Mastering Human Resource Management

Citation

Hannabuss, S. (2002), "Mastering Human Resource Management", Library Review, Vol. 51 No. 5, pp. 273-274. https://doi.org/10.1108/lr.2002.51.5.273.8

The world of introductory texts on human resource management is so populous that anyone writing a new one (or even editing an old one) is taking a chance. It is a fast‐changing field so such works rapidly go out of date. Rarely, too, do any in a series claiming to get you up to speed quickly, even in a week, cover the ground satisfactorily. So I started this with a feeling of déjà vu but very soon got much more upbeat about it. Cheatle is director of HR for the West London Mental Health NHS Trust and has experience of central and local government and the voluntary sector. He has really thought this one through, so the structure and content are clear and good. His angle is the employer’s, and his emphasis is where you stand under the law – every chapter has a section on legal framework, and law is right up front (statute and contract – more on tort would be good). Conventional chapters appear on recruitment and training, pay/benefits, and health and safety, but the material is well‐presented and readable, above all for its intended readership (undergrad business studies courses, IPM and DMS and general management courses, and HR practitioners at a general level).

Cheatle organises these topics well, packing a lot in (for example, pay includes good stuff on pensions, health and safety includes good stuff on health at work, employee support/welfare takes in confidentiality and counselling). He covers personnel information systems with workforce planning, redundancy and transfer (good on TUPE) with managing internal change, and talks convincingly about communication with plenty of concrete applications (managing change, good practice in equal opportunities and performance management). His overall case, on the strategic as well as operational impact of HRM, on a workplace negotiated between employer and employee, on an increasingly legalistic and litigious workplace, and on a world where the EU Social Chapter and The Human Rights Act 2000 highlight how international and stakeholder‐based HRM now is, is well made. It will be different tomorrow and Cheatle celebrates that (although his source list could be stronger). A sensible and pragmatic book at a good price from Palgrave (the global imprint is a mix of St Martin’s Press and Macmillan). Others in the same series (there is a series standing order ISBN, 0 333 69343 4, so visit http://www.palgravemasterseries.com) include The Business Environment, Management Skills, Organisational Behaviour, and Strategic Management. No one book ever does in this field but, for what it is at the price it is, this one on HRM is good value for money.