HR Manager: A New Zealand Handbook, 2nd Edition

HR Manager - A New Zealand Handbook is a practical and comprehensive guide to all key areas of human resources management in New Zealand. Providing up-to-date requirements for legal compliance, and essential guidance on good HR practice, this book will help organisations and HR professionals:

• build the knowledge and skills needed for each stage of the employment cycle
• check they are complying with the ever-increasing demands of employment law
• respond confidently to day-to-day questions and issues
• make good decisions when faced with challenging HR scenarios and issues.

Written in plain English and designed so that readers can easily find the topic they are interested in, HR Manager is the ideal, quick-reference guide for busy professionals. It is an essential handbook for anybody involved or interested in the strategies, structures and systems that organisations need for effective people management — the processes and practices which are key contributors to individual and organisational performance.

HR Manager describes and discusses:

• talent management strategies and techniques — including recruitment, selection, and onboarding
• employment relations, the psychological contract, employee engagement and employee voice
• the legal employment contract, individual and collective bargaining, and compliance
• performance management for organisations and individuals
• rewards, remuneration, benefits and entitlements
• training, learning and development in the modern organisation
• managing workplace health and safety, employee health and wellbeing, and contemporary issues
• handling workplace problems, workplace investigations, and disciplinary processes
• the legal and human aspects of termination
• the importance of good people management, and the different roles of HR specialists and line managers
• the nature of human resources management, and the contribution of the HR function and HR specialists to the achievement of organisational goals and strategies.

What's new in this edition?

The second edition of HR Manager covers recent legislative amendments, including:

• the introduction of domestic leave entitlements
• more prescriptive rest breaks and meal breaks for employees
• the restriction of 90-day trial periods to employers with fewer than 20 employees
• the setting of terms and conditions for new employees
• changed rules for collective bargaining
• the application of availability provisions.

There is also expanded coverage and discussion of key contemporary issues in HR — with practical advice on how to handle these developing challenges; for example:

• HR and the future of work, the workplace, and the workforce
• the effects of automation and artificial intelligence on HR and the workforce
• people analytics
• managing a more and more diverse workforce
• avoiding bias and unlawful discrimination in recruitment and selection
• pay and gender equity, including forthcoming law changes
• learning and development in the digital era; the impact of mobile learning and social media
• the impact of workplace design on employee satisfaction and productivity
• mental health and the workplace
• absenteeism and presenteeism
• family and domestic violence
• employee burnout
• whistle-blowing.

Who should read this guide?

HR Manager is a handbook that HR professionals and managers at all levels can delve into for information, examples, up-to-date requirements for legal compliance, and advice on good HR practice. The easy and clear style will also help students with no work or business experience in this area to grasp the concepts and practices being discussed.