Tag Archives: Books

HR and Talent Management Book Club

How to start an HR/Talent management book club

I’ve talked with our local SHRM chapter in the past about possibly setting up a HR/talent management book club since it seems like it would be fairly easy to initiate and manage. Then a few weeks ago our 2013 president reached out to me again about the possibility of starting this group for real.

I’ll share the info I have and the meeting outlines for anyone who might be interested in starting their own HR book club.

For those of you who were wondering, this is different from the Company Book Club alternative that I discussed a while back. That’s a different concept and while I touch on book clubs there, this post is exclusively focused on the concept. 

HR management book clubHR management book club basics

We’ll look at books on how to manage people. We’ll look at books on managing change. We’ll look at books that laugh at the dumb things employees do that we have to deal with on a daily basis (yes, really!).

The group meets once a month at 8:00am on the third Wednesday morning at a local coffee shop for one hour.

I’m still trying to determine the number of books. One per quarter seems too low; one per month seems a bit much for some people.

Anyone is welcome to come; however, there will be a limit of ten or fifteen participants per meeting to meet space limits and encourage participation/discussion by the group members.

HR management book club agenda

Here’s the agenda I plan to work from:

  • 8:00-8:10 welcome/socializing
  • 8:10-8:50 book discussion (I can develop questions to bring or let the conversation roam; I’ll be prepared for either avenue)
  • 8:50-9:00 prep for next meeting, closing thoughts/feedback, etc.

HR management book club selections

My first rule is this–all of the books should not be HR-related. Some should be, because we can all stand to be stronger in our area of expertise. However, we also need to expand beyond the HR arena into other areas of the business.

I’m a fan of mixing prescribed and self-selected books to ensure the experience is more targeted to group interests while still expanding beyond “comfortable” book choices. 

So how do you let the group pick self-selected books? Using the principles I outline for developing a 5 minute survey with free tools, you could set up a quick voting system to allow anyone in the group to vote for their own favorite options. Just pull a handful of titles from this page and let people vote on what sounds interesting.

Generating interest in your HR management book club

It’s easy to find book lovers. It’s much harder to get people who are on the fence or are crazy busy (who isn’t these days?) to commit. Here are a few tips for creating a book club that engages better than the traditional events:

  • Encourage fluid commitment-people can attend on/off and only when they find the particular book interesting.
  • Offer discussions via a LinkedIn group to allow for greater interaction between meetings.
  • Have ways for people to interact even if they can’t attend meetings (LinkedIn, alternative meetups, etc.).
  • Collect minutes/main ideas and distribute to all interested parties to spread the ideas further than the group and generate further interest (like the HR Roundtable Discussions).

And if all else fails, drop this classic line from selling expert Brian Tracy on the undecided:

To gain a competitive advantage in your career, read at least one hour per day in your chosen field. One hour a day will translate into approximately one book a week. One book a week will translate into approximately fifty books over the next twelve months. If you read an hour a day, one book per week, you will be an expert in your field within three years. Through continuous learning, you will be a national authority in five years, and you will be an international authority in seven years. All leaders are readers. Source

Love to hear some thoughts/feedback. Anyone have a book club they’ve participated in previously? What did/didn’t work?

Company Growth Phases-Aligning Hiring and Retention Practices

The other day I mentioned company growth phases in my review of Seeing the Big Picture. I thought it warranted more discussion, because it’s something I honestly hadn’t considered previously. Here’s a quote from the book:

Company growth phases are fairly standard. Startup, growth, maturity, decline. But what about the types of employees required in each phase of growth? I think it can shift over time. New companies look for people to take risks, work long hours, etc. Mature companies want to maintain what they have and reduce risk, which means hiring an entirely different set of employees.

company growth phasesI was mulling that over, and then I remembered another book review I had done on Jolt: Get the Jump on a World that is Constantly Changing. One of the quotes there tied in perfectly:

Growth oriented organizations require growth oriented people.
-Phil Cooke Continue reading →

Company Book Club? There’s a Better Way

company book clubCompany Book Club vs. Developing an Employee Reading Program

In a previous blog post titled hire for attitude, train for everything else, I wrote about the importance of considering a required reading program for your employees (takes it a step further than the corporate library, right?). At the time, it was just an idea spawned from observing another company and how they operate. However, I am now giving this kind of idea serious consideration in my own organization. See, this year we are going to focus on emphasizing our corporate culture as a recruiting tool, and this is just one more thing (strategy) to set us apart from the average employer.

Why I Believe in Reading (And Why HR Should, Too)

Before I try to sell this idea, I want to explain why reading matters to me. According to some (terrifying) statistics, in 2002, nearly 90 million adults in the US did not read a single book. That might not have an impact on you; but it should. I'll put it another way.

Those are our employees. Those are our managers. Those are the unemployed who so desperately want to find jobs.  Continue reading →

Team Building Session? Try This Exercise

How to rock your next team building session

team building sessionRecently I learned of a unique team building session idea that I have been itching to try out. I was able to wrangle a friend into testing it out at her office, and it had very positive results. Today we’ll be looking at what I’ve come to call the Twenty Minute Challenge. (I heard someone at HRevolution mention this a few weeks back, but I can’t remember who! If someone knows, please tell me so the person can get the credit for this.)

The purpose of the Twenty Minute Challenge

More so now than ever, we need people on our teams who can think quickly, respond coherently during high pressure situations, and present complex information effectively. This team building session is focused on helping your people do all three of those things well. Continue reading →

Don’t Let the Economy Impact Your Career

Slow and steady wins the race

I am going to speak frankly today. Some of you will hate it, and others will appreciate it. Ya can’t make everyone happy at once, so here we go. :-)

Recently I received a copy of a survey that indicates 43 percent of workers believe their careers have slowed down and it will be harder and will take more time to achieve career growth as a result of the economy.

My initial thought? Those 43% of people probably wouldn’t be successful even if the economy had been booming.

In case you didn’t know it, people all over are getting better jobs, earning more than they ever have before, and really winning in their careers every single day. And they don’t give a darn about any recession. Why? What’s the difference? Continue reading →

Change Your Life Not Your Wife (Book Review)

I was intrigued when I was approached about reviewing the book Change Your Life Not Your Wife: Marriage Saving Advice for Success Driven People. The idea of a marriage book for business people was an interesting mix, and it definitely didn’t disappoint. The authors, Tony Ferreti and Peter J. Weiss, put their cards on the table early on with a statement about the relationship with a spouse being the most important item after a person’s spiritual well being. I’m not ashamed of my faith, and I’m glad the authors took the extra step to make that important distinction. Let’s hit on some of the big picture thinking featured in the book.

Happy home life helps make happy work life

If you’re married, stop for a second and consider this scenario: you come home one day from a long day at work to find out that your spouse has packed up and moved out, completely destroying your home life. How well do you think you will be concentrating the next day at work? Do you think they will be getting the best that you have to offer? If you are not married, just imagine the same sort of fallout with someone you truly care about, and you’ll get an idea of the impact of this sort of crisis.

That quick little scenario was just an easy way to depict how much employee family problems can be affecting your workforce on a daily basis. We already know that some productivity issues exist for employees, but these events can have an even higher impact on someone’s productivity and creativity than a little Facebook time. Continue reading →

Why and How To Read a Book per Week

How to read a book a week

Someone reached out to me the other day to ask what books I might recommend for an HR Generalist. I’ve been doing a handful of book reviews lately, and I also saw that my good friend Trish wrote on the topic as well, so this seemed like a great time to bring up my philosophy on business books.

Get an MBA… From books?

One of the best resources I’ve come across with regard to organizing and explaining the need to read books is PersonalMBA.com. Josh Kaufman has put together a resource to help business leaders learn everything they need to know without adding in the time and monetary cost of going to school for an MBA. A few places to start:

My take on reading

I helped set up a corporate library. I am a firm believer in employee reading programs. Obviously I’m a fan of books. But why? Am I a nerdy bookworm? Well, yes, but there are other reasons for reading as well.

Books make you smarter in all areas of your life.

“The difference between where you are today and where you’ll be five years from now will be found in the quality of books you’ve read.” – Jim Rohn

I make mistakes. Sometimes too often. But I learn from them. I do what I can to figure out where things went wrong and make a course correction. Imagine if you could learn from the mistakes of others as well. What if you could hear their take on how they could have changed their actions or beliefs to avoid problems and costly errors.

You can.

Not every book has something valuable in it. I recently reviewed a book that was an interesting read, but I really didn’t get any value from reading  it. Other books on my shelf at work are highlighted, dog-eared, and tattered from reading and re-reading the lessons they contain. To sum that up:

“Smart people learn from their mistakes. But the real sharp ones learn from the mistakes of others.” - Brandon Mull

Don’t be crazy

I don’t sit around reading HR textbooks all day. I mix up my reading between contemporary/classic fantasy (Jim Butcher=favorite), science fiction (F. Paul Wilson’s Repairman Jack series), self improvement (marriage, parenting, etc.), and whatever else looks interesting. But while the some of those are purely for enjoyment and stress relief, I still make time to slip books in that I can learn something from to apply in my work or life.

How to read a book a week

I lamented earlier this week that I’ve spent my Books a Million gift cards from Christmas already. And I’ve finished the three books I purchased. How did that happen in less than 30 days? Well, I carry my books with me wherever I go. Sitting in the car waiting on the kids to get out of school? There is time to get a few pages in. Waiting at the doctor’s office? You can read whole chapters. ;-) Seriously, though, those little pieces add up. I spend a more concentrated 15-30 minutes each night if I can fit it in, but honestly having those little pieces here and there during the day can easily add up.

If you put your mind to it and take reading a book per week seriously, that would be over 50 books this year alone (with two weeks off as cushion). If you’re only halfway successful, that’s 25 books you may not have otherwise read. That knowledge can never be taken away from you. A large portion of adults never read another book after they graduate. Don’t be included in that statistic!

Hopefully I’ve imbued you with some of my own enthusiasm for reading. Now, I’d love to stay and chat, but my book is calling me…

I’m always looking for good recommendations, so if you have one, please feel free to share!