Managing Library Employees: A How-To-Do-It Manual.

Managing Library Employees: A How-To-Do-It Manual. Managing Library Employees: A How-To-Do-It Manual BY MARY J. STAN LEY How-To-Do-It Manuals, 161. New York New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2008.247 pp. price not reported soft cover ISBN ISBNabbr.International Standard Book NumberISBNInternational Standard Book NumberISBNn abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m9781555706289 Of all the tasks in any profession, librarianship notwithstanding,managing staff is one of the most difficult. Having to deal withdifferent types of people, with different needs and views is achallenging enough proposition, without having to do it in a workplacesituation with all the extra pressures that brings. This latest book in the How-to-Do-It Manuals aims to 'providea basic orientation in human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. management for alllibrarians'. Not all libraries will have human resources staff, buteven those that do, will have staff more from a library background thanHR. Stanley begins by laying the background to human resourcesmanagement (HRM HRM Her/His Royal MajestyHRM Human Resources ManagementHRM Heart-Rate MonitorHRM Halifax Regional Municipality (Canada)HRM Hotel Restaurant ManagementHRM Hrvatska Ratna Mornarica (Croatian Navy)). She incorporates a brief history, managementactivities, key terms, library trends, and the role of the HRprofessional in libraries. This is followed by an overview of thelegalities involved in HRM, from discrimination to retirement,disabilities, pay equity, harassment, leave, occupational health andsafety, workers' compensation and more. The focus then moves to recruitment and selection of library staff,including job descriptions and functions, advertising, interviews,selection and volunteers. With staff selected, it moves on to training,retention and professional development including orientation, mentors,recognition and rewards, staff development, leadership training, jobsatisfaction and retention. The following chapters deal with compensation and benefits andevaluation and performance appraisal Performance appraisal, also known as employee appraisal, is a method by which the performance of an employee is evaluated (generally in terms of quality, quantity, cost and time). , dealing with problem and marginalemployees, conflict resolution and discipline, communication, use oftechnology in HR and managing change. Although all of this content is covered in greater depth in othertitles, here Stanley provides the overview necessary to give thelibrarian the bigger picture and the beginnings of a framework ofeffective HRM. The content is presented in the form of questions,enabling the reader to get straight to the core of each issue in apractical manner, and well supported by sample documents and usefulreferences. As it is published in the US, the legal issues of HRM covered hereare not strictly applicable, although many of them have theircounterparts in Australian law. However, as a guide to managing librarystaff, this book is a valuable starting point and gives a solid overviewof all aspects of HRM. I recommend it to any librarian who has thisresponsibility, regardless of the size or type of library involved. Michelle McLean Casey-Cardinia Library Corporation