On the first day of school, as the children in Miss Lucinda's class introduce themselves and name their special talent, Jack wonders if he is good at anything.

Retention is becoming one of the most pressing concerns of employers worldwide. This book provides an overview of talent retention and defines retention and turnover in very specific measures. It explores the full impact of talent departure and most important it offers proven solutions to talent retention. The book clearly shows how to forecast the ROI of talent retention solutions and how to capture the actual ROI after the solution was implemented. This is a practical book providing an ROI approach to HR managers and practitioners.

Method Writing is a powerful approach to finding your deep voice and activating the creative process. Based on a series of concepts and exercises Grapes has used in his writing workshops over the last 30-plus years, Method Writing does more than describe techniques: it takes you step-by-step through a process that will empower your writing and make it unique.

The acclaimed classic novel and fan favorite—the far-future story of one man's quest to discover the truth behind a galactic war hero.

Fortune magazine editor Geoff Colvin offers new evidence that top performers in any field are not determined by their inborn talents. Greatness, he argues, does not come from DNA but from practice and perseverance honed over decades. The key to this is how successful people practice, how the results of practice are analysed and how they learn from their mistakes. This new mindset will change the way reader's think about their jobs and careers, and will inspire them to achieve more in all they do.

Dead End in Norvelt is the winner of the 2012 Newbery Medal for the year's best contribution to children's literature and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction! Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's way once his mom loans him out to help a fiesty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launced on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder. Endlessly surprising, this sly, sharp-edged narrative is the author at his very best, making readers laugh out loud at the most unexpected things in a dead-funny depiction of growing up in a slightly off-kilter place where the past is present, the present is confusing, and the future is completely up in the air.

The challenge with most companies' talent intelligence is that it is just not that intelligent. Having good talent intelligence—an accurate understanding of the skills, expertise, and qualities of people—is essential for the people decisions that all businesses make. Yet despite its vital importance, most organizations appear to be failing at this critical task. The reason lies in talent measurement: how companies produce their talent intelligence and then use it. Written by Nik Kinley and Shlomo Ben-Hur—two experts in the field—this book draws on the latest research to show how businesses can transform the value and impact of their talent intelligence to make sure they get the right people in the right roles. When that happens, all their talent management and development activities are built on an accurate understanding of the talent available to them. Filled with illustrative examples, the book shows how to overcome the stumbling blocks that stand in the way of successful talent intelligence and reveals step-by-step what organizations need to measure, how they can best do so, and how they can successfully implement measurement and use the results. As the authors explain, knowing what methods and tools to use is just part of the challenge: the bigger issue for many firms is ensuring they know how to use them and make the best use of the intelligence they provide.

Praise for Developing Talentfor Organizational Results "Elaine Biech brings together some of the 'royalty' of American corporations and asks them to share their wisdom in increasing organizational effectiveness. In 46 information-filled chapters, these 'learning providers' don't just sit on their conceptual thrones; they offer practical advice for achieving company goals and the tools to make it happen."—Marshall Goldsmith, million-selling author of the New York Times bestsellers, MOJO and What Got You Here Won't Get You There "Recruiting, developing, inspiring, engaging, and retaining your talent are critical to the growth and success of all organizations. Developing Talent for Organizational Results is a rich resource that can help you cultivate your most precious resource."—Tony Bingham, CEO & President ASTD and Co-author of The New Social Learning "Hiring and developing talent is the area that I am most passionate about. . . . Developing Talent for Organizational Results covers all the important topics, uses multiple experts, and supports learning with ready-to-use tools to develop talent in your company. It is like having a million-dollar consultant sitting on your book shelf!"—Mindy Meads, former CO-CEO Aéropostale and former CEO/ President Lands' End The best companies win with highly talented, highly committed employees—hiring and developing the best talent is essential. In Developing Talent for Organizational Results, Elaine Biech brings together the work of many of the most renowned learning providers in the world—all of them members of ISA: The Association of Learning Providers. Filled with a treasure-trove of consulting advice from The Ken Blanchard Companies, DDI, Forum, Herrmann International, Bev Kaye, Jack Zenger, and others, this book delivers the answers you want to improve leadership, management, and communication skills; address training, learning, and engagement issues; and shape the culture and care for your customers to achieve desired results.

Jack Hart, master writing coach and former managing editor of the Oregonian, has guided several Pulitzer Prize–winning narratives to publication. Since its publication in 2011, his book Storycraft has become the definitive guide to crafting narrative nonfiction. This is the book to read to learn the art of storytelling as embodied in the work of writers such as David Grann, Mary Roach, Tracy Kidder, and John McPhee. In this new edition, Hart has expanded the book’s range to delve into podcasting and has incorporated new insights from recent research into storytelling and the brain. He has also added dozens of new examples that illustrate effective narrative nonfiction. This edition of Storycraft is also paired with Wordcraft, a new incarnation of Hart’s earlier book A Writer’s Coach, now also available from Chicago.

"A business book with a difference: clear-cut advice, sharp writing and a minimum of jargon."Newsweek "Revolutionary! Surprising!"Business Week "Chock-a-block with examples of successful and failed marketing campaigns, makes for a very interesting and relevant read."USA Today