Book of the month - HR & Other Swear Words
Book of the month - HR & Other Swear Words by Paul Marsh, Strategi HR director
This impressive book review appeared in the August 2009 edition of The Grapevine:
Almost as soon as you start reading Paul Marsh's new straight-talking book, HR & Other Swear Words, you know it's been written by someone who has actually worked at the "front end" of HR themselves and has experienced the frustrations (as well as the ‘highs') of working in perhaps one of the most misunderstood of all business functions.
It's clear that Marsh has become more than aware of HR's reliance on "heavy textbooks that are big on best practice and theory" but give little insight into the reality of HR at the coalface...and has now taken it upon himself to write a practical book (drawing from his experience in HR at Tesco, BSkyB and Dixons) which addresses the real challenges HR and line
managers encounter.
Its no-nonsense approach purposefully avoids jargon (no doubt to the dismay of dye-in-the wool HR traditionalists!) and instead offers workable ideas and advice in a plain-spoken (and often humorous) way. Running throughout the book is a constant rallying call to HR professionals to defy the unfortunate stereotype many people have of the function.
For example, the chapter entitled "Appraisals don't work" challenges HR people to liberate themselves from the overly formal, paper-driven processes that have given HR such a bad name over the years.
Instead, he says, up-skilling line managers to be more innovative and have regular, less formal conversations with staff is far more productive.
Expertise along with credibility and impact, says Marsh, are the three essential pillars for success in HR. By demonstrating expertise HR gains credibility and with credibility comes impact and real results.
Suitable for practitioners new to the profession as well as established professionals looking for a fresh perspective (and line managers wanting to understand the true purpose of HR), HR & Other Swear Words is also about the relevance of the function in today's troubled times - the subtext being that unless we start to demonstrate authority and pragmatism, HR remains doomed to living out the stereotypes that the likes of Dilbert and The Office have created for us.
