reviews
By Alyson Nyiri, CHRL
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CAREER
DEVELOPMENT: A
HUMAN RESOURCE
DEVELOPMENT
PERSPECTIVE
By Kimberly McDonald
and Linda Hite
Routledge, 2016
Developing employees across
the organization is probably
on your radar. And for
good reason: to demonstrate
a return on your investment.
Mentorship programs, continuous
learning cultures,
coaching, job rotations and
recognition programs serve
to train and retain talent. To
achieve sustained competitive
advantage, organizations
must build a sustained employee
development platform.
Career Development provides
resources and examples as to
how to do that.
Point of interest
McDonald and Hite argue
that the recession of
2008 smashed the psychological
contract that
implicitly existed between
employer and employee –
a mutual exchange of good
work performance for job security.
With the breach of this
contract, organization-based,
mutually beneficial career development
evaporated and
has yet to be fully recovered
within HR development.
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE
TO BEGIN AGAIN:
DISCOVERING
CREATIVITY AND
MEANING AT MIDLIFE
AND BEYOND
By Julia Cameron
Penguin Random House, 2016
Previously, at age 65, our employer
notified us that it was
time to clear our belongings
and retire from the organization.
Today, we determine when
we’ll retire, based largely on economic
need, health or personal
drive and career interest. Retirement
seems to frighten some
and excite others. Cameron offers
a 12-week process designed
to help retirement become an
opportunity to pursue personal
projects, revisit dreams and explore
the future. It’s Never Too
Late is intended for those transitioning
into the “second act of
life” – shifting from one life to
one yet to be created.
Point of interest
Though the decision of when
to retire rests with the employee,
employers can still
play a role in helping workers
make a successful transition
from employment to retirement.
Offering resources and
tools to employees at midlife
to foster creativity and meaning
can encourage an employee
to adopt a leadership role, design
new projects or mentor a
younger colleague.
Point of interest
An authentic organization is
a place where individuals can
be their best selves. Differences
are validated throughout
the system. Conformity is actively
dismantled and replaced
with self-determination and
accountability.
Point of interest
The inability of people to feel
their impact on others is the
cause of cultural dysfunction.
Raymond urges managers to
recognize their impact on their
team and to help people see
their impacts on each other. n
WHY SHOULD ANYONE
WORK HERE? WHAT
IT TAKES TO CREATE
AN AUTHENTIC
ORGANIZATION
By Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones
Harvard Business Review Press, 2016
Capitalism is reinventing itself.
The financial crisis of 2008
revealed our inability to control
global financial capitalism.
Organizations must rediscover
their moral purpose.
In this book, organizations
are challenged to build better
workplaces as a means for
responding to the new challenges
of capitalism, building
productivity and unleashing
creativity. Goffee and Jones
outline a fresh approach to developing
a workplace culture
based on authenticity, individual
development and limiting
bureaucracy. Some organizations
fail to realize that high
performance rises when individuals
throughout feel they
can grow through their work.
GOOD AUTHORITY:
HOW TO BECOME THE
LEADER YOUR TEAM IS
WAITING FOR
By Jonathan Raymond
Idea Press, 2016
How do we get people to own
their work? How do we improve
employee engagement?
In Good Authority, Raymond
offers fresh insight into these often
asked leadership questions.
Many leaders have not realized
their own underlying and limiting
assumption: they all start
with the needs of the business
and put the needs of individuals
second. Employees, though,
are discontent with the status
quo. Creative compensation
packages, catered lunches, game
rooms and mindfulness practices
were launched to bolster employee
engagement. But still the
numbers haven’t budged. The
solution is to turn the equation
around and realize that for employees
to engage, they need to
have managers who are willingly
engaging with them.
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ OCTOBER 2016 ❚ 55
