Best Human Resources & Personnel Management Books of 2025

The book "Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, Third Edition" focuses on effective communication skills, especially in difficult situations. It provides readers with techniques to be persuasive instead of abrasive, navigate high-stakes conversations, and handle digital communication. Written in an engaging style, the third edition includes modern-day issues and challenges. The authors, Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, and Emily Gregory, are international corporate consultants and leaders at Crucial Learning. The book is a must-read for anyone looking to improve their communication skills and build better relationships, whether at work or home.

In Michael Bungay Stanier's The Coaching Habit, coaching becomes a regular, informal part of your day so managers and their teams can work less hard and have more impact. Drawing on years of experience training more than 10,000 busy managers from around the globe in practical, everyday coaching skills, Bungay Stanier reveals how to unlock your peoples' potential. He unpacks sevenessential coaching questions to demonstrate how--by saying less and asking more--you can develop coaching methods that produce great results. Get straight to the point in any conversation with The Kickstart Question Stay on track during any interaction with The Awe Question Save hours of time for yourself with The Lazy Question, and hours of time for others with The Strategic Question Get to the heart of any interpersonal or external challenge with The Focus Question and The Foundation Question Finally ensure others find your coaching as beneficial as you do with The Learning Question A fresh innovative take on the traditional how-to manual, the book combines insider information with research based in neuroscience and behavioural economics, together with interactive training tools to turnpractical advice into practiced habits. Witty and conversational, The Coaching Habit takes your work--and your workplace--from good to great.. "Coaching is an art and it's far easier said than done. It takes courage to ask a question rather than offer up advice, provide and answer, or unleash a solution. giving another person the opportunity to find their own way, make their own mistakes, and create their own wisdom is both brave and vulnerable. In this practical and inspiring book, Michael shares seven transformative questions that can make a difference in how we lead and support. And he guides us through the tricky part - how to take this new information and turn it into habits and a daily practice." --Brené Brown, author of Rising Strong and Daring Greatly. "Michael Bungay Stanier distills the essentials of coaching to seven core questions. And if you master his simple yet profound technique, you'll get a two-fer. You'll provide more effective support to your employeesand co-workers. And you may find that you become the ultimate coach for yourself." --Daniel H. Pink, author of To Sell Is Human and Drive. "What can you do to become a better leader? Michael asks and answers this question by offering aspiring leaders seven thoughtful questions that will change their leadership habits. This book is full of practical,useful and interesting questions, ideas and tools that will guide any leader trying to be better." --Dave Ulrich, co-author of The Why of Work and The Leadership Code. "Michael's intelligence, wit, articulateness and dedication to the craft of coaching shine forth in this brilliant how-to manual for anyone called to assist others. Even after four decades of my own experience in thisarena, The Coaching Habit has provided me with great takeaways." --David Allen, author of Getting Things Done. "The Coaching Habit is funny, smart, practical, memorable and rounded in currentbehavioural science. I found it highly valuable for my own work and collaborations." --James Slezak, Executive Director of Strategy, New York Times

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a leadership fable and business handbook that explores the behavioral tendencies that undermine teamwork. Author Patrick Lencioni weaves a page-turning tale that follows Kathryn Petersen, the CEO of DecisionTech, as she navigates the ultimate leadership crisis. This 20th-anniversary edition includes a new foreword from the author reflecting on the book's legacy and lessons. The book offers a powerful model and step-by-step guide to overcome team dysfunctions and get everyone rowing in the same direction. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a must-read for modern executives, managers, and organizations seeking to build high-performing teams.

The "Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity" is a highly recommended book for anyone looking to improve workplace relationships. Kim Scott's concept of Radical Candor provides a practical approach to effective leadership, emphasizing the importance of caring personally and challenging directly. The book helps leaders avoid the perils of Obnoxious Aggression, Manipulative Insincerity, and Ruinous Empathy, and create a culture of compassionate candor, build a cohesive team, and achieve results collaboratively. Overall, this book is an excellent read for managers, team leaders, and anyone looking to improve their leadership skills.

The 6 Types of Working Genius by Patrick Lencioni is a groundbreaking book that introduces a new model to understand work and teams. This model helps individuals identify the type of work that brings them joy and energy, and avoid work that leads to frustration and burnout. It also provides teams with a practical framework for tapping into each other's natural gifts, increasing productivity, and reducing unnecessary judgment. The book is presented in a relatable fable that makes it easy to understand and apply. In addition, the author has created a 10-minute assessment that helps individuals identify their gifts and apply this model to themselves and their teams. Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone seeking personal and professional growth.

The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber is a must-read for any small business owner or entrepreneur. The book dispels common myths about starting a business and highlights the importance of working on your business rather than just in it. Gerber draws on his extensive experience as a small business consultant to provide practical advice on how to grow your business in a productive and assured way. The book has been voted #1 by Inc. 500 CEOs and has helped countless entrepreneurs to achieve success. Overall, The E-Myth Revisited is a unique and valuable resource for anyone looking to start or grow their own business.

Important Note: Some dust jackets may appear rose-tinted due to a printing issue. . In his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni laid out a groundbreaking approach for tackling the perilous group behaviors that destroy teamwork. Here he turns his focus to the individual, revealing the three indispensable virtues of an ideal team player.In The Ideal Team Player, Lencioni tells the story of Jeff Shanley, a leader desperate to save his uncle’s company by restoring its cultural commitment to teamwork. Jeff must crack the code on the virtues that real team players possess, and then build a culture of hiring and development around those virtues. Beyond the fable, Lencioni presents a practical framework and actionable tools for identifying, hiring, and developing ideal team players.  Whether you’re a leader trying to create a culture around teamwork, a staffing professional looking to hire real team players, or a team player wanting to improve yourself, this book will prove to be as useful as it is compelling.

THE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER WITH OVER 28 MILLION COPIES IN PRINT!. A timeless business classic, Who Moved My Cheese? uses a simple parable to reveal profound truths about dealing with change so that you can enjoy less stress and more success in your work and in your life.. It would be all so easy if you had a map to the Maze.If the same old routines worked.If they'd just stop moving "The Cheese."But things keep changing.... Most people are fearful of change, both personal and professional, because they don't have any control over how or when it happens to them. Since change happens either to the individual or by the individual, Dr. Spencer Johnson, the coauthor of the multimillion bestseller The One Minute Manager, uses a deceptively simple story to show that when it comes to living in a rapidly changing world, what matters most is your attitude.. Exploring a simple way to take the fear and anxiety out of managing the future, Who Moved My Cheese? can help you discover how to anticipate, acknowledge, and accept change in order to have a positive impact on your job, your relationships, and every aspect of your life.

***Please contact [email protected] if you purchased your book new and the access code is denied.. Based on the #1 New York Times bestseller The 5 Love Languages®(over 12 million copies sold), . Dramatically improve workplace relationships simply by learning your coworkers’ language of appreciation. . This book will give you the tools to improve staff morale, create a more positive workplace, and increase employee engagement. How? By teaching you to effectively communicate authentic appreciation and encouragement to employees, co-workers, and leaders. Most relational problems in organizations flow from this question: do people feel appreciated? This book will help you answer “Yes!” . A bestseller—having sold over 300,000 copies and translated into 16 languages—this book has proven to be effective and valuable in diverse settings. Its principles about human behavior have helped businesses, non-profits, hospitals, schools, government agencies, and organizations with remote workers. . PLUS! Each book contains a free access code for taking the online Motivating By Appreciation (MBA) Inventory (does not apply to purchases of used books). ***Please contact [email protected] if you purchased your book new and the access code is denied. . The assessment identifies a person’s preferred languages of appreciation to help you apply the book. When supervisors and colleagues understand their coworkers’ primary and secondary languages, as well as the specific actions they desire, they can effectively communicate authentic appreciation, thus creating healthy work relationships and raising the level of performance across an entire team or organization. . Take your team to the next level by applying The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace.

Effective Phrases for Performance Appraisals is a comprehensive guide designed to help managers and appraisers select the most appropriate phrases and words to accurately describe a broad range of critical rating factors. It is a valuable resource for those who want to conduct successful evaluations and provide constructive feedback to their employees. The book is a must-have for anyone looking to improve their business writing skills, specifically in the area of performance appraisals. The author has done an excellent job of compiling a list of effective phrases that can be used to evaluate employees' performance objectively. Overall, this book is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to improve their performance appraisal process.