Biblical HR: Applying Eternal Truths to Everyday Work

Endorsements

• Biblical HR is a tremendous resource for Christians in the workplace, regardless of their role, level, responsibility, or specific workplace situation.

• In Biblical HR, Brett Billups has done the hard work of showing us how to let the Bible instruct us on our work life, and how to think about everyday issues.

• Brett's years of experience, humility, and thoughtful references from God’s Word make Biblical HR a book worth keeping on your desk.

• While books on leadership abound with 20,000-foot-level platitudes, Brett Billups offers compelling guidance for tackling the most challenging issues in the workplace.

• Each of the principles in Biblical HR is based on Scripture and provides biblical authority. I recommend Biblical HR to anyone in leadership, especially those who oversee a team of people.

• Brett excellently organizes biblical truths to the everyday struggles in business, making easy connections for the reader.

• Think of Biblical HR as putting the soul back into how we should be treating people as HR leaders and companies as a whole.

• In the age of an increasingly complex world of work, the truths in this book are so timely, and yet the principles here within are so timeless.

Sample chapters

Each chapter takes a common workplace situation and works through it with Scripture and practical steps. Read 24 of them in full.

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  A Biblical View of Work

  “I don’t know what to do. I really need help.” These were the words of a newly promoted manager I supported in my HR role. One of her employees had been accused of stealing product from a retail store that they serviced.

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  Being a Godly Leader

  Countless books on leadership fill our shelves. They range from effective team leadership to the development of business strategy. There are books on how to lead non-profit businesses and volunteer organizations.

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  Being Interviewed

  Being interviewed for a new job can be one of the most nerve-racking work-related events we can experience. There is a tremendous feeling of vulnerability, as we are giving someone the permission to evaluate and even judge our wor…

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  Conducting a Performance Review

  The employee was shocked. She did not understand why she had received a poor performance review when she sincerely believed she had tried so hard and had done so much to service the other employees.

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  Conducting an Interview

  Searching for and hiring the right employee is difficult work. The costs of hiring a bad employee are impossible to gauge, and could result in bad morale, poor management, declining productivity, or worse.

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  Conflict Resolution

  During the night shift of one of our manufacturing plants, two volatile employees engaged in a verbal altercation that almost led to blows. The altercation escalated to the point where they were threatening each other physically.

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  Dealing with Difficult Co-Workers

  I once dealt with a co-worker who, in my opinion, was harsh, intimidating, and belittling to her employees. In response, they reacted to her out of fear rather than loyalty.

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  Difficult Boss Relationship

  I once worked for someone who, in my opinion, had no clue what he was doing. I considered him incompetent, aloof, and someone who expected others to pick up his slack.

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  Escaping from Work

  I certainly realize that escapism is more of a topic than a specific workplace issue, but after reflecting on this in my own life, I realized that it has implications that manifest itself in specific ways regarding the workplace.

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  Feeling Unappreciated or Under-Employed

  “I don’t get paid enough for this.” “Nobody listens to me.” “I could run this place better than they can.” “Why did he get that promotion instead of me?” Have you ever expressed those sentiments at work? I certainly have.

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  Handling Sexual Harassment Situations

  Sexual harassment situations and complaints in the workplace are especially serious and usually very complex. Throughout my Human Resources career, I have dealt with and investigated such issues as a plant manager who had an intim…

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  Inappropriate Speech at Work

  A major cultural challenge in today’s workplace is to live within the world without having it influence the way we live our Christian lives.

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  Lack of Motivation

  I must confess: There have been many times throughout my life and career that I have lacked motivation to work for my employer as diligently as I am called to do.

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  Losing a Job

  I once partnered with a fellow believer in what I thought was an outstanding business venture with tremendous upside potential. The business model included working with and soliciting top-tier professional athletes.

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  Managing Poor Performance

  In my Human Resources role, I frequently have the unfortunate task of either addressing underperforming employees directly or counseling managers to address employee performance.

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  Passed up for a Promotion

  Having someone else selected for a job or position that we desire is a very personal issue. We sincerely believe that we have the skill-set, experience, and talent to do the role and we desire to advance to higher levels of status…

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  Receiving a Good Performance Review

  I was given a positive performance review because of a year of dedicated work to achieving my employer’s goals and objectives. I was extremely proud of the recognition of this work.

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  Receiving a Negative Performance Review

  One of the hardest things for us to do is humble ourselves to the point of listening when people are pointing out our failures or inadequacies (or their perception of them).

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  Sharing our Faith in the Workplace

  Expressing our faith publicly is becoming more challenging during this current age, but the workplace itself is not the primary cause of the challenges.

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  Unethical behavior in the workplace

  There have been occasions throughout my career when co-workers or even managers have asked me to do something I considered unethical.

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  Work/Life Balance

  In today’s hectic work environment, it’s popular to encourage a certain separation of work and life that will supposedly allow individuals to have the best of both worlds without one negatively impacting the other.

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  Workplace Diversity

  After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches…

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  Workplace Stress

  It’s important to address the issue of feeling stressed in the workplace, because more of us deal with it than we care to admit.

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  Workplace Weariness

  When I began digging deeper into this issue of weariness in the workplace, I underestimated the ultimate path it would take. There are multiple definitions and levels of weariness.