Financial Analysis for HR Managers: Tools for Linking HR Strategy to Business Strategy 1st Edition

Smart, explanatory, clear book on financial analysis. Any HR person would benefit from its knowledge.

Gives you great tools to link HR strategy to business strategy.

I am technology manager and always thought that HR was bit fuzzy on what it needed and their executive level presentation was full of words and emotions without solid logic and numbers. On the other hand, I also knew that surely HR is more than that met my eye. Well, this books proves that my guess was correct. I was wrong and there is a place for HR to contribute beyond word and programs. Prof. Steven Director must be a great teacher. He carefully walks the reader (any manager or executive) through several scenarios where numbers clearly show how one approach would be better than another. I have a solid background in analysis and hence this was a breeze to read. Chapter 5, 8 and 9 are priceless and where I got much mileage for my job. But anyone in HR must read this book to gain the tools that they can use to communicate with Technology and Finance. Anyone who is in HR "function" (any executive) with a strong analytic bent will thoroughly enjoy the book. I rarely give 5-stars but this is one deserves it. Clearly, if you work in HR this is a must read if you want other business leaders to understand what you are proposing. But I would also argue the opposite is true. If you are in R&D or product management, this book shows that how to think in HR + finance . I rarely give five starts. This book deserves it.

I just reviewed a compensation and benefits related accounting book and the things learned and to be applied there are very similar as with this book. The however is that this is a more strategic look at linking HR to the business overall. This book introduces using proper accounting techniques to address cost verses assets as important to the bottom line on a quarterly and annual basis. The challenge sometimes is that HR practitioners may have little basic accounting and finance backgrounds although they are responsible for the largest cost items (salaries and benefits) on an income statement. This book is for the soft skills educated practitioner of HR and the seasoned manager who has budget responsibility who wants to take his/her impact on the bottom line to the next level.Many HR departments fall under finance in organizations, yet the trend is that more and more have direct access to the board room. If you want to help your company succeed and even your HR department to advance in the eyes of the company, you may want to consider applying what is offered in this timely, effective and easy to apply book. All the best in your efforts to learn and apply Financial Analysis within your daily work.

Clear simple review of financial reports and their impact on business strategy. If you have no financial acumen, this is a good starting place.

Human relations functions of enterprises are often dismissed as "soft." HR may be seen, implicitly or explicitly, as a cost center, a liability, a defensive function.Such longstanding prejudices can be costly in the emerging 21st century marketplace. Now, people are the most valuable assets for many companies--in reality, not merely as happy talk by CEO's a few times per year.Into this changing environment, author Steven Director adds practical value in 'Financial Analysis for HR Managers: Tools for Linking HR Strategy to Business Strategy.'Director brilliantly distills key financial concepts for non-quants. The mysteries of the balance sheet are exposed. Equally important, he explains how financial statements are a "window into business strategy." He achieves his overall goal, integrating business strategy, financial strategy, and HR strategy.As a practical matter, this book can enable HR professionals to make the case for their priorities more effectively, speaking in the language of finance and accounting to achieve the goals of overarching business strategy.The book concludes with useful chapters on compensation and pensions.Highly recommended.

This is an excellent text that I feel best suited to HR managers of medium to large companies, meaning those with 100+ employees (to set a general benchmark). The examples and tools contained in this text apply to running a human resource department as an integral part of the business. Rather than looking at HR as a black hole of funds (all that money spent on compliance and such), this text looks at the HR department as an entity with a realistic value. The guidelines in this text assist HR managers in reducing costs and implementing money saving policies.As such, the text really does apply only to larger companies. Those companies, even smaller companies with a solid HR department, probably have a better grasp on the actual management of this division, whereas larger companies might be looking at HR costs on a budget sheet without actually knowing much of anything about the actual daily HR strategies or the HR staff.Very good examples for reducing costs and improving compliance with streamlining strategies.

Loved the book! Very helpful tool.