Title: Exploring Employee Relations
Author: Mike Leat
Publisher: Butterworth Heinemann
Format: A5 paperback, 450 pages
ISBN: 0 7506 4396 X
Price: £18.99
As a Training and Development Officer currently studying for my CIPD, I thought that reviewing this book could serve two purposes, firstly to do the review and secondly to force me into a bit of revision for the Employee Relations section of the exam.
I found the book very accessible and straightforward. The text is clearly laid out with each chapter having an outline, introduction, objectives, quotes, activities, case studies and summaries. Compared to other texts this is light-years ahead (Core Personnel & Development springs to mind with its dense, dull text).
The book is divided into four major parts, Introduction, The Global Context, The National Context and The Organizational Context. Each clearly leads the reader deeper into the subject and in a logical well thought out way. The information contained is relevant to the current day - for example Trade Unions are, of course, covered but not excessively considering their much-reduced power when compared to say the 1970s.
On-line tutor resources back up the book if used as part of a training or teaching course, providing solutions to the activities and questions posed throughout the book.
The quality and especially the layout of this book impressed me. Without wishing to repeat myself, it is clear, easy to read, informative and pleasing on the eye and easily covers the requirements for CIPD Core Personnel and Development as well as being a welcome alternative to recommended texts for the Employee Relations elective.
Exploring Employee Relations was reviewed by Matthew Simkin,
Training and Development Officer, the Science Museum, London.
