Books and podcasts to inform and inspire

Ready for a mini-break from your desk? These two books and one podcast provide valuable guidance to help you in your HR role.

PODCAST: The Conscious Action Podcast by Brian Berneman: Conscious Action: Ep145: Bridget Williams on sustainability, creativity and leadership.

Bridget Williams, from Christchurch, is the founder of Bead and Proceed, a social enterprise that is focused on using the power of creativity to action the 17 UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).

This is a really informative podcast about how a focus on creativity, sustainability and self-leadership can be used to build and create more engaged people in teams and organisations. She uses the making of beads as a way for people to lean into sustainability and start a conversation that’s different from how they might usually engage at work.

Bridget feels we have stopped believing we can make an impact. By focusing on creating a sustainable environment using the SDGs, where individuals choose smaller goals using five beads linked to issues such as inclusion and diversity or gender disparity, this helps reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed. Working together can lead to more impactful and sustainable outcomes. With the advent of artificial intelligence and technology like Chat GPT, creative thinking and creativity may become more challenging. If you’re interested in creating a more sustainable environment at work and a higher level of engagement, then this is a podcast that will get you started.

Steve Browne (2023), HR Unleased!! Published by the Society for Human Resource Management.

Steve Browne is an experienced HR professional and a global HR community connector. He has a worldwide following on X (formally Twitter) and regularly engages with the international HR community, driving a humanistic approach to HR. HR Unleashed!! is the third book in a series of insightful and thoughtprovoking books on unleashing the true potential of HR in organisations. Steve writes in an easy-to-read, entertaining and informal style. He is also well known for his love of the HR llama. He says the llama is the best animal to represent HR because they’re “cute and approachable, but if you upset them they might spit on you”.

In HR Unleashed!!, he explores the human aspect of HR and emphasises the importance of treating employees as individuals. Steve believes in the power of connecting; he says HR is the one occupation where you have a chance to “positively impact every. single. person. you meet”. Understanding the unique needs and aspirations of the people you interact with reminds us that HR is not just about policies and procedures but nurturing individuals and developing talent.

HR Unleashed!! tells Steve’s 40-year unique experiences within the HR profession. Steve believes HR practitioners need to focus on self-improvement and professional growth, and look to continuously learn, embrace change and innovate. Steve thinks it’s essential for your personal wellbeing and professional development to belong to a cohort because it provides perspectives you’d never get within the environment where you work. The book offers various resources and suggestions for HR professionals at all levels to enhance their skills and stay up to date with industry trends.

Helen Zink (2023), Team Coaching for Organisational Development. Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd.

The concept of this book is an interesting one. It offers a multi-dimensional perspective on team coaching over three years using perspectives from different participants. Helen Zink is the team coach and guides the reader through the different chapters and characters – for which she uses a movie production analogy –complete with plot twists.

The book offers a comprehensive and unique insight into coaching a team for performance. It applies team coaching theories, models and best practice along with successes, failures and insights gained. Each ‘actor’

– a team member, the team leader, the internal and external coaches, and the organisation – shares their experiences over years one, two and three in a case at the Green Apple Company. It’s in the sharing of all perspectives where the plot twist and the movie analogy become apparent, because it is evident on reflection that the five ‘characters’ are sharing a similar story.

As HR practitioners, we are also internal coaches for managers and often teams. This book offers valuable insights, based on a longitudinal case study, of the challenges and rewards of coaching and how HR can have an influence over strategy and make a significant contribution to organisational performance.

Lynne Allison is an industrial and organisational psychologist and a commercially focused HR practitioner with a diverse background across government, financial/insurance and health IT. She focuses on best practice people management and strategy, and business transformation through the lens of both industrial/ organisational psychology and a Lean Six Sigma approach. She is a creative and passionate out-of-thebox thinker committed to driving business performance by bringing others along on the journey and a continuous improvement approach that puts people at the centre.