Our first objective with this new textbook was to keep it brief…to thoroughly cover all the important concepts relevant to introductory HRM in the fewest pages possible. After all, students are juggling a lot of priorities. So, it stands to reason that they would benefit from a book that is comprehensive and clearly written that focuses their time and attention on the core concepts. The result is a 14-chapter book that easily aligns with most instructors’ syllabi, and concise, uncluttered chapters that students will find to be fast reads before class. The conciseness of the book also lends itself well to additional readings and assignments, freeing instructors to tailor their course to best serve their students without overwhelming them. 

Second, although some students will go on to become managers requiring a working knowledge of human resource management (HRM), all students will eventually use this knowledge in some way. This book has been written to prepare both, through personal development to help them all understand HRM in order to optimize the benefit that derives from it.

By helping to successfully acquire, deploy, and motivate the right talent, HRM is critical to every manager’s and organization’s success. The central theme of our book is helping you understand how to use HRM to hire, develop, motivate, and retain the right people and bring out the best in employees to execute the company’s business strategy and secure a competitive advantage. Our book is intended for those who are or who might become a manager or an HRM professional. We discuss the roles of HRM professionals, managers, and employees in the design and implementation of effective HRM systems, and include many current examples of how HRM is executed in organizations.

While our first focus was on delivering the core concepts in a very concise manner, we also wrote the book to be engaging to read. We include many practical examples, and focus on teaching HRM as it is done today.

This book clearly communicates the importance of effective talent management to individual and firm performance. By focusing on the importance of flexibility in applying different HRM methods to find, keep, and motivate the right employees for the company and job, and on the importance of developing HRM skills, this book will prepare readers to effectively use HRM to be better managers and more effective leaders.