Books are a great way to obtain in-depth knowledge from your industry. Reading around your profession can help you face different areas of your job with confidence.

Training course providers TheKnowledgeAcademy.com have found in a study of 1,900 professionals that 42% felt more confident doing their job after they read more books on a related subject, and 74% felt more confident after they took an extra course or qualification related to their profession.

1. HR Disrupted: It’s time for something different, Lucy Adams

CEO Lucy Adam’s innovative book is all about shaking up the HR industry. This guide will teach you how to approach HR scenarios with a fresh outlook in order to get the best out of your organization’s employees. HR disrupted aims to equip the reader with “practical tools, ideas, and techniques so you can start making changes immediately.”

2. Aligning Human Resources and Business Strategy by Linda Holbeche

As a business partner, HR has to be able to show value by implementing initiatives that are aligned with core business strategies. Aligning Human Resources and Business Strategy by Linda Holbeche provides insight on transforming HR into a strategic partner and shares specific strategies in areas such as recruitment, retention, employee development, and succession planning. The book also includes case studies of successfully implemented HR strategies

3.Reinventing Organizations by Fredric Laloux

Recommended to us by Tom Haak Frederic Laloux’s Reinventing Organizations is considered by many to be the most influential management book of this decade. It has inspired hundreds, probably thousands, of organizations throughout the world to take a radical leap and adopt a whole different set of management principles and practices.

It’s also a word-of-mouth phenomenon, propelled by a deeply caring and generous community of readers. Self-published with no PR, it has already sold 350.000 copies and has been translated in numerous languages.

4. HR on Purpose!!: Developing Deliberate People Passion, by Steve Browne

The No. 1 title on Amazon’s “Hot New Releases” list in Human Resources, HR on Purpose!! asks the question “Can you be in HR for more than 30 years and still be geeked about it?” The answer is, according to author and “Everyday People” blogger Steve Browne, an unequivocal “YES, you can!”

HR on Purpose!! takes a fresh look at HR through an engaging assortment of real-life examples, insights, and epiphanies and encourages practitioners to drop the preconceptions of what HR should be and instead look to what HR could be. Read this book and rekindle your passion for our growing, vibrant and vital profession.

5. Build It: The Rebel Playbook for World Class Employee Engagement, Glenn Elliott & Debra Corey

Authors Glenn Elliott and Debra Corey bring a wealth of experience to their 2018 book on employee engagement. One Amazon reviewer wrote that it was the “GO TO book for HR practitioners who are committed to unlocking engagement so their people can perform at their best.” This guide claims that breaking with traditional HR rules can help create more engaged employees, and consequently build better businesses. The book follows the Engagement Bridge™ model, highlighting ways you can bring a positive work culture to your organization using case studies from companies like Virgin, American Express, and LinkedIn.