Laura E. Larson

Coveting a “seat at the table,” many human resources (HR) professionals face a gap between the talent management requirements of their business partners and what gets executed day-to-day in organizations. Written by the highly experienced executive search and management consultants of Cage Talent (www.CageTalent.com), this award-winning book strives to close that gap. Called “a terrific primer on why HR is such a critical component of successful strategy execution,” the book cites real-life examples, stories from the authors’ professional experience, and their interviews with executives in corporate and nonprofit sectors. Jack Cage and Laura Larson describe how HR teams and hiring managers can work most effectively together to recruit the best people possible—the people who are ultimately responsible for making strategy a reality.

After a foreword by Andy Goodman, a Fortune 500 chief human resources officer, the introduction to the book lays out the current landscape of HR, including a robust discussion of survey and other data that underscore the importance of HR adapting to meet the high expectations of CEOs around the world in identifying and hiring superb talent. The authors include a brief but powerful description of the growing human resource outsourcing (HRO) industry, which threatens the very existence of HR roles in many organizations.

The first chapter of Part 1 defines “strategy,” discussing the work of esteemed management experts, including Henry Mintzberg of McGill University and Michael Porter of Harvard Business School; and outlining how HR staff can conduct and use SWOT and PEST analyses and other strategic planning fundamentals. Cage and Larson then guide readers step-by-step through actual corporate strategy documents to discover how to apply a strategy to HR recruiting tasks. They also take the unusual step of including straightforward recommendations for addressing possible less-than-flattering stereotypes of HR staff as “administriviators”—to build a solid foundation on which to lead business conversations. The authors then share, in a full chapter, a novel approach to communicating with business colleagues—including the CEO—to uncover the strategic data necessary to dramatically enhance hiring.

Part 2’s three chapters explicitly describe how to fold information gleaned from these business conversations into recruiting high-caliber talent. Readers will learn how to add the essential components of compelling position descriptions—and why they are so vital; use select online assessment instruments to carefully (and legally) vet candidates, especially to identify potential behavioral challenges before a hire; create job-specific interview questions and manage a group interview team; and conduct focused, deep-dive interviews and comprehensive reference checks (with tips for handling evasive responses and getting truthful answers).

Entertaining and topical features called “Pull Up a Chair!” pepper the book; these sidebars tap current business news to illustrate points or delve more deeply into a key topic of a chapter’s discussion. This well-researched, professionally designed book includes Additional Resources, References, an index, figures, and tables; the e-book is also in color. Reviewers of the book have called it “a must for CEOs in enlightened companies that seek maximum success,” a “work that captures…the next practices required to differentiate HR’s future from HR’s past,” and “a terrific resource of progressive concepts and best practices.”

Finally, not only does this book help readers learn how to hire the best-qualified people who will both fit culturally and execute strategy, but it also helps save children’s lives: 25% of all sales benefits UNICEF and its work to help children in need around the world. The publisher (www.Leap4words.com) offers volume discounts and customization for the print version.

Winner, National Indie Excellence Award, Business category; Bronze Medal, Independent Publisher Awards, Business/Sales/Career category