Fermin Diez

Why a book on Human Capital Strategy? I have been speaking and writing about - as well as teaching and practising - HR for over 30 years now in at least 40 countries. I often find well-meaning HR professionals who want a "seat at the table". Just as often I find business leaders that don't know what HR can do for them - although they understand that people issues can make the biggest difference in gaining competitive advantage.

Rick and I went to lunch with Howard one day to talk about ways to further HR as a discipline in business schools. Both Rick and I lamented the lack of a good textbook to teach our MBA students how to be more knowledgeable about implementing strategy through people. Many textbooks teach HR matters aimed at HR professionals. We wanted to teach future leaders how to be better users of HR. Once the strategy is decided upon, how do you make things happen?

Howard, in his typical no-nonsense fashion, said: "Let's write one!"

So here it is. In the end, we had not only our students in mind but also General Managers who can benefit from taking a peek inside the often-quoted "HR Black Box".

As to the Remuneration Handbook, Mark and I have been friends for many years, and we share a few common passions, including Classic Rock, Red Wine and Compensation as a key tool in the HR arsenal. The idea to write a book together came one day when we were working together in Singapore. We think the result is a great reference guide for practitioners and students alike. In it, we put in all we have learned in our collective many years of teaching and consulting all over the world.

Then there was the HR Analytics Book. The motivation to write this one stemmed from the many HR Professionals and students I have met who tell me: "I am not good with numbers! I want to do HR because I am a people person", as if these two ideas, being a people person and being a numbers person, were polar opposites. This book aims to resolve this apparent dilemma by making the logic behind HR Analytics simple to grasp and, at the same time, equipping readers with the tools to do most of what they will ever need to do to answer business questions with people variables that drive HR policies and programs.

Big thanks to all our collaborators! And to our students, colleagues and clients!

For more information, please go to my linkedin page http://www.linkedin.com/in/diezfermin