Acknowledgments
WRITING A BOOK TO ASSIST ORGANIZATIONS in developing a comprehensive set of human resources policies and procedures requires a great many considerations. Fortunately, I had the assistance of a team of HR professionals-—the advisory board acknowledged in the previous section—who represent a wide range of related knowledge and experience. Their combined wisdom contributed significantly to this book.
There are also four people with whom, over the years, I collaborated on the creation of policies and procedures for their organizations. Those experiences and their counsel provided an excellent basis for the initial development of this book. They are Sigmund Brody, Ralph Brown, Russell Glicksman, and William Pierce. These four individuals held corporate executive positions in organizations for which my consulting firm was developing policies and procedures. Although they do not represent the only organizations for which we did such work, each of them brought to the task an understanding of organizational realities and the desire to create policies and procedures that were flexible and addressed the needs of both their individual organizations and their employees. They did not contribute directly to the writing of this book, but their previous counsel, suggestions, questions, and insights gave this book practicality and relevance.
Also, I wish to acknowledge Rob Kaplan, who is both my friend and agent. As always, he made valuable contributions to my work because of his unique experience in the world of management books, coupled with an outstanding editor’s eye. Adrienne Hickey, AMACOM’s executive editor, has an unfailing ability to identify the professional needs a book of this type should be meeting, and her friendship and guidance was of considerable assistance, and Mike Sivilli, AMACOM associate editor, again made my manuscript more readable and useful. These three are colleagues in the best sense of the word and ensure that a project such as this is not only successful but also rewarding and enjoyable.
Finally, as I must in every book, I recognize and thank Ruth Long, who carefully reads and corrects my initial drafts.
John H. McConnell