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

The Essential HR Handbook: A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager or HR Professional, is a 250-page reference guide, published in the fall of 2008 by Career Press. It is a must-have for everyone who deals with employees on a daily basis, believe Mitchell and Armstrong. They wrote the book because, as human resource professionals with decades of experience, they wanted to shed light on the issues that keep managers up at night.

“Human resource professionals are not only charged with resolving labor issues,” explains Mitchell, who worked for Marriott Corporation and several technology firms in the Washington DC area before launching her own company—The Millennium Group International—in 1998. “We also help acquire, train, appraise, and make sure employees are fairly compensated, while attending to their concerns about labor relations, health and safety, and fairness.”

“It’s a big job, but we make it easier by outlining guidelines and best practice recommendations in the 12 chapters of our book,” adds Armstrong, who began her career in human resources in 1985 as a recruiter/trainer in a large Manhattan law firm before launching Sharon Armstrong and Associates in 2000. “Whether you are a newly promoted manager, a seasoned business owner, or a human resources professional, knowing the ins and outs of dealing with HR issues is critical to your success.”

With this easy-to-read paperback, you’ll learn how to effectively and efficiently:

• Individually manage each employee, starting on his or her first day.
• Manage a multi-generational workforce.
• Appraise job performance.
• Coach and counsel.
• Provide equitable pay, benefits, and total rewards strategies.
• Minimize legal risk.

For more information, or to arrange an interview with the authors, please contact Hope Katz Gibbs, Inkandescent Public Relations, 703-346-6975 / hope@hopegibbs.com.

Stress-free Performance Appraisals

Stress-free Performance Appraisals, by Sharon Armstrong and Madelyn Appelbaum, is a guide also published by Career Press that helps managers turn one of their most painful duties into a powerful motivation tool. This book takes readers through the process of conducting a productive and meaningful performance appraisal—without the usual tension, anxiety, and uncertainty that most managers encounter in the process.

Co-author Sharon Armstrong explains: “We focused on providing employees with positive feedback, and broke down the process into several steps,” including:

• The planning, preparation, and writing of the performance appraisal form.
• All aspects of the actual face-to-face meeting for the performance evaluation.
• Legal issues that surround every performance evaluation.
• Sure ways to protect the interests of the evaluator and the company.

it is a comprehensive overview that “is readable, practical, yet schrewd,” said Sanford M. Jacoby, Howard Noble Professor of Management a The Anderson School UCLA. “Based on research and the actual experiences of many companies, the book will provide you with new ideas and new approaches to an old problem. I recommend this book to any manager — whether HR or not.”