Best of the Bloggers
Human resource Web logs are popping up everywhere. We scoured the net to find the best, most informative examples.
By Christopher Cornell
A year ago, one could count on the fingers of one hand the Internet Web logs, or blogs, that dealt specifically with human resource issues. No longer. Since then, the number of blogs looking at the various topics within the HR profession has grown noticeably. And that's a good thing, says Douglas M. Eisenhart, content editor at bostonworks.com's HR blog, which has been around longer than most other HR blogs.
"The more the merrier," he says. "One of the main purposes of our HR blog is to point beyond itself, well beyond our own site so we can include perspectives from around the Web. The more folks taking a look at these issues, whether from the employer or employee side, the better."
While not all HR blogs are worth regular visits, there are quite a few that offer informative news and commentary. So this seems a good juncture to highlight the best sites we've noticed.
How did we select the blogs below? Our criteria included:
* Anyone home? The blog should be frequently updated; any blog where the most recent entry is a month or more old wasn't in the running;
* Everyone welcome. There are some well-run blogs that focus solely on regional HR issues (for example, the smart and informative California Wage and Hour Law blog at http://wagelaw.typepad.com/), but the focus here is on blogs where the majority of posts are of interest to most HR professionals in North America.
* Not just press releases. We looked for blogs that did more than just cut and paste whatever landed in their e-mail boxes. The blogs we chose all have a voice, and a point of view.
* Who are you? We didn't select any anonymous blogs, but instead followed the theory that if you can't stand behind your work enough to put your name on it, we shouldn't recommend it.
Here's our look at the best of the HR blogosphere, broken down into categories they cover. For each, we include the name of the blog, its URL and a brief description.
We also asked each blogger for a short answer to the question: "What is the most troublesome issue HR executives face today?" Not all of them answered, but we've included the comments of those who did, convinced their words shed light on who they are and what they offer.
General HR Blogs
The HR Blog;
http://bostonworks.boston.com/blog/hr/
Bostonworks is the jobs section of Boston.com. This is a "group blog," with entries from more than a half-dozen industry experts, and it has quickly become one of the more prominent and reliable sources for HR news and commentary. It has an unmistakable Boston flavor, but also deals with many national issues.
Troublesome issue: Diane K. Danielson, executive director of the Downtown Women's Clubs and one of the group of bloggers writes that it's " 'Generation Y' employees (born 1980-1993) who won't tolerate many of the corporate values, policies and structures established by their baby boomer parents."
Workplace Prof Blog;
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog
. The author is Richard Bales, professor of law at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. Mostly a news aggregator, Bales covers the waterfront, giving you a quick read on the latest HR headlines.
Troublesome issue: "Health benefits. They're brutal to acquire and maintain, and HR gets blamed for higher costs, lower benefits and resulting problems with morale, productivity and recruiting/retention."
The HR Analyst Blog;
http://jasoncorsello.blogs.com
. The author is Jason Corsello, a program manager for the Yankee Group's Business & IT Services Decision Service. Corsello has his thumb on the pulse of the profession and has a common-sense approach to the issues facing it.
Troublesome issue: "HR is not about people. HR is about identifying the best talent, putting those individuals in situations to be successful and, ultimately, maximizing performance that can drive business outcomes."
Benefits
Benefitsblog;
http://www.benefitscounsel.com/benefitsblog/
. Attorney B. Janell Grenier authors this blog. The content is a little dry and technical, but it's jam-packed with info if your focus is benefits.
Managed Care Matters;
http://www.joepaduda.com
. Joe Paduda, the principal of Madison, Conn.-based consultancy Health Strategy Associates, is the author of this site, which takes an in-depth look at the health-benefits issues and is not afraid to take a stand on those issues. Worth a read, even if you disagree.
Troublesome issue: "Health-care costs continue to increase and there are no solutions on the horizon that anyone believes will really help. Employees are increasingly unhappy and so are CEOs."
Staffing/Recruiting
Hiring Revolution;
http://www.hiring-revolution.com
. A group blog from the team at talentzoo.com that looks at all angles of the staffing and recruiting jungle, with thoughtfulness and wit.
Troublesome issue: Ragan Jones, associate vice president of recruiting, writes: "Hiring managers with no sense of urgency, a lack of professionalism during the hiring process and zero understanding of the current hiring climate."
The CareerXRoads Annex;
http://www.erexchange.com/blogs/The_CareerXroads_Annex
. The author is Gerry Crispin, co-author of the book CareerXroads. Crispin is clearly conversant with the staffing scene, and offers in-depth analysis on what's happening within it.
Troublesome issue: "Being in a firm whose staffing organization is requisition-centric is like being on a patrol where you know only today's mission but have no reconnaissance data and no 'point.' The first time you know you are in trouble is when you hear 'incoming.' Your competition is having you for lunch."
Learning/Training
Eelearning;
http://eelearning.typepad.com
. Dave Lee, a learning professional himself, offers an in-the-trenches point of view to the world of corporate learning, and can discuss everything from learning theory to the latest technology.
Troublesome issue: "While continuing to build credibility with our internal business partners, learning and development professionals will have to change the nature of who we are and what we know to create a holistic, at-the-speed-of-business learning environment."
Internet Time Blog;
http://www.internettime.com/wordpress/
. Jay Cross, CEO of Internet Time Group and founder of the Workflow Institute, seems to be everywhere that e-learning events are happening--and is usually live-blogging the action. An intensely focused blog from somebody who knows what he's blogging about.
Troublesome issue: "It's what I call the deflation of time. More and more activity and information is crammed into every minute. Author Ray Kurzweil says we'll experience 20,000 of our current years over the course of the 21st century. This should trouble everyone on earth, not just training directors."
HR/Employment Law
A rapidly expanding blogging subcategory involves blogs written about legal issues, usually by lawyers (these are sometimes called "blawgs," though not all in the profession approve of that term).
Recently, many employers have caught on to the fact that "a blog done right enhances a lawyer's reputation as a trusted and reliable authority, and provides an effective Internet marketing presence," says Kevin O'Keefe, president and founder of LexBlog, a provider of professional marketing blogs to the legal community.
Here are some of the must-read employment blogs out there.
George's Employment Blawg;
http://www.employmentblawg.com
. Quickly becoming the "Instapundit" of employment blawgs, this site is run by George Lenard, a St. Louis-based employment lawyer, and Michael M. Harris, a University of Missouri-St. Louis HR professor and consultant. Constantly updated with knowledgeable commentary, the site is among the most comprehensive on the Web.
Troublesome issue: Lenard writes: "Attracting and retaining scarce talent, while satisfying both conservative employment lawyers and aggressive, results-driven executives, because HR must reconcile legal compliance and ROI."
Harris adds: "The biggest concern is the cost of full-time regular employees. Specifically, the cost of health insurance is the biggest headache, particularly when labor is often cheaper in other parts of the world (e.g., China, India, etc.)."
Jottings By An Employer's Lawyer;
http://employerslawyer.blogspot.com
. One of the longest-running employment law blogs is authored by Michael Fox, a shareholder in the Austin, Texas office of Ogletree Deakins. Insightful and unafraid to be opinionated, Fox offers a unique perspective on legal issues facing HR professionals.
Troublesome issue: "The biggest problem is in hiring and retaining enough good employees, a perennial issue compounded by a new generation of workers with different workplace expectations."
Strategic HR Lawyer;
http://www.strategichrlawyer.com/weblog/
.Northport, N.Y-based attorney Diane M. Pfadenhauer is the author, and covers the full range of HR legal issues in a plain, easy-to-follow style. She may also digress to other topics that interest her.
Troublesome issue: "Demonstrating (in the language of business) the value of the contributions of the [HR] function to organizational success so that HR can 'sit at the table.' "
All Deliberate Speed;
http://alldeliberatespeed.typepad.com
. The blogger is Donald Caster, a civil-rights attorney and former federal district court law clerk, based in Cincinnati. Caster's views are more oriented toward employees, as opposed to employers, but his analyses of cases are informative. Also, expect a bit of Ohio politics to be thrown into the mix.
Drama, Conflict, Despair and Victory at Work;
http://employeerightsatty.blogspot.com
. Long Beach, Calif.-based attorney Frank Pray also has employee rights in mind more than employer rights, but he finds interesting, under-reported cases, and his analyses are trenchant.
Troublesome issue: "The biggest HR problem is that people are more interested in being 'right' than in repairing and improving working relationships."
Others
Workers' Comp Insider;
http://www.workerscompinsider.com/
. A group blog, with posts from a number of experts at the Wellesley, Mass.-based consultancy Lynch, Ryan & Associates. The posts offer enlightening commentary, as well as comments about the workers' comp issues of the day.
Troublesome issue: Jon Coppelman, vice president, says, "The looming convergence of high-cost/low-benefits health insurance, coupled with growing ranks of uninsured workers and an aging workforce--recipe for impending doom."
Confined Space;
http://spewingforth.blogspot.com
. The author is Jordan Barab, who spent 16 years running AFSCME's health and safety program, and worked for OSHA during the Clinton administration. Barab dedicates his blog to the ongoing issue of worker safety, and literally tries to report every serious employee injury, as each one comes in from around the country. It's seldom fun to read "Confined Space," but for those charged with making their workplaces safer, it's valuable.
Troublesome issue: "Being designated the health and safety manager. Workplace health and safety is more than just convincing workers to 'be careful;' it's identifying the unsafe conditions in the workplace and figuring out how to eliminate or control them; a job for a trained health and safety professional."
Of course, this is not a complete or inclusive list, and the speed of change within the blogosphere means there are new blogs coming online all the time. It appears this is only the beginning.
February 1, 2006 Copyright 2006© LRP Publications
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