Customer Reviews

How to Hire, Train & Keep the Best Employees for Your Small Business: With Companion CD-ROM

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"How to Hire, Train, & Keep The Best Employees." This book teaches you to do that, and then some. I was introduced to behavioral interviewing techniques that I can't wait to put into practice. I am confident that these techniques, along with a structured recruiting process - will paint an accurate portrait of job candidates. The mention of real-life, bizarre interview responses left me in stitches. The book also offers tips for welcoming and training new employees. I found the sample orientation schedule extremely helpful. The section on keeping employees was most insightful as it dealt with communication. I learned how to "own" my comments to avoid sounding judgmental. The book also teaches you to transform person-oriented comments into the problem-oriented comments that bring about better results. I had no idea that some of the things I say could have such an adverse affect on others. I definitely plan on using these tips in my professional and personal life. This book seems to be geared toward the Human Resources professional. It even comes with a CD of 75 HR forms. I found it to be applicable to anyone in business.

This is quite possibly the best book I have ever read about employee relations. It starts off with how to find the right candidate. How to advertise when there are openings, how to conduct the interview and many more helpful topics.

The best part, however, is on how to retain the best employees. It talks about communication problems and how they can inadvertently cause conflict and problems within a business. The author then spends considerable time addressing ways to convey a bad message -such as you screwed up- in a productive way so that the employee doesn't feel bombarded with criticism and can begin working towards a solution. Chapter 3 is a great reference even for communication within personal relationships.

The author then goes on to discuss affective leadership and team building. All of these things will go a long way to create a great and productive crew. I especially liked the discussion on proper employee training. The author emphasizes finding the right person to fit into an organization and then training that person on what is expected of them. All too often I've seen people just dumped into positions without even a job description. No one can possibly work effectively that way.

The book also comes along with a great CD-ROM which has templates for employee applications, interview questions, a confidentiality agreement and more.

`How to Hire, Train, & Keep the Best Employees' is an excellent resource for all small business owners. This book contains all of the vital information you will need to achieve higher employee productivity, better time management for employees and managers, and decreased turnover for your company. Podmoroff's book will also teach you how to effectively advertise for a position, screen potential employees, and motivate employees enough to make them want to stay with your company.

All of the information in this book is extremely helpful, but I was most impressed by the samples and templates provided in the book and on the CD-ROM. The book includes sample forms for applications, interview sheets, and orientation outlines to demonstrate the guidelines that Podmoroff explains. The CD-ROM takes things one step further by providing you with printable human resource templates for applications, follow-up letters, and performance analysis forms. Between the book that teaches you all you need to know and the CD-ROM that puts the theories into action, you will be well on your way to running a more productive, less stressful business.

On a side note, I was also very happy to see that some of the profits from this book are donated to The Humane Society of the United States. Even if I didn't think that this book is the best of its kind--which I do--I would rather invest my money in the author and publishing company who support a good cause.

As stated in the title, this book is a practical guide for small business human resource management, from the interview process to sustained and understood team-building techniques. It's thorough, well-organized and easy to digest--a great resource to keep in the top desk drawer for frequent referral. Charts, tables and clear examples add to the book's usefulness as a go-to guide. There are even sample forms you can use for common HR processes!

An important element that is often overlooked in the workplace is the motivation and proper evaluation of employees; I liked the tips provided because they emphasize that part of the responsibility of an employee performing well rests with the employer. As someone who has primarily worked for small businesses in the past, I appreciate the consideration of this balance.

Most importantly, the book takes into consideration the reader--a busy working professional who is not only meant to read, but also enact the situations given. To that effect, it's broken down into bullets and small paragraphs in concise narrative. The book emphasizes communication strategies (such as listening and negotiation) and certainly takes its own advice, really connecting with the reader throughout.

Almost all small business owners struggle with one universal task: hiring and keeping quality employees. Author Dianna Podmoroff has finally written a guidebook that offers expert guidance for hiring top-notch employees, sound advice for keeping them, and tips on follow-up training. From the first chapter on Successful Recruiting Strategies to the last chapter on Employee Retention Essentials this guide flexes its muscle with valuable, and more importantly, useful information. The accompanying CD-ROM offers a convenient source of information that can be quickly accessed and printed; including templates for professional employee applications, samples of follow-up letters, interview analysis and performance reviews. Two of the best features in this handy reference tool are the Leadership and Team-Building and Motivation chapters. Many hiring guides tend to gloss over, or even omit, one of the most important aspects of successful hiring: keeping, training and developing quality employees that have a vested interest in overall company success. Podmoroff outlines wonderful ideas, which more companies should implement, such as job sharing, flexible schedules, shared leave banks and phased retirement. Overall, this book is a must-have reference book that will ultimately give you the edge over your competition.