This book forms part of the Entrepreneur Magazine small business series. The author′s intention, as described in the Preface, is “to provide small business owners with practical help in administering the human resources function”. Small businesses are defined as those not large enough to justify the expense of a full‐time human resources manager.
The writer does indeed offer chapters on all the critical aspects of employing staff, from defining jobs through to retirement programmes, via compensation packages, training and performance problems. The approach throughout is practical and the style is concise and accessible.
The major disadvantage is its American flavour. This is not just a question of style and use of language. Precisely because of its practical nature, the book makes frequent, extensive mention of US law, institutions and practices. For example, the chapter on The Employment Process refers to the Americans with Disabilities Act and Civil Rights Legislation. The chapter on Compensation talks of “exempt and non‐exempt” employees ‐‐ a concept which is meaningless in the UK. Other areas make heavy use of US sources of information and are so clearly written with the transatlantic context in mind that they are likely to be confusing to anyone operating outside that.
I am sure there is a book to be written of this type to help hard‐pressed business owners with practical advice about effective people management practices and relevant information on employment law. Unfortunately this is not the one for the UK market.
