs and wants are. Even though you must achieve your goals, you should help others to do the same by establishing a relationship, which in turn will make the working environment healthy and successful.

There is so much information you take a way from this book that will help you in your career as well as your life. I advise everyone to buy this book, because it is very beneficial to the success of anyone's career. Through the use of catchy phrases and clear, practical explanations, I feel that anyone can read this book and take something from it to apply to their career.

Should be required reading in law firms
"True Professionalism" expresses Maister's core message: do work
you love with people you like and everything else will come
with ease. Few of the lawyers I coach have heard this message
before. If they'd read Maister they'd realize that business
development isn't about selling, with all of its worst connotations -- it's about helping people you respect and whose problems are meaningful to you.
Maister encourages the reader to consider the "radical" idea that work should be enjoyable and that if it is, then success will come from doing it well and with sincere caring. I agree with him and enjoy being reminded each time I re-read this wonderful book.

Insightful!
David H. Maister has written a valuable book about what it really means to be a professional. Presented with depth, insight and plenty of practical advice, the book is intelligently written and can be applied to anyone's career, no matter the level or industry. Maister also has plenty to say to companies about their professionalism and lack of it. We [...] recommend this book to professionals in all areas, and if you want to be a better one - or if you're not sure whether you are one or not - start reading.
... Read more

Book Description

"This is a must-have for any researcher in vocational psychology or career counseling, or anyone who wishes to understand the empirical underpinnings of the practice of career counseling."
–Mark Pope, EdD
College of Education, University of Missouri – St. Louis
past president of the American Counseling Association

Today’s career development professional must choose from a wide array of theories and practices in order to provide services for a diverse range of clients. Career Development and Counseling: Putting Theory and Research to Work focuses on scientifically based career theories and practices, including those derived from research in other disciplines. Driven by the latest empirical and practical evidence, this text offers the most in-depth, far-reaching, and comprehensive career development and counseling resource available.

Career Development and Counseling includes coverage of:

• Major theories of career development, choice, and adjustment
• Informative research on occupational aspirations, job search success, job satisfaction, work performance, career development with people of color, and women’s career development
• Assessment of interests, needs and values, ability, and other important constructs
• Occupational classification and sources of occupational information
• Counseling for school-aged youth, diverse populations, choice-making, choice implementation, work adjustment, and retirement
• Special needs and applications including those for at-risk, intellectually talented, and work-bound youth; people with disabilities; and individuals dealing with job loss, reentry, and career transitions

Edited by two of the leading figures in career development, and featuring contributions by many of the most well-regarded specialists in the field, Career Development and Counseling: Putting Theory and Research to Work is the one book that every career counselor, vocational psychologist, and serious student of career development must have. ... Read more

Amazon.com

If most coaching guides look as if you'd need a coach just to get throughthem, you'll love this itty-bitty guide, which zooms in on the mostimportant aspects of organizational-workplace coaching, from selecting aneffective personal coaching style and preparing and shaping a coachingsession to followup steps, dealing with barriers to coaching,troubleshooting, and more advanced coaching, such as team coaching,long-distance coaching, coaching plus appraising, and assessing your owncoaching skills. On every page, boxed "power tips," quickie case studies andself-tests, to-do checklists, and easy-to-follow flowcharts demystify theprocess. Granted, if you're looking forspecific or in-depth guidance, you may find this book too general in its approach. But if you're looking for a thumbnail guide to the basics, it'll do just fine.

It's worth mentioning that the book is also part of reference publisherDorling-Kindersley's Essential Managers series--20 itty-bitty books onbusiness and career topics ranging from communication, leadership, anddecision-making to the management of time, budgets, change, meetings, people,projects, and teams. Combining the For Dummies series' talent forbreaking down a lot of information into bite-sized bits and sidebars withDorling-Kindersley's signature, crisp graphics on agleaming white backdrop, they don't represent the cutting edge of businessthinking and they don't necessarily reflect any unique individual perspective.

Instead, it's as though someone collated the best general thinking on these 20 topics and rolled them out into 72 brightly designed and easy-to-readpages, studded along the way with boxed tips, color shots of a multiracialcast of "coworkers" animatedly hashing through the workplace issues of theday, and a self-test of one's skills in the topic at hand on the last fewpages of each volume. Again, they're not for anyone looking for in-depth or focused help on any of the subjects they cover, but they'reperfect as a quickie general-interest reference... and let's face it, they're so cute, and look so smart in a neat little stack or row, thatyou'll probably want to buy a whole bunch to give to your entire department or staff. --Timothy Murphy ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Power Tips from two experts in the field...
John Eaton holds a doctorate in psychology and is a senior partner of Coaching solutions. They provide coaching and cultural change programs for managers and directors. Roy Johnson has extensive senior management experience and runs Pace, an award-winning training company. Together they also have written Business Applications of NLP.

If you want to learn all you need to know about helping people to achieve their full potential, then you will enjoy Coaching Successfully. This book will show you how to motivate others, promote initiative and help others to take responsibility.

Your coaching style will need to be adapted when dealing with a group and you will also enjoy reading about how to overcome negativity. There are power tips throughout the book which help you to handle real-life situations and increase your effectiveness.

In today's business environment, e-mail can also be used for coaching, however they advise you not to use it for "personal" coaching. At the end of the book, you can evaluate your own coaching skills.

"Raise your expectations and ask people to live up to them." -pg. 62 "Allow people to learn from their own mistakes." -pg. 63 "Motivate staff by linking their personal goals to the company's aims." -pg. 20

These power tips are very useful and there are so many great ideas contained in this mini book. It won't take a long time to read, but you will be able to be a more positive influence on others and will know how to bring out the best in those you work with. ... Read more

Book Description

The 50 activities in this resource book have been tested with hundreds of participants to ensure their appropriateness and effectiveness for a variety of diversity training needs. Employees at all levels will be stimulated by interactively learning about cultural and gender differences, and mastering new skills for communicating more effectively in our diverse workplaces. Each activity is ready to use and includes trainer's notes and all necessary handouts and overhead transparency masters. They each take between 15 and 45 minutes to complete.

Activities Cover
Diversity icebreakers
Change
communication
conflict resolution
Gender at work
Culture and career transitions

Training Objectives
Illustrate how cultural differences may impact behavior
Increase awareness of the impact of culture in the workplace
Demonstrate skills for managing a culturally diverse work force
Address issues of gender in the workplace

Training Methods
Icebreakers
Participative exercises
Role-plays
Mini case studies ... Read more

Book Description

Teams -- the key to top performance

Motorola relied heavily on teams to surpass its competition in building the lightest, smallest, and highest-quality cell phones. At 3M, teams are critical to meeting the company's goal of producing half of each year's revenues from the previous five years' innovations. Kodak's Zebra Team proved the worth of black-and-white film manufacturing in a world where color is king.

But many companies overtook the potential of teams in turning around tagging profits, entering new markets, and making exciting innovations happen -- because they don't know how to utilize teams successfully. Authors Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith talked with hundreds of people in more than thirty companies to find out where and how teams work best and how to enhance their effectiveness. They reveal:

• The most important element in team success
• Who excels at team leadership ... and why they are rarely the most senior people
• Why companywide change depends on teams ... and more

Comprehensive and proven effective, The Wisdom of Teams is the classic primer on making teams a powerful too[ for success in today's global marketplace.

Reviews (11)

A strong working guide to team development and support.
This book is the result of research into why teams are important, what separates effective from ineffective teams, and how organizations can tap the effectiveness of teams to become high-performance organizations. Liberally citing research efforts in 47 specific organizations, Katzenbach and Smith share their insights into what makes teams work.

They emphasize teams as an important part of a three part cycle leading to a high-performance organization: a) shareholders who provide opportunities, b) employees who deliver value, and c) customers who generate returns. The performance targets in the high-performance organization are multidimensional, impacting all three cyclic contributors. Teams provide real benefits to employees, the result being an impact throughout the cycle. If employees increase the value they deliver, customers will increase the return, allowing shareholders to increase the opportunities available to employees.

Central to the thesis is their defini! tion of team, concentrating on "a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable." [45] The distinction is far more than semantic. Working groups who do not share all of these characteristics are not to be considered teams. "Unlike teams, working groups rely on the sum of 'individual bests' for their performance. They pursue no collective work products requiring joint effort. By choosing the team path instead of the working group, people commit to take the risks of conflict, joint work-products, and collective action necessary to build a common purpose, set of goals, approach, and mutual accountability" [85]

Katzenbach and Smith aren't completely negative toward working groups. On the contrary, they cite numerous situations in which the working group offers the most effective approach. But for turning ourselves into high-performanc! e organizations, the limitations of working groups must be ! overcome, and the power of teams must be harnessed, through increased risk. "People who call themselves teams but take no such risks are at best pseudo-teams." [85]

THE WISDOM OF TEAMS describes a Team Performance Curve that correlates team effectiveness against the performance impact of the team, resulting in the organizational path from working group, to pseudo-team, to potential team, to real team, and ultimately to high-performance team. The working group describes the organization of least team effectiveness, although not without performance impact. The performance of working groups, in fact, can be very effective owing to the individual contributions of the group members.

The pseudo-team - high team effectiveness, but usually less performance effectiveness - "has not focused on collective performance and is not really trying to achieve it." [91] The result is an organization that produces fewer results because of the forced team interactions. Th! e members are actually slowed down compared to the contribution they would make without the team overhead - as members of a working group. "In pseudo-teams, the sum of the whole is less than the potential of the individual parts." [91]

The "group for which there is a significant, incremental performance need, and that really is trying to improve its performance impact" [91] is the potential team. Higher up the Performance Team Curve in terms of both team and performance effectiveness, the potential team can be extremely effective when targeted at a problem or process for which a team approach makes sense. Unfortunately, in addition to the results attributable to individuals on the team, the increased performance brought about by the potential team is largely attributable to luck. Still lacking from potential teams are the commitment to a common purpose and working approach, as well as the mutual accountability inherent in real teams.

Finally, the high-p! erformance team "is a group that meets all the conditi! ons of real teams, and has members who are also deeply committed to one another's personal growth and success." [92] With a little reflection, any of us who has ever experienced working on a high-performance team knows it. We also quickly recognize how rare such opportunities have been. THE WISDOM OF TEAMS is a guidebook to creating a high-performance organization built around high-performance teams.

Teams must have the right blend of complementary skills, including technical or functional expertise, problem-solving and decision making skills, and interpersonal skills. "It is surprising how many people assemble teams primarily on the basis of personal compatibility or formal position in the organization." [48] The authors warn, however, that too much emphasis can be placed on skill mixes too early in the team process. In their research, they "did not meet a single team that had all the needed skills at the outset. (They) did discover, however, the power o! f teams as vehicles for personal learning and development." [48] As long as the right team dynamics are present, the necessary skills will materialize or develop.

The authors focus specific attention on the creation of teams at the top. "Team performance at the top of the organization is more the exception than the rule." [217] They cite several specific misguided beliefs that they find lead to lessened team effectiveness at the top: 1) the purpose of the team can't be differentiated from the purpose of the organization, 2) "membership in the team is automatic," [218] 3) the role of each team member is predefined by their functional position in the organizational hierarchy, 4) executives spending discretionary time on team activities is inefficient, and 5) the effectiveness of the team depends only on open communication. "This (last) all-too-common misconception equates teamwork with teams." [221]

These beliefs create obstacles to effecti! ve team performance. "The most practical path to build! ing a team at the top, then, lies not in wishing for good personal chemistry, but in finding ways for executives to do real work together." [230] Katzenbach and Smith are citing these problems particularly for the top, although they apply just as well to teams throughout the organization. Their prescription for breaking through these obstacles includes "carving out team assignments that tackle specific issues," "assigning work to subsets of the team, "determining team membership based on skill, not position," "requiring all members to do equivalent amounts of real work," "breaking down the hierarchical pattern of interaction," and "setting and following rules of behavior similar to those used by other teams." [230-234]

Katzenbach and Smith have provided a quick-injection standards program for teams. For quality professionals attempting to improve processes in their organization model, the authors have provided mater! ials at all three levels. Their definition of team - with its focus on complementary skills, mutual accountability, common approach, and shared goals - can be used as the basis for a Teams Policy Statement.

Making use of this book in our organizations will allow us to move beyond calling a group of people a team hoping it will motivate and inspire them. It allows us to move forward toward high-performance organizations with a process-based approach to continuously improving team effectiveness.

Why and How to Work in Teams
A good balance of case studies, step-by-step procedures, and advice for people who want or need to work in teams but are accustomed to working in organizational "stovepipes" or matrix organizations. People who have successful experience working in Integrated Product Teams and Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD) Environment will find the principles and processes familiar. This book dates back to 1992 and reads a lot like a Harvard Business Review article, only of book length. The Department of Defense used this book as a source reference for their IPPD guide, and Integrated Product Teams have "taken off" since that time and are integral to DoD acquisition programs today. Nevertheless, this book is still worthwhile. The DoD did a thorough job of taking the "how to" information from this book and expanding on it to great detail. The mistake they made was to leave out the "why." The case studies, omitted by DoD, really put you in the middle of successful teams to the point that they will make you want to be on a team like the ones in the book. That is the missing element when converting an organization to a team-based work environment... step by step instructions are not enough. To succeed, the team members have to want to work in this difficult but rewarding manner. That is the main value of this book: it puts you in the picture and makes you want to succeed at teaming.

Complete waste of time
This book is a complete waste of time. In 40+ years I have never seen a published piece of work that is this poorly written. There is no way you can draw any conclusion about team effectiveness from the disjointed, incomplete cases prsented. Before these authors create another disaster I would recommend that they take a basic writing course. The book would only been midly anoying had the author understood how to form a basic english sentence.

My recommendation - rather than buy this book just throw your money in the garbage.

Good book, solid content
This book does not present any real "revolutionary" ideas that will blow you away with originality, what it does do is lay out the things that make teamwork work. Since so much in business nowadays requires teamwork, the book has a valuable and timely message. Recommended.

Boring
The message: real teams are good. The authors rave about all the great things a well functioning team can accomplish and give several examples.

The authors set out to figure out what makes a real team and how people that put these together do it. It is a worthwhile purpose. The problem is that the "insights" revealed are old and rather useless. For example, the authors found that teams that had clearly stated goals performed better than teams that had not agreed on common goals. If this is news to you, you should buy the book.

1 star out of 5 ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent resource for benefit professionals-6th Edition
I've recently re-entered the employee benefits field after a number of years away and felt I needed a reference guide to help me identify new laws and regulations as well as coverage changes. This book is a fabulous resource. It covers benefits A to Z. Each topic I have come across in my day-to-day work is discussed in this book. This book is perfect for people in their first benefits position and well as the veteran benefits professional. When the 7th Edition comes out, I'll definitely buy it.

Employee Benefits-5th Edition
This book is an excellent resource for both the seasoned HR/Benefits manager or new-comer to the field of employee benefits.It is a comprehensive yet readable reference guide which covers everything frombasic employee benefits, to general benefits planning and administration,to retirement planning and programs.

Although the book is structured likea text book (it has chapter objectives listed, along with study questions)it is very easy to read and understand.The authors provide many tablesand charts which illustrate the more complex subject areas.

As an HRManager, I highly recommend this book as a reference tool for all companiesthat wish to maximize their employee benefit programs.The wealth ofinformation and practical material contained in this book is invaluable toany sized organization. ... Read more

Book Description

As the leading book in its field, Compensation Management offers a practical exploration of the systems, methods, and procedures involved in establishing and administering a compensation system within any organization. In-depth explanations of the procedures involved in establishing and administering a compensation system including, analyzing work requirements and designing a job, determining job worth, establishing job rates of pay, the elements of a total compensation package, and the importance of labor costs in a modern economy. For compensation managers, HR professionals, and others who want to know about the aspects of establishing and administering a compensation system.

Reviews (4)

Outdated but - As Yet, Nothing Better
I assign this as one of two textbooks in teaching Compensation Administration in graduate school.

While it has undergone 9 revisions, the attempts to update it to today's compensation world are not adequate.Far too little is here concerning internet usage, for example.

But perhaps its greatest shortcoming is in its glancing treatment of group incentive plans as a key means to unlock workforce potential.It is a glaring and unforgivable gap.

If anybody out there knows of a better fundamental compensation textbook, I'd love to hear about it.

Best of the textbooks
Compared to the other major textbooks out there, especially
the better reviewed book by "M" this is by far the more useful.
When I need to find something practical, like the Federal Evaluation System for example, or Multiple Linear Regression as a job evaluation tool, 95% of the time it is in Henderson and it is very well documented. Both these topics are barely touched on in the other major texts which I also own.
From a guy with a Ph.D. and 30 years of paying my bills with
comp information, give me Henderson any day.

Painful!
There is nothing practical about this book. It is a looooong, purely theoretical torture with only a few examples that don't work too well in the real world. I had to buy it for one of my graduate classes and here I am three months later even more clueless than I was when I started. This book is very boring, painful to read. It doesn't help that the author is clearly biased in favor of traditional HRM and refuses to give much room to more modern thinking. The exercise book is a nightmare. The exercises are either impossibly difficult and time-consuming because the textbook does not offer valuable guidance for any practical problems, or they are an absolute waste of time - students basically have to copy a chapter. I could go on like this forever. In a nutshell: buy this book if you have to, but sell it as soon as you can.

Uninformative Drivel!
This text was a quagmire of unreadable editorial comments! I purchased this book for a Human Resource class. I gained more knowledge from my fellow students than I did from this book. Defiantely skip it! ... Read more

Download Description

"Achieving 100% Compliance of Policies and Procedures" is the third book of a four-part series on policies and procedures. This exciting new business book focuses on a subject that fills a major void for those individuals who are responsible for the life cycle of business processes, policies, and procedures. This 359-page book is all about change and continuous quality improvement as it applies to policies and procedures. A real-life case study is used to help explain the principles of this book. The reader is led from a labor-intensive system (procedure, procedure flow chart) through the necessary steps, including a cost-benefit analysis, to accomplish compliance and continuous improvement, resulting in a business process/procedure and a $2 million dollars savings. This book is about improvement and metrics and contains five quality tools for measuring policies and procedures. As the title suggests, the goal is to achieve 100% compliance, or complete acceptance by the customer. While a compliance goal of 100% is ambitious, you'll find the process of achieving the goal is just as important as achieving it. Through plans and goals, you'll increase productivity, profits, and customer satisfaction; as well as minimize process variation, enhance quality, reduce cycle and response time, and help the organization become receptive to change and develop a proactive (forward thinking) outlook. This book is a necessary addition to any procedures writer's reference library as it helps to ensure that the policies and procedures infrastructure remains stable by demonstrating to the reader how to write effective policies and procedures that can be measured, communicated, trained, mentored, audited, and improved. There are more than 75 illustrations, examples, tables, flow charts, and written procedures using the standard writing format introduced in my first book, "Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures." Most readers will find something useful in this book. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Awesome books!
I bought and used all four of Stephen Page's policy and procedure books. From the very first day, I was able to get up and running on a project that was very demanding and challenging. Not only did he provide examples, but he was always there for advice when I hit a rough spot.

I HIGHLY recommend these books!

Dana Rosenboom

Processes, Procedures, and Quality
I was impressed with the amount of useful information included in this book; everything seems to have been well thought out. It would appear that the author has "lived" his words and this is what makes this make book so useful to me. Because I know that when I implement his ideas that they will probably work. His case study is also very meaningful as he very carefully explains how to go from a labor-intensive procedure and go through process improvement, metrics, and arrive at a streamlined, high cost saving, new procedure.

I have bought all four of his books on procedures and this book is what makes it all worthwhile. Though I found that each book is unique in its own way and that you really need all four to write a good system of policies and procedures.

I would definitely recommend this book. He has a 40-step plan of action at the front of the book that gives you an A to Z approach to the development of any policy or procedure or process. I have printed this list and I keep it tacked on my walls.

Jim T. Armstrong

Good book for quality professionals
Of Steve Page's 4 recent books, I found this one to be the most interesting. It contains all kinds of ideas for projects.

A communication strategy is obviously Steve's speciality. He knows how to use the various methods to the most advantage.

His idea for a compliance plan is a clever take-off on process control plans. He also adapts other quality tools, such as scatter and pareto diagrams to use with documentation. However, you would need another book for more details on the tools themselves.

Auditing is another of Steve's specialties which he shares with his readers.

I wish he had gone into more detail on determining the cost of documentation. He no doubt knows how to calculate it, as best as one can. He gives a detailed example on how a new (purchasing) procedure saved a company money, but not enough on the cost of producing the document itself.

I would definitely recommend this book to all who work with ISO 9000 compliance.

Essential for TQM, ISO 9000 and GMP organizations
Of the three books that the author has published on policies and procedures this one is a masterpiece, and is essential to anyone who works for a company that employ TQM, ISO 9000 or FDA GMP.

Where his first book, Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures, provides a roadmap for new policy writers, this book takes the subject to a much higher level by providing a process that encompasses communications and training strategies, a compliance plan, and continuous improvement. These align seamlessly with ISO 9000, as well as FDA GMPs, and is consistent with the TQM Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. In addition, the self-assessment and auditing approaches set forth will assure policies and procedures that reflect a mature organization that is focused on quality and continuous improvement.

Among the highlights of the book are the numerous checklists, real-life examples, and an underlying strategy for the development of a comprehensive and complete system of policies and procedures, and a means to assure compliance. I particularly liked Appendix C, Cost of Quality, and the succinct description of tools and techniques in chapter 11.

Another strong point is the complexities of marrying policies and procedures writing with a continuous improvement cycle and auditing are handled in a structured, logical sequence. This is no small feat for a writer, and it is one of the reasons this book is so valuable. This book sets a standard in the field and is one that I'll always recommend to colleagues and clients.

TQM-Based approach to implementing and ensuring compliance
This book is one of the most eye-opening, practical and insightful books I have read in a long time. It's one thing to write effective policies and procedures, it's quite another to implement them, and more difficult still to ensure compliance. The author's approach addresses the implementation and compliance challenges head-on.

The key strength of this book is the continuous improvement approach. I am familiar with the TQM Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle because I use a similar approach called Entry Criteria-Task-Validation-Exit Criteria (ETVX)when I am developing processes that are governed by policies and executed by procedures. What I had not thought of before reading this book was how to best implement and enforce policies and ensure procedure compliance. This book showed me how to superimpose the PDCA or ETVX cycle on communicating, measuring and continually refining policies and procedures by starting with writing policies and procedures that can be measured. I found the 40-step plan provided in this book to be straightforward and easy to manage. Do not let "40 steps" deter you because the steps are small and build upon one another. This is reinforced by a case study that completely illustrates how the 40-step plan is applied to a realistic example.

How to implement your policies and procedures is covered in the chapters on communications and training strategies, which are exhaustive and filled with tips and guidance. These chapters are fleshed out with a chapter on creating a review and communication control plan, which is essential for keeping your policies and procedures up-to-date and ensuring that they are living documents that are meaningful to your organization. Outdated policies are often ignored, which is worse than having no policy at all. Ignored policies undermine authority, which is the foundation of a policy. Outdated procedures can result in technical and cost risks at best and unsafe working conditions at worst. The next chapter on establishing a compliance plan is excellent. It incorporates measurements and validation, and shows how to develop and use the compliance plan. This is augmented by an invaluable chapter on developing self-assessment checklists, and how to evaluate the results of an assessment and how to rectify gaps.

Among the most valuable (to me) chapters in this book were: preparing an organization to be receptive to change (a major implementation barrier), conducting audits (key to compliance assurance), and conducting continuous improvement activities (keeping the policies and procedures relevant and aligned to changing requirements and business imperatives).

The information and approach given in this book will make the difference between policies and procedures that are "shelfware" and those that provide real guidance and are meaningful to an organization. I personally think this is one of the most important books on the topic, and the only one that I have come across that actually shows how to implement them and ensure compliance. ... Read more

Book Description

This new edition of a best-seller, The Effective Health Care Supervisor, Fifth Edition,continues to provide students and professionals with proven, hands-on, practical applications of both classic and current management principles in the health care setting.The fifth edition is packed with strategies, techniques, and tools to build or reinforce your management skills and meet the never-ending challenges that you face daily as a health care supervisor.Students and professionals alike will benefit from the new "Situation" activity presented at each chapter's opening.Each activity poses questions throughout, enabling the reader to gather appropriate information as the chapter progresses and easily learn from and identify with the final resolution presentation. ... Read more