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December 10th, 2008
Here’s What Your HR Staff Was Reading/Buying in 2008
I get a lot of e-mails from the Society for Human Resource Management, but there are only two that I really look forward to each year: one in the summer when SHRM touts the top-selling HR books at the SHRM store during the annual conference, and another in December when they list the best-sellers “based on customer sales throughout the year, online and at SHRM store conference events.”
SHRM has watered down the summer list of best-sellers from the annual conference, as I noted here in July. They’ve stopped ranking that list and simply give the top-selling books in unranked order. And SHRM’s marketing people added a caveat that they were listing “just some of (emphasis added) the top-selling books, software, videos and accessories at this year’s Annual Conference event … .”
Those silly (some might say petty) changes made the summer list a whole lot less meaningful, informative and fun. After all, does listing the top accessories sold make much sense? It doesn’t to me, although I much confess that I get a kick out of the fact that the “I Love HR” T-shirt, coffee mug and key chain are among the “Great 8 Accessories” sold by SHRM this year. Make of THAT what you will.
The SHRM marketing folks have also monkeyed around with the annual book list and aren’t ranking any of the best-selling books anymore. They also throw in a couple of multimedia items. So here is what SHRM is touting as “The Great 8 of 2008” best-selling titles. My question from previous years still applies: There’s some kind of message here. Can you figure it out?
- State-by-State Guide to Human Resources and the Law, 2008 Edition, by John F. Buckley and Ronald M. Green
- The Complete-Do-It-Yourself HR Department, 2007 Edition, by Mary F. Cook
- Mandated Benefits: 2009 Compliance Guide, by RMS McGladrey Inc.
- 2600 Phrases for Effective Performance Reviews: Ready-to-Use Words and Phrases that Really Get Results, by Paul Falcone
- From Sex to Religion and Everything in Between (video/CD-ROM workplace harassment training program), by G. Neil
- Linkage Inc.’s Best Practices in Succession Planning, by Mark R. Harkins, Phil Conley, Terry Sobol
- Auditing Your Human Resources Department: A Step-by-Step Guide, by John H. McConnell
- Descriptions Now (CD-ROM on job descriptions)
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Gag, gag, gag. i’m so embarrassed of my fellow HR colleagues.
Posted by: Jessica Lee | December 11th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Doesn’t surprise me, I stopped buying books from SHRM a long time ago - obviously the books are purchased by newbies to the HR field.
Posted by: Kathy Quigley | December 12th, 2008 at 6:21 am
“There’s some kind of message here. Can you figure it out?”
Yeah, the message is SHRM’s vast membership base (of what, 250k?) is mostly non-experienced, probably one-person, part-time responsibility practioners. So of course they’re going to buy a lot of HR-for-Dummies type of books. This is a surprise?
For an analogy, look at the list of top selling albums. It doesn’t represent what the trend-setters, true fans, or serious practioners are into. It represents what the mass audience is buying. (See also: any prime time TV show.)
Lets see a list of what HR folks with at least 8 years experience are buying. THAT I would be interested in.
Posted by: Steve | December 12th, 2008 at 11:01 am
The best reads are focused on HR nitty gritty (e.g.skills, compliance, day-to-day stuff). Don’t seem to be reading for a strategic or mid-expanding experience. I guess after all these years, HR remains the doer vs. the thinker.
Posted by: Fred | December 16th, 2008 at 10:25 am