Best Kept HR Secrets: 400 Most Powerful Tips For Thriving at Work, Making Yourself Indispensable & Attaining Outrageous Success in Human Resources

Simply put, Alan Collins knows human resources because he lives human resources. For any HR professional who has reached a plateau in their career, or perhaps is slogging through another round of interviewing, hiring, down-sizing or just hasn't taken a day off since the Nixon administration, this book is a shot of inspiration and practical advice. What I really appreciate about this book is that the "secrets" are in bite-size chunks so you can grab a quick tip or idea in seconds, and apply it right away. If you're in HR, or know someone in HR, buy this book! Collins follows his own advice and makes his work indispensable.

When I read the reviews about this book, I had expected it to be an instructional book, but it was not. There are lots of quotes in here that may be helpful for some, but I personally thought it was somewhat contradictory. Everyone has their opinion about the "ideal" HR job, which makes it very subjective. It's great to instill many of these values in your own career, but there are no set standards in HR. That's the beauty of it! You can mold your HR department however you like, depending on the factors you have at your company. Every company has it's own culture, resources, influences, rituals, etc. Yeah, sure; you can be an expert in one area, but doesn't that narrow your abilities in other areas of HR? The best kept HR secret is having good instincts, or what I call an HR mindset. It's hard to switch from serious HR professional, to manager than back to employee. Yes, employee...Most of us in HR forget that we are also employee's of the company, so I always ask myself: What would I do if it were me?

Anyone who has been involved in Knowledge Management knows tedious conditions created by all those miscellaneous informations which cannot be easily categorized or are applicable across applications. Best Kept HR Secrets is one of such small books which are to be referred again & again & again during one's career.It contains small tips which any HR professional may face at any time. A good buy.

Alan Collins is simply "guru" of HR, following his blog and trying to get every book he wrote! Great tips, based on immense experience, even for labour lawyer arising from continental law system. I would highly recommend it to every lawyer who works in HR department.

I purchased this on a whim and I'm glad I did. As the author indicates there are some of the secrets that HR people will already know and perhaps simply not apply. I've found several gems of information in the books and it has helped change how I conduct business.

Had I seen this book in a store I would have flipped though it and not gotten it. It has good snippets of information but it wasn't what I was looking for. Regret purchasing it and wish I could return the digital copy and get my money back.

Pros: Easy to read; list all his tips as little blurbs. Has some good points for HR worded in simple just how it is way.Cons: Expensive book. There's no real writing in this book, just full of post it note or twitter style tips.I would recommend this book if 1) your new to HR or are a seasoned HR person and just are getting the picture of why you don't have a seat at the table and need a quick read AND 2) it was $10 . It wasn't necessarily a bad read, it just wasn't a great read worth the $20+ I paid. I read the book in three hours spread out over a couple lunch breaks. I ended up giving it to our intern instead of shelving it. Again, some neat tips but I would say 10% of what's in there is neat and unique I hadn't considered before, but the rest of the material has or will surface on some HR or Linked In blog as "10 blanks that blank, etc, etc."

This is a great book to have as a quick reference and reminder as to what makes an okay HR professional GREAT and stand out in the eyes of their business partners. Every HR person is doing themselves an injustice by not having this book in their library.

This book captures lot of new perspectives in modern day HR.Elaborated with eye for details and nicely presented the facts.Enjoyed the read

Personally i didn think much to the style of this book. I found it very choppy and changey (not a word i know) and altogether very hard to follow. It's displayed in more of a bulletin style format which i didnt like. Some good paragraphs in there but altogether i didnt rate it much.

Thank you very much :)

At the start this book looked to simple as the first tips were too simplistic. However after the first 100 tips this book improved and became a very interesting read.