Review of A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management (Hardcover)

So much of a company's success today is dependent upon its profits, and few business components yield better earnings than a satisfied workforce. This is where Daniel Cassidy's book "A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management" (John Wiley & Sons 2006) proves an invaluable asset to benefits managers aiming to attract and retain quality employees.

An accomplished and sought-after benefits specialist in the United States , Canada and the U.K. , Dan's book spans the history of company benefit plans from their evolution in the early days of railroads right up to Sarbanes-Oxley, a legislative landmark that stemmed from the 2000 Enron fiasco. "A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management" smoothly clarifies the often complicated and shifting dynamics of retirement accounts, 401K plans, defined benefits vs. defined contributions, and other details and implications of employee benefit resources. Though geared for benefits managers, Dan's book also offers an up-to-date, informative resource for employees who want to keep an eye on benefit managers hired by their employer to keep an eye on their future.

"A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management" is Dan Cassidy's first book, although he has written and published extensively in professional and business journals. A featured columnist for Employee Benefits Plan Review and a frequent commentator on Wall Street Journal Radio, he also regularly contributes articles to such high profile financial, management, industry and human resources publications as: Employee Benefits News, The Handbook of Business Strategy, Pension & Investments, Benefits & Compensation Digest, Employment Relations Today, and many more. A sought-after speaker on the impact of SOX, retirement planning "megatrends," pension plan management and vendor selection and management, Dan has spoken to such prestigious audiences as the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, NEEBC (the New England Employee Benefits Council), the Society of Actuaries (SOA), both national and local, and many other venues.

Dan is President of Cassidy Retirement Group of Concord MA, specializing in retirement plan consulting services for qualified and non-qualified benefit plans of clients in the US, UK and Canada. He is chair of the SOA's Smaller Consulting Firm section and a standing member of its Education and Examination Committee Executive Group. He's also on the faculty of the Boston College Center for Retirement Research.

NOTE: This review also appears on my website www.thoughtleading.com



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Review of A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management (Hardcover)

So much of a company's success today is dependent upon its profits, and few business components yield better earnings than a satisfied workforce. This is where Daniel Cassidy's book "A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management" (John Wiley & Sons 2006) proves an invaluable asset to benefits managers aiming to attract and retain quality employees.

An accomplished and sought-after benefits specialist in the United States , Canada and the U.K. , Dan's book spans the history of company benefit plans from their evolution in the early days of railroads right up to Sarbanes-Oxley, a legislative landmark that stemmed from the 2000 Enron fiasco. "A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management" smoothly clarifies the often complicated and shifting dynamics of retirement accounts, 401K plans, defined benefits vs. defined contributions, and other details and implications of employee benefit resources. Though geared for benefits managers, Dan's book also offers an up-to-date, informative resource for employees who want to keep an eye on benefit managers hired by their employer to keep an eye on their future.

"A Manager's Guide to Strategic Retirement Plan Management" is Dan Cassidy's first book, although he has written and published extensively in professional and business journals. A featured columnist for Employee Benefits Plan Review and a frequent commentator on Wall Street Journal Radio, he also regularly contributes articles to such high profile financial, management, industry and human resources publications as: Employee Benefits News, The Handbook of Business Strategy, Pension & Investments, Benefits & Compensation Digest, Employment Relations Today, and many more. A sought-after speaker on the impact of SOX, retirement planning "megatrends," pension plan management and vendor selection and management, Dan has spoken to such prestigious audiences as the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, NEEBC (the New England Employee Benefits Council), the Society of Actuaries (SOA), both national and local, and many other venues.

Dan is President of Cassidy Retirement Group of Concord MA, specializing in retirement plan consulting services for qualified and non-qualified benefit plans of clients in the US, UK and Canada. He is chair of the SOA's Smaller Consulting Firm section and a standing member of its Education and Examination Committee Executive Group. He's also on the faculty of the Boston College Center for Retirement Research.

NOTE: This review also appears on my website www.thoughtleading.com



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Review of Managing Knowledge Workers: Unleashing Innovation and Productivity (Hardcover)

This is a marvelously creative and innovative look at the management and motivational needs of Gen X and Gen Y knowledge workers.Dr. Amar proposes a surprising symbiotic management approach to encourage fullest potential outcomes while contributing to innovation.

The assessments presented are unique and thought-provoking.

This book inspired me to rethink and to modify my approach to teaching/learning at the graduate business school level.



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Review of Secrets of the Executive Search Experts (Hardcover)

First, to be fair, this book is from 1999.So the fact that recruiting sites like monster.com aren't even mentioned can be blamed on the cruelties of time.

But the rest of this books (many) limitations are harder to forgive.The entire back half of the book consists of descriptions of a number of foreign markets that are on the level of a 5th grade research project: lots of data, most of which is irrelevant, and a few tiny cultural references.

The front half of the book is very pedestrian- I didn't see anything that isn't in any basic 'how-to' of recruiting, much less any "Secrets" of the "Experts".Since the people credited as the authors are from big-name companies I would guess that they had their underlings cobble together some bits & pieces from corporate publications, industry journals, etc. into a book.

Save your money.



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Review of The Talent Edge: A Behavioral Approach to Hiring, Developing, and Keeping Top Performers (Hardcover)

Ensuring that you've got the right candidate for any position is an art.Mr. Cohen does a fantastic job of educating us to the nuances of this art and if you're in the biz, you should read it.My only gripe - too pricey.



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