Rating: 
Summary: Great Resource for Attracting & Retaining Top Talent
Review: This book is crammed full of insights and ideas that those responsible for attracting and retaining top talent will find invaluable for not just attracting but keeping top people. This style is accessible, filled with examples that both inspire and support their argument.
Rating:
Summary: Getting Great Results by Adding and Keeping Great Employees
Review: This book is the best resource I have seen on all of the ways that companies and employees can create a symbiotic relationship whereby the employee enjoys a place to perform great things while the company benefits from great results. If you believe that the best solution for winning the competitive battles is to have the best people, and help them perform at their highest level, you must read this book! If you just think that it is the right thing to do to create a great workplace and improve upon what you have now, you must also read this book!Unlike other books I have read on this subject, the authors here really understand what today's employees are looking for in all dimensions: a company they can trust and be proud of; a culture that inspires and liberates them to do better work with less stress; exciting, enlightened leadership with a clear vision; thoughtful, individualized care of each person's issues; meaningful tasks that match the person's skills and interests; competitive compensation and benefits (especially the latter); and a place where everyone can make a difference in the world. Numerous surveys and interviews with those who measure employee attitudes helped the authors to locate these areas and to flesh them out with the most important elements for today. The book goes on to give excellent advice on how to get started in implementing these concepts, and have to track and improve on your progress. I heartily endorse the section on measurements in the back. The book is filled with many short examples (printed in the margins) that clarify the book's points. I found them all quite valuable and interesting. Many included companies that I did not already know about. The research for the book is impeccable, drawing on both superb books in the subject area and interviews with outstanding practitioners and experts. If you combine all of the suggested elements in ways that are meaningful to those who work in your company, you will have established a future best practice by moving past today's best practices in this area. While many companies do some of these things, no one is taking the challenge as broadly as the authors suggest. I suspect that this book will help establish a new and higher employer standard in tight labor market areas like technically-based companies in areas like Silicon Valley. The good news is that you will be repaid for your efforts by having better results. Pareto has helped us appreciate that 20 percent of the people produce 80 percent of the results. If you have those 20 percent, and add the 20 percent of the practices that will make them even more productive, you will have amazingly good benefits to pay for these changes. I think you'll be glad you did. Start enjoying your workplace today by applying the principles in this book!
Rating:
Summary: Get Great People on the Payroll
Review: Too many management books pontificate with 'you shoulds' and fall short in explaining 'here's how to.' Herman and Gioia deliver a book long on how to, packed with real examples from a stunning variety of organizations large and small. If you are looking for real world solutions to challenges related to attracting and keeping employees, get this book. Then, buy a highlighter, schedule a day out of the office in a quiet place, and get to work crafting your game plan. It's all here in a very approachable format. You just have to connect the dots in a way that works for you and your organization. If you read this book and still have recruiting and retention woes, you didn't apply what you learned.
Rating:
Summary: How to Become an Employer of Choice Surpasses Expectations
Review: When I read a management book, I want concepts to jump out at me; I don't want to have to search through obscure language to find the nuggets. I don't need a bunch of theory; I want to know what the authors are thinking, how that might work for me, and how I can put it to work. Practical. I appreciate illustrative examples that help me understand and absorb the key points. How to Become an Employer of Choice exceeded my expectations! The book was recommended to me by a friend who is already putting the principles to work in his company, and is considering applying for formal recognition. This book is enlightening and straightforward at the same time; educational, yet tightly written. The content, addressing step-by-step how to reposition your company in the employment marketplace, was right on-target. As a marketer by nature, I appreciated the potential impact of each aspect the authors presented. Employers really do have to re-think how they recruit and hold employees. I agree that this is a marketing issue, but that it has to be genuine-the company really does have to be worthy of being chosen by discriminating applicants. The book is filled with call-out boxes (I like the gray shading) with real-world examples supporting their points. I learned so much! The index is comprehensive. I was able to easily find some parts I wanted to go back to after my first read.
| 
