About the Book
Human Resources for the Non-HR Manager gives every manager, regardless of their functional role, access to cutting-edge research and evidence-based recommendations so they can approach their people management responsibilities with confidence.
Day-to-day people management is increasingly the responsibility of front-line managers, not HR professionals. But managers are often poorly prepared for these responsibilities; they receive little training (and sometimes have little interest!) in HR. People management is never easy, and it is particularly challenging in COVID-19’s "next normal" workplace, where managers must engage diverse employees across a wide range of working arrangements. This book focuses on the special relationship that line managers have with their employees and describes managers’ responsibilities across the entire employee lifecycle – from front-end recruiting and hiring through to long-term retention. The content is grounded in rigorous academic research, but the book’s conversational tone conveys basic principles without technical jargon. Each chapter includes Manager’s Checkpoints to help readers apply the material to their own workplace, and Manager’s Knots that address gray areas inherent in people management.
The book is designed for any reader currently working as a line manager, or aspiring to a managerial role, who wants to improve their people management skills.
Combined with a complete instructor package, the book provides different types of activities to accompany each chapter: Some Assembly Required, In the News, and Undercover Manager. The activities can be found in the Instructor Resources Download Hub and are designed to align with student cohorts with varying levels of experience.
A full suite of regularly updated resources for students and instructors can be found on the authors' own website: https://www.nonhrmanager.com/.
Table of Contents:
1. The Non-HR Manager
2. Recruiting Employees
3. Hiring New Employees
4. Interviewing Job Applicants
5. Onboarding New Employees
6. Training and Developing Employees
7. Managing Employee Performance
8. Rewarding Employees
9. Disciplining Employees and Ending Their Employment
10. Retaining Employees
11. Creating an Inclusive Workplace
About the Author :
Carol T. Kulik (she/her) is a Bradley Distinguished Professor at the University of South Australia, UniSA Business, Australia. Her research focuses on motivating organizations to become gender equality frontrunners, engaging mature-age workers, and empowering employees to negotiate better working arrangements in the next normal.
Elissa L. Perry (she/her) is a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, USA, where she teaches students and executives how to apply research methods and evidence-based management in practice. Her main interest is in applying an evidence-based approach to the practice of diversity management and the creation of inclusive workplaces.
Review :
"Line managers are key to executing an organization's HR function. Kulik and Perry’s HR for the Non-HR Manager offers savvy practical guidance based on scientific evidence and stakeholder concerns to help managers address real-world people management challenges. From recruiting and training to performance management and rewards, it’s a delightful read!"
- Denise M. Rousseau, H.J. Heinz II University Professor, Carnegie-Mellon University, USA.
"An evidence-based guide for frontline managers around the globe who want to get better at "doing HR." Kulik and Perry masterfully translate academic HR research into practical guidelines. Diverse, international examples and up to date on today’s HR challenges, including technology and workplace!"
- David Patient, Professor of Leadership, Vlerick Business School, Belgium.
"HR for the Non-HR Manager was already a classic, and now it’s even better. It strikes the perfect balance between scientific rigor and managerial accessibility. This is an essential resource for new and experienced managers alike as they seek to manage talent the right way."
- Frederick Morgeson, Eli Broad Professor of Management, Michigan State University, USA.
"Kulik and Perry curated and translated the most relevant HR research into an engaging and accessible exemplar of the ideal academic-practitioner book. Human Resources for the Non-HR Manager is incredibly informative and compellingly written - a must-read for managers and executives".
- Julie Olson-Buchanan, Professor and Dean, California State University, Fresno, USA.
"This is an excellent text that stands out from all the others I have seen. The authors bring research, theory and practical application together to create a most engaging resource which will undoubtedly help students understand how they can manage and lead people better. HR for the Non-HR Manager should be a core text in MBA programmes across the world".
- Anthony McDonnell, Professor of Human Resource Management, Cork University Business School, University College Cork, Ireland.
"HR for the Non-HR Manager should be gifted to every graduate upon commencement, every manager upon their promotion and every entrepreneur who contemplates hiring their first employee. Backed by hard science, this book introduces non-HR managers to all aspects of team management with the aim of building highly effective, engaged leaders and, ultimately, creating competitive advantage".
- Rich Stanbaugh, Founder and Former CEO, NuArx, USA.
"HR for the Non-HR Manager is a reader-friendly book from two world-class scholars with an amazing ability to translate cutting-edge academic research into practical advice. It is a valuable resource for any line manager with people responsibilities".
- Fang Lee Cooke, Distinguished Professor, Monash University, Australia.
"This book is an excellent practical resource for professionals in human resource management (HRM). But more importantly, Kulik and Perry fill a gaping lacuna between theory and practice and provide a superb guide for anyone who is reflective about their supervisory or management skills or those who aspire to be managers and need a resource as a guide. This book is permeated with abundant practical help with the topics covered, plus a vignette of thought-provoking bite-sized case studies for readers to mull over and think through. Such case studies are cleverly infused within the the book and would be useful to academics to encourage discussion among business management students and those studying HRM... I congratulate the authors for this excellent contribution to management."
Reviewed by Alan Montague, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Australia. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources (2024).
"I highly recommend this book for non-HR managers! This book is very easy to read and digest, like a tool that non-HR managers can use, going beyond an ordinary HRM textbook. Seamlessly integrated research findings and practical advice on each HR topic bring ready-to-use HR wisdom for action for non-HR line managers (e.g., dos and don’ts of recruitment; discipline steps and how to create an inclusive workplace). I highly recommend all non-HR managers to have this book nearby to grab and apply so that they can hire the right subordinates and build effective relationships where employees can flourish more under their leadership that benefit the subordinates, the manager, and the organization!"
Reviewed by Y. Fujimoto, Department of Management, Sunway Business School, Sunway University, Malaysia. Journal of Management & Organization (2023).
