The Evolving List of Books for HR Folks

Hello and a Very Happy New Year!

The New Year is normally the time when we resolve to do something- and usually give it up with a few days or weeks! :) But during the last couple of weeks, I was inspired to see many people putting up the lists of books they read last year. Truly outstanding and mind boggling- the number of books they read. And I wanted more of us to read and share that knowledge, which prompted this post.

However, there is a paradox- I see that many young people consume contemporary knowledge through videos, podcasts and social media, and probably read less books. However, on the other hand, the number of books getting published is going up! So, what's happening?

Anyway, to get back to books and reading! Here are a couple of points from my perspective- and I would be happy to hear any alternate views.

First, being in business today you have to stay ahead of the curve on your own learning. There are lots of new ideas and practices- and it is important we continue to 'sharpen our saw'. In HR, I think it is even more important- given there is so much happening in the behavioural and social sciences field, and more importantly, HR has to role-model learning, and bring in an 'outside-in' perspective. Ideas are the currency of the future!

So how do we stay of the curve? I think we can get a lot of ideas through podcasts and social media, so we should definitely tune in there. But books have an additional advantage- the author spends a lot of time thinking about a line in the book compared to a podcast conversation. Therefore, I guess books have the advantage of much more nuanced discussions and argument- which could be really helpful for us. However, many popular books have just one idea- but they add tons of superfluous examples and case studies to market it! So, you should be happy to drop a book if you have understood the key ideas. Thats why I would recommend that we choose and read the 'all-time classics'- these books are seminal, they brought some new thinking to the field, and reading them gives you a critical understanding of the topic.

Some time back a few students asked me for a list of books I would recommend for an HR professional. I took the last couple of weeks and revisited the list that I had, and spoke to a few CHROs, academics and avid readers. I wanted to include some all-time classics- those that you should anyway read! I also went back in time to avoid the recency effect- to see if there were old masterpieces we should re-read. And of course, looked at some of the new thinking in areas like Positive Psychology and Behavioural economics that is gaining a lot of currency. So here are my top picks of books for any HR professional to read:

1. 'On becoming a Person' by Carl Rogers. Go back in time and read Carl Rogers- to understand the basics of counselling, active listening, etc. It will be deep, but it is a timeless classic. An alternate book to read is 'Barefoot Counsellor' by Father Joe Currie - again a simple, jargon-free book you should not miss in the counselling field.
2. 'On Becoming a Leader' by Warren Bennis. As you may know, Bennis is the 'father' of leadership, and the originator of the 'crucibles of leadership' concept. While the thinking on leadership has evolved over the years, this book is a primer and will set up you to read other books by Bennis, and others too. There is another book- 'The Organising Genius' by Bennis which has case studies of some top teams- all about moving from the 'individual hero' to a collaborative team.
3. 'The Fifth Discipline' by Peter Senge. This was a rage about two decades back. But a brilliant book to understand organisational learning, systems thinking and much more. There is a Fifth Discipline Fieldbook- a fabulous guide for any HR or OD practitioner.
4. 'Thresholds of Motivation' by VS Mahesh, who I believe is among the leading behavioural sciences thinkers globally. An Indian author not to be missed. 'Drive' by Daniel Pink is another great book. We are constantly looking at understanding better the mysteries of what motivates us (though if you ask yourself, you will know what motivates you, won't you? :) From Maslow to Herzberg to now Daniel Pink- a more contemporary view.
5. 'The HR Value Proposition'- by Dave Ulrich and Wayne Brockbank. (Also, the older book- 'The HR Champions' which I really loved). We know that Dave is the pioneer of HR thinking, and both these books give us some great frameworks.
6. 'The Five Dysfunctions of a Team' by Patrick Lencioni. An authoritative book on understanding teams and their effectiveness.
7. 'Change the Culture, Change the Game' by Roger Connors and Tom Smith. A book that helps us understand how to change culture. This demystifies culture. However, if culture interests you, then do read 'Cultures and Organisations' by Geert Hofstede et al- a seminal study of cultures across countries and impact on organisations.
8. 'Influence- the Psychology of Persuasion' by Rober Cialdini is a wonderful book that will help us understand the science of influence- very useful in managing change and communication. 'Nudge' by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein is another good one to read in the whole area of change and communication.
9. 'The 7 Rules of Power' by Jeffrey Pfeffer. The old book 'Managing with Power' is now relaunched. Pfeffer is the expert on politics and power at the workplace, and this is a great book for HR folks to read and understand some science behind the intrigues of a workplace!
10. 'The Servant' by James Hunter- amongst the best books on leadership you should read. There are two other books to consider- 'Why should anyone by led by you' by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones and the more recent 'Radical candour' by Kim Scott.
11. 'Mindset' by Carol Dweck. What this book outlines may be intuitive, but it still is a new perspective that can help us.
12. 'One Page Talent Management' by Marc Effron would be my recommendation as the one book to read on talent management. It is a mixture of good science and good practice, written by a practitioner - a truly contemporary book.
13. As HR leaders, we need to understand business and strategy. There are a whole lot of books you could read- but my two recommendations would be 'Competing for the Future' by Gary Hamel and CK Prahlad, and 'Good to Great' by Jim Collins. Hamel and Prahlad are among the best thinkers in management.
14. Now to a set of books which are about some of the newer thinking in behavioural sciences- areas like Positive Psychology, Psychological safety etc. My 3 books to read are 'Flourish' by Martin Seligman, 'Grit' by Angela Duckworth and 'The Fearless Organisation' by Amy Edmondson. Flourish outlines the key factors leading to our subjective well-being and has ideas on how we could increase our wellbeing. Grit is all about building resilience, and her study shows that 'self-regulation' trumps IQ in life success. The Fearless organization is a great primer on building psychological safety in our organisations.
15. Finally, I end with Peter Drucker. You could many of his books, but if you haven't read any, start with 'The Effective Executive'. Just to refresh yourself with some timeless concepts!

I wanted to start off with just 10 books- but found a lot more that I felt need to be on this list! Well, these are just my thoughts- I am sure I would have missed some other real gems. If you have read any that you feel is a must read for HR folks, do let me know. Anyway, this was just a list to point HR folks to some books they might find useful, and enjoyable.

Another point- research says that if we have some reward associated with an activity, we are more likely to do it. Think about what you would like to reward yourself for reading some books- but if you could share a summary of what you have read, others would really thank you- a very good reward, come to think of it!

A Very Happy New Year to you! All the very best! And I look forward to hearing any comments or suggestions. Ciao!