There is an increasing realisation that small businesses, including architecture practices need to pro-actively engage with HR rather than simply firefighting when something goes wrong. Good HR practices can help with business efficiency and profitability – they provide positive commercial tools that architects and other professionals can use to enhance their creativity whilst simultaneously increasing their commerciality. This book will provide simple, pragmatic and practical advice, anecdotes and template documents for a variety of common situations that arise in the HR employee life-cycle, such as succession planning and staff engagement. Using examples from a range of different architecture practices, readers will learn how these organizations have successfully approached the issue of people management, by implementing tried and tested HR models. Aimed at sole and small practices , this easy to digest book shows architects and other design professionals that HR can be a positive, profitable and even pleasurable tool for business success.

• Unique Structure: focussed around the employee lifecycle, including the points of interaction with the market place; delivered in small/short bite sized chunks for easy consumption by busy professionals
  
• Pedagogical Features: The use of key term boxes, chapter summaries, etc., all make the book more readable and useful. There will also be the use of graphics and illustrations to ensure maximum engagement from visually orientated readers
  
• Relevance: Case studies from the industry, illustrations that are specific to the architecture profession. Also, specific theories and models that reflect on the profession
  
• Pragmatism/commerciality: Focus on solutions and what architects can do to get the most out of their team and their business