The best 28 Hiring books

1
Buy Back Your Time

Buy Back Your Time

Dan Martell
Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire
4.6 (203 ratings)

What's Buy Back Your Time about?

Buy Back Your Time (2023) teaches entrepreneurs how to hire the right people for the right tasks, so they can free up the time they need to build their empire. Practical advice and success stories guide those who feel stuck in their busy lives out of the tedium of small chores and into the limitless field of pure production.

Who should read Buy Back Your Time?

  • Entrepreneurs who are looking to scale their business
  • Anyone who feels stuck in the daily grind of work
  • Managers trying to find ways to inspire employees

2
Inspired

Inspired

Marty Cagan
How To Create Products Customers Love
4.4 (398 ratings)

What's Inspired about?

Inspired describes the best practices of creating successful software products and explains the most common pitfalls and how to avoid them. The lessons are applicable in a range of product environments, from fledgling start-ups to large corporations.

Who should read Inspired?

  • Anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes view of how great software products are created
  • Anyone working or wishing to work in software product management
  • Anyone hoping to build innovative software products

3
The Fearless Organization

The Fearless Organization

Amy C. Edmondson
Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth
4.6 (322 ratings)

What's The Fearless Organization about?

The Fearless Organization (2018) delves into psychological safety and how the workplace can become an environment in which everyone feels confident enough to pitch in and do their best. These blinks explain why people hold back on sharing their ideas at work, how this harms businesses, and how leaders can encourage a culture of openness, questioning, and experimentation that leads to learning and innovation. 

Who should read The Fearless Organization?

  • Forward-thinking leaders who want to encourage innovation and learning
  • Human resources managers looking to get the most out of their talent
  • Team players interested in creating a supportive workplace

4
The Ideal Team Player

The Ideal Team Player

Patrick Lencioni
How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues. A Leadership Fable
4.5 (157 ratings)

What's The Ideal Team Player about?

The Ideal Team Player (2016) explores the role teamwork plays in today’s business environment and shows you how to build a team geared for success. These blinks explain what makes a good team player, how to find them and which strategies you’ll need to build a company around the concept of teamwork.

Who should read The Ideal Team Player?

  • Human resources specialists and business leaders
  • Professionals curious about their capacity teamwork
  • Employees struggling with team relations at work

5
Smart Work

Smart Work

Jo Owen
The Ultimate Handbook for Remote and Hybrid Teams
4.4 (77 ratings)

What's Smart Work about?

Smart Work (2022) is a handbook for leaders navigating the post-pandemic transition into a world of remote and hybrid work. These are challenging times for managers, argues author Jo Owen. What worked in the office won’t necessarily work in remote teams. But if there’s one thing Covid-19 showed us, it’s that we can adapt – fast. And change is a good thing, he insists. Why? Well, mastering these challenges isn’t just about future-proofing your job – it’ll also make you a better leader. 

Who should read Smart Work?

  • Leaders and managers 
  • Team players 
  • Self-starters

6
Conscious Leadership

Conscious Leadership

John Mackey
Elevating Humanity Through Business
4.4 (118 ratings)

What's Conscious Leadership about?

Conscious Leadership (2020) reveals what it takes to lead a purpose-driven business that sees beyond the bottom line. Drawing on his experience as CEO of one of the largest supermarket chains in the United States, John Mackey shows how leaders can shape their businesses to become more innovative, competitive, and socially responsible.

Who should read Conscious Leadership?

  • Organizations seeking their purpose
  • Business coaches who want to help strengthen leaders, teams, and enterprises
  • HR departments looking to improve their hiring practices

7
Who

Who

Geoff Smart and Randy Street
The A Method for Hiring
4.2 (146 ratings)

What's Who about?

Who (2008) is your guide to the greatest problem that faces every business leader: how to hire competent staff. These blinks are chock-full of actionable tips on how to ensure your firm has a steady supply of adept candidates to choose from and that all your hires are in step with your goals.

Who should read Who?

  • Managers, entrepreneurs and recruiters
  • Job seekers
  • Anyone with the power to hire and fire

8
Hiring Success

Hiring Success

Jerome Ternynck
How Visionary CEOs Compete for the Best Talent
4.3 (73 ratings)

What's Hiring Success about?

Hiring Success (2020) is all about helping you find and retain the best people for your business. This no-nonsense guide explains the techniques necessary to contact, connect with, and onboard the right talent to meet your present and future goals.

Who should read Hiring Success?

  • CEOs aiming to build talented teams
  • HR pros looking to become HR superstars
  • Jobseekers wanting to understand the hiring process

9
The Essential HR Handbook

The Essential HR Handbook

Sharon Armstrong & Barbara Mitchell
A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager or HR Professional
3.8 (38 ratings)

What's The Essential HR Handbook about?

The Essential HR Handbook (2008) is a guide to human resources management. These blinks are full of useful tools and important insights on how to manage your organization’s most important resource: human capital.

Who should read The Essential HR Handbook?

  • Anyone working in human resources
  • Managers who want a better understanding of their organization’s inner workings
  • Anybody who is in the process of hiring new employees

10
Beat Gender Bias

Beat Gender Bias

Karen Morley
How to Play a Better Part in a More Inclusive World
4.0 (122 ratings)

What's Beat Gender Bias about?

Beat Gender Bias (2020) explores the beliefs and behaviors that underpin the glass ceiling and that stop women and girls from reaching their full potential. It explores the persistence of workplace sexism and explains how leaders can tackle it.

Who should read Beat Gender Bias?

  • Sociology buffs looking for a different perspective 
  • Feminists hoping to create change in their workplaces
  • Leaders seeking insights into equality and diversity issues

11
The Truth About Employee Engagement

The Truth About Employee Engagement

Patrick Lencioni
A Fable About Addressing the Three Root Causes of Job Misery
4.4 (149 ratings)

What's The Truth About Employee Engagement about?

The Truth About Employee Engagement (2007) tells you how to turn any type of job from miserable to meaningful. Using three key tips, you’ll find joy and satisfaction in your work. The blinks offer guidance for employers on creating an environment in which employees can thrive, and advice for job seekers on how to find the job that will be the perfect fit for them.

Who should read The Truth About Employee Engagement?

  • Managers who want to motivate their employees
  • Employees seeking to improve their work experience
  • Job seekers looking for more than a paycheck

12
Working Backwards

Working Backwards

Colin Bryar
And Other Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon
4.4 (110 ratings)

What's Working Backwards about?

Working Backwards (2021) tells the story of how Amazon changed the way people live. It explores founder Jeff Bezos’ leadership philosophy, and reveals how this philosophy has informed Amazon’s most iconic products and services.

Who should read Working Backwards?

  • Executive coaches looking for fresh insights
  • Entrepreneurs hoping to turbo-charge their business
  • Managers wanting to boost their teams’ performance

13
The Best Place to Work

The Best Place to Work

Ron Friedman
The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace
3.8 (33 ratings)

What's The Best Place to Work about?

If you want to design the best possible workplace, improve employee satisfaction and ultimately motivate your staff to deliver better results, look no further. The Best Place to Work will guide you through the process of improving your working environment, leading to more enthusiastic and productive employees.

Who should read The Best Place to Work?

  • Anyone who’s interested in workplace design
  • Anyone who’s concerned about employee satisfaction
  • Managers who want to improve productivity

14
Give & Get Employer Branding

Give & Get Employer Branding

Bryan Adams and Charlotte Marshall
Repel the Many and Compel the Few with Impact, Purpose and Belonging
4.3 (123 ratings)

What's Give & Get Employer Branding about?

Give & Get Employer Branding (2020) is a handy introduction and guidebook into the world of employer branding. You’ll find all the basic information you need to reinvigorate your employer brand in order to attract the best candidates and turn your current employees into loyal and eager ambassadors for your organization.

Who should read Give & Get Employer Branding?

  • Anyone working in human resources
  • Managers who want to attract better candidates
  • Executives tired of wasting time and money on ineffective recruitment techniques

15
Powerful

Powerful

Patty McCord
Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility
4.2 (46 ratings)

What's Powerful about?

Based on the work practices at Netflix, Powerful (2017) is a guide to building a work culture that can adapt to today’s fast-paced and ever-changing markets. It offers insights that are rooted in an unconventional way of managing people. You’ll discover eight practices of management that’ll help you create a successful work culture and business.

Who should read Powerful?

  • Leaders and managers
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Anyone interested in the stupendous rise of Netflix

16
Inclusion on Purpose

Inclusion on Purpose

Ruchika Tulshyan
An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work
4.7 (14 ratings)

What's Inclusion on Purpose about?

Inclusion on Purpose (2022) shows leaders how to foster a culture of inclusion, diversity, and equity in the workplace. Putting the experiences of women of color front and center, it provides impactful inclusion strategies which don’t only benefit the marginalized but every employee in the organization.

Who should read Inclusion on Purpose?

  • Those wanting to use their privilege for good
  • Leaders of team and organizations
  • HR professionals

17
The Gen Z Effect

The Gen Z Effect

Thomas Koulopoulus and Dan Keldsen
The Six Forces Shaping the Future of Business
4.2 (37 ratings)

What's The Gen Z Effect about?

The Gen Z Effect (2014) shines a light on the changes that we face in a hyperconnected world, both as individuals and in business. By embracing the mind-set and innovations of Generation Z, we can manage these changes and unite to create a brighter future for a world that no longer divides itself into generations.

Who should read The Gen Z Effect?

  • Companies looking to lead their market in a hyperconnected world
  • Managers who want to learn more about which future technologies will boost their teams‘ productivity
  • Those interested in the employment and education opportunities that Generation Z will bring

18
Hire With Your Head

Hire With Your Head

Lou Adler
Using Performance-Based Hiring℠ to Build Great Teams
4.2 (37 ratings)

What's Hire With Your Head about?

Hire With Your Head (2007) will make you think twice before drafting a standard job offer that’ll only attract standard recruits. Learn when to be the seller and when to be the buyer in the HR market so that you’re guaranteed the pick of potential employees. By rewriting the recruitment process from advert to interview, Hire With Your Head will revolutionize your hiring practice.

Who should read Hire With Your Head?

  • Recruitment and HR managers
  • Team leaders
  • Anyone involved in hiring

19
Game Changer

Game Changer

Michael Solomon and Rishon Blumberg
How to Be 10x in the Talent Economy
4.3 (53 ratings)

What's Game Changer about?

Game Changer (2020) is a guide to attracting the superstar talents that power the modern economy. By explaining how to identify and manage top talent, it will help you understand what strategies are needed for firms and workers to stay on the cutting edge.

Who should read Game Changer?

  • Recruiters looking for the next big hire
  • Managers responsible for great talent
  • Skilled workers looking to level up

20
Effective HR Communication

Effective HR Communication

Debra Corey
A Framework for Communicating HR Programmes with Impact
4.2 (19 ratings)

What's Effective HR Communication about?

In today’s competitive environment for talent, effective communication is crucial for showcasing human resource programs in a way that will help attract, retain and engage key talent. Whether introducing new HR programs or re-launching existing ones, the IMPACT communication model presented in these blinks will help deliver your messages so that employees understand, appreciate and take action on them.

Who should read Effective HR Communication?

  • HR professionals who want to improve their communication toolbox
  • Communication specialists who want to learn a new model for communicating effectively

21
Build It

Build It

Glenn Elliott and Debra Corey
The Rebel Playbook for World-Class Employee Engagement
4.6 (37 ratings)

What's Build It about?

Build It (2018) takes a look at one of the most important yet overlooked secrets behind business success: employee engagement. Drawing on a decade of research into 2,000 companies, Glenn Elliott and Debra Corey explore the tactics of some of today’s best-known firms to shed light on how they keep their workers switched on and productive. One common theme? They all tore up the HR rulebook, and this path-breaking book is designed to help you do just that.

We’re thrilled to announce that the authors have worked together with Blinkist to create this book-in-blinks for you.

Who should read Build It?

  • CEO’s and entrepreneurs looking to improve their businesses
  • HR people looking to engage their employees
  • Managers wanting to improve the performance of their team

22
Misplaced Talent

Misplaced Talent

Joe Ungemah
A Guide to Better People Decisions
3.4 (18 ratings)

What's Misplaced Talent about?

Misplaced Talent (2015) is a practical guide to hiring the employee best suited for the job and how to keep that employee happy and satisfied. Many businesses don’t even know what skills they should look for in an employee – or, if they do, they’ll forget about keeping that employee motivated once he or she is on board. It’s important to know how to do both of these things, so find out how to avoid all the messy pitfalls and keep your workforce happy.

Who should read Misplaced Talent?

  • Human-resource employees
  • Readers unhappy with their current job
  • CEOs and managers who want to hire the best people

23
Talent Magnetism

Talent Magnetism

Roberta Chinsky Matuson
How to Build a Workplace That Attracts and Keeps the Best
3.7 (19 ratings)

What's Talent Magnetism about?

In Talent Magnetism, author Roberta Chinsky Matuson shows you how to transform your workplace into an environment that draws top talent like a magnet. The book offers practical advice on how to develop a strategy to stay ahead of the competition by identifying how evolving technology and a new generation of workers have changed business in the twenty-first century.

Who should read Talent Magnetism?

  • CEOs, business owners or senior executives
  • Anyone working in human resources or in recruiting

24
Great People Decisions

Great People Decisions

Claudio Fernandez-Araoz
Why They Matter So Much, Why They Are So Hard and How You Can Master Them
4.4 (17 ratings)

What's Great People Decisions about?

Great People Decisions (2007) explains the many ways in which personnel choices can make or break an organization. Full of practical, immediately actionable advice, this step-by-step guide to finding and hiring the right candidate for the right job is helpful for businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Who should read Great People Decisions?

  • Anyone who has ever hired the wrong person for a job
  • Anyone who is in charge of building solid and efficient teams
  • Entrepreneurs, managers and CEOs

25
Widgets

Widgets

Rodd Wagner
The 12 New Rules for Managing Your Employees As If They’re Real People.

What's Widgets about?

Widgets (2015) is a guide to improving employees’ performance, regardless of the field they work in. These blinks outline the fundamental principles, based on scientific research, that will help any company improve its efficiency, profitability and worker satisfaction.

Who should read Widgets?

  • Every entrepreneur or manager interested in improving employee performance
  • Anyone working in human resources

26
Profit from the Positive

Profit from the Positive

Margaret Greenberg and Senia Maymin
Proven Leadership Strategies to Boost Productivity and Transform Your Business
4.4 (13 ratings)

What's Profit from the Positive about?

Profit from the Positive explains how leaders can increase productivity, collaboration and profitability by using the tools of positive psychology to boost their employees’ performance. It gives clear examples of how small changes can make big differences.

Who should read Profit from the Positive?

  • Business leaders, managers, executive coaches
  • Human resource professionals
  • Anyone who wants to get ahead by being positive

27
The Inclusion Dividend

The Inclusion Dividend

Mark Kaplan and Mason Donovan
Why Investing in Diversity and Inclusion Pays Off
3.5 (26 ratings)

What's The Inclusion Dividend about?

“I’m not sexist, it’s just that the top candidates are all guys.” “I don’t believe in quotas – surely you should pick the best person for the job, whatever the colour of their skin?” If you’ve ever had thoughts like these, challenge your assumptions with The Inclusion Dividend (2013). It explains how diversity and inclusion actually boost the productivity and business success of any company, while presenting a guide to transforming your workplace for the good.

Who should read The Inclusion Dividend?

  • Leaders who want to take the success of their organizations to the next level
  • Anyone interested in the economic incentives for diversity
  • Executives who have wondered why diverse and inclusive companies perform so well

28
Rookie Smarts

Rookie Smarts

Liz Wiseman
Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work
4.2 (16 ratings)

What's Rookie Smarts about?

The world is changing faster than ever. Rookies and inexperienced employees have an advantage in the workplace when they are willing to learn and adapt. Rookie Smarts shows how, when projects are approached with fresh eyes, organizations succeed. It also includes helpful tips on how even experienced workers can stay sharp by developing a rookie mindset.

Who should read Rookie Smarts?

  • Recruiters or hiring managers looking to bring on new talent
  • Anyone thinking about a career change or starting a small business
  • Anyone looking to get an edge at work

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