Human resources continues to be a valuable function within organizations, despite the fact that some CEOs and other business leaders shrug HR off for a variety of reasons. HR is continuously battling against issues from all sides (as explained in the infamous “Why We Hate HR” article), but as someone who presumably works in HR or people-related departments, you know where you provide value. The trick is: how do you show value to people outside HR, and how do you prove it?

That’s why HRMToday is so great. There are so many good HR blogs out there and plenty more people who want to talk about the topics that can take human resources to the next level. At the same time, even with this little thing called Google (I just found out about it the other day. It’s great), it’s difficult to find all of the gems – and, when you have, to keep track of all the great content being produced.

That’s why the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) has taken on the responsibilities of HRMToday. We want companies to succeed, and we know that to do so they have to have a strategically focused, high-performing workforce. You’ve probably heard of us, and if you haven’t… well, now you have (OK, fine, if you want to learn about i4cp – and I hope you do – you can learn about what we do here).

I’ve been a member of HRMToday for quite some time, and am excited to work with each of you closely to make the best HR social networking site on the planet. I’d love to hear from you regarding ideas on how we can make HRMToday even better: what HR blogs are we missing that should be included on the site? How can we make the HR groups bigger and better? How can we get more people talking and sharing ideas?

Of course, at the same time, I want to think Laurie at Punk Rock HR, Lance at YourHRGuy.com and Jenn Barnes at HR Wench for creating this awesome website we have today.

Stay tuned… there’s more to come.

The rules have changed and blogging is not just for geeks with a knack for writing anymore. Employees who want to smear you, recruiters who don’t want to hire you, PR Departments who want to snow you – are all blogging; is HR missing the train? As an HR Professional and a blogger I see a myriad of missed opportunities for HR and Corporate Communications Departments when it comes to social networking.

Currently, the most common response to employee use of social networking sites, like Facebook, is to discipline them for misusing company time/resources. According to a recent ClearSwift Survey, “64 percent of U.S. companies deny their employees access to social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo”; and, “54 percent of HR decision makers have encountered or have had to discipline employees for time-wasting on the Internet”. Worst of all, almost a quarter of all HR Professionals have never even heard of YouTube, Facebook or Wikipedia. Now that’s just embarrassing.

There is a treasure trove of opportunity out there for folks responsible for internal public relations and it’s time to wake up and jump on the swiftly moving train that is social networking. With companies like CollabAndRate offering an online suggestion box, HR can now do what PR has been doing at places like Starbucks, Dell and Lego: capitalizing on Web 2.0 through the collection of new ideas and increased collaboration.

A properly moderated HR Department Blog can be a place where:

1) Employees can post suggestions and questions; and where employers can respond, in a safe, properly moderated environment.
2) Rumors can be brought to light, answered and addressed with clarity and consistency.
3) Awards, successes, human interest (the good stuff) can be disseminated quickly.
4) Challenges, disappointments and difficult changes (the bad stuff) can be communicated directly by company leadership to all employees without being muddled by poor communicators in middle management.

If done right, an HR Blog can reinforce core values, quickly address real concerns, promote transparency and increase trust all while minimizing mis-information; in a forum that can be anonymous (for the fearful employee) and properly controlled (for the fearful employer).

Close collaboration between IS, HR and the C-Suite is key in order for responses to be credible, accurate and timely. Like any other important business endeavor, it’s important that the proper resources and attention be given to blog development and upkeep, or it won’t be successful.
Good luck and happy blogging!