HR from the Heart: Inspiring Stories and Strategies for Building the People Side of Great Business

I am teaching a Masters Level course for Eastern Michigan University and am using this book along with What Clients Love by Harry Beckwith. The HR from the Heart book is an excellent real life practitioners' view of how an HR professional can effectively manage their career, how to build a great HR Dept, and how HR can drive and support organizational change. Many of my SHRM colleagues are reading this book and have also found it well worth the purchase. Happy Reading!

I write this on the day Rodney Dangerfield died. Fitting. I've worked in the HR field for 25 years, and never once read a book that so correctly summarized the true purpose of HR work. I've seen people enter this field because "they like people," or because they cannot get a church to appoint them as a minister, or because they don't like math. I've also seen many HR practitioners sink into a morass of self-absorption, cynicism, despair or xenophobia. How can a reasonable person spend their life's work "fighting with management" with no consciousness of that proposition's essential irony: if you are in HR, you ARE in management. Dave Ulrich told us ten years ago that HR had to add value by delivering business results. OK, we get that part. Libby Sartain tells us practical, down-to-earth things we need to know to get those results, retain our self-respect, and experience the sheer joy of seeing our work result in wonderful customer service. To see what Libby has accomplished, watch the cable series on airlines. Watch what the front-line Southwest Airlines people do habitually, casually: show compassion, empathy and humor to people whom you would swear were the last to deserve it. She correctly credits Herb Kelleher with creating a customer service company which happens to fly people around. See the power of excellent HR brought to life. Read this book. We get the respect we deserve; Libby tells us how to earn it.

Libby and Martha have written an excellent book reflecting the learnings of many years of HR Experience. For those with lots of experience and a caring heart, you will reflect on your HR career and say "hey, that's what I've learned in 20 years." There are good ideas on how to be a strategic and caring leader that will help you be more successful. For those newer to HR, the book will provide insights that may prevent you from making the same mistakes that us older folks have made. There are also insights on managing your HR career.I would also recommend the book to CEO and other high-level Execs that 1) want more from their HR department or 2) don't know what they want or what HR can be.The book is well written and inspirational. Thanks to the authors.

I discovered "HR from the Heart" while searching for ideas and a fresh perspective that would hopefully trigger a professional renewal within me. I own many excellent books on HR issues and competencies, but this one offered some of the best career counseling I could have found anywhere. Libby Sartain spoke to me as a long-time friend (I have also been criticized for laughing too loud and enjoying my work too much). She shares a vision and perspective for her work. She also speaks with knowledge, professionalism, care and passion for her role in HR and the people she serves. Furthermore, she cares enough to straighten out a fellow professional who might have spent the remainder of his career gaining competence, but never knowing a sense of joy, enthusiasm or mission in his work. "HR from the Heart" has moved me from "doing a good job" to a professional career that embodies the only work I want to do. Whether you love your career in HR or seek purpose beyond the next paycheck--I enthusiastically recommend this book to HR professionals.