Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Book Reviews

Strategically Integrated HRD

by Personnel Today 13 Apr 2004
by Personnel Today 13 Apr 2004


The second edition of Strategically Integrated HR Development claims to be a ‘hands-on resource’ that ‘showcases conceptual building blocks and practical tools’ which highlight the real power that HR could yield in an organisation.








Strategically Integrated HRD, Second edition
By Jerry W Gilley and Ann Maycunich
Publisher: Perseus Publishing
Pages: 320 Price: £24.99
Reviewed by Alan Rankin
Buy this book at Amazon


Its American authors divide the book into three main sections – HR philosophy, the redesign and repositioning of HR, and six transformational roles that support the development of HR.

The first two sections are rather baffling in their use of jargon, acronyms and complex strategic thinking, and I felt they revealed little that was new or radical. They simply reiterate, with a rather complex array of supporting diagrams, flow charts, models and checklists, what most HR practitioners should know already: that effective HR processes and practices are key to organisational success.

In the third section, we discover the six roles of ‘political navigators’, ‘strategists’, ‘change champions’, ‘organisation architects’, ‘performance engineers’ and ‘relationship builders’. However, 160 in-depth pages discussing and outlining these roles does little to actually explain what they are, or how they can best contribute to an organisation.

Unfortunately, the book failed to be especially ‘hands on’, offered few practical solutions, and did little to reinforce the positive contribution the function makes to non-believers.

The book is written in a text-book style, and is not easy to read. It is for the hardcore HR theorists, academics and jargonists with the commitment and perseverance to think deeply about and consider what is written rather than HR practitioners looking for some hints and tips as to how to improve their HR departments and processes with a ‘hands-on resource’.

While the book undoubtedly has some merit, it didn’t live up to what it claimed to be.


Buy this book at Amazon

Alan Rankin is an HR manager at Sellafield M&O Services, BNFL

Avatar
Personnel Today

previous post
Employers turn their backs on equal pay reviews
next post
Flexible working splits UK business as take up soars

You may also like

A novel approach to leadership coaching

1 Aug 2014

Book review: Hunter’s Diseases of Occupations

11 Apr 2011

Public Health Nursing: A Textbook for Health Visitors,...

4 Sep 2009

Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice

9 Jun 2009

Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social...

26 May 2009

Three of a kind: managing workplace conflict

13 May 2009

Business writing: three of a kind

16 Mar 2009

The Fine Art of Confident Conversation

6 Mar 2009

Beyond bullsh*t

6 Mar 2009

Say it Like Obama

6 Mar 2009
  • What it really means to be mentally fit PROMOTED | What is mental fitness...Read more
  • How music can help to ease anxiety at work PROMOTED | A lot has happened since March 2020, hasn’t it?...Read more
  • Why now is the time to plug the unhealthy gap PROMOTED | We’ve all heard the term ‘health is wealth’...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+