I am an avid fan of Michael Armstrong's Handbook series and have used them successfully with my CIPD classes for several years. This text includes current debates on whether traditional performance management systems add value to an organization and discusses in depth the movement towards 'performance leadership'. Armstrong has included distinct sections on hot topics such as managing the performance of home and international workers that my students at all levels will find useful, particularly for the latest CIPD suite of courses. I will be recommending this text to my students and predict that I will see many references to it in their future assessments.

The 7th edition confirms Michael Armstrong's standing as the preeminent author in the performance management field for both HR practitioners and business students. He relates evidence-based analysis of performance management principles and processes to their utilization by managers who wish to become 'performance leaders' in today's organizations. Armstrong identifies significant challenges to traditional approaches to performance management, together with ways of addressing these and evaluating performance management's enhanced contribution. The new chapter on managing the performance of homeworkers is particularly welcome given the increased emphasis on homeworking following the Covid-19 pandemic.

As an academic teaching in the field, backed with years of relevant industry experience, Armstrong's Handbook of Performance Management is both a professional practitioner and academic toolkit, resourced with a complete suite of comprehensive tools and techniques managers and leaders need in today's business landscape. I am confident that any student pursuing to acquire the competencies of a performance leader will certainly experience the promises that the book seeks to achieve. It is definitely a valued book that will have a long tenure in the collection of the successful leader.