Follow These Top HR & Recruiting Bloggers
One of the biggest digital developments in 2011 was the shift from creating and launching a social media strategy to actually having to manage it – and report results.
And if there’s a lesson from this year, it’s that these numbers rarely reflect the actual impact – and influence – with no real way to tell if those impressions are actually making an impression with the clients, customers and candidates who matter most.
Even if there are a million vendors and “gurus” (barf) out there who might tell you otherwise. Chances are, they’ve got just the product to do it.
In compiling the Monster 11 for 2011 list of Top HR and Recruiting bloggers to follow, we fell for the shiny statistics and cool tools which were emerging from the margins to the mainstream, taking a highly analytical and ostensibly objective approach to building our list of recommendations. After all, no one argues with numbers.
Which is really too bad.
Because as we spent another year listening to, and engaging, with the HR and recruiting social media conversation (and another year of writing posts in the second person), we learned that online, like in war or the workplace, leadership isn’t a matter of consensus.
History shows us that one’s number of followers remains a poor predictor of power – and social media is no exception to the rule.
Link baiting, on the other hand, continues to work wonders. Particularly when it comes to executing a content strategy – search engines, after all, rewards sites for spreading the love.
This is why it’s a little weird we’re doing our annual 3rd annual edition of second person writing about first class HR and recruiting bloggers to follow.
We’ve learned a few lessons along the way, namely, that metrics matter, but not as much as great writing, a unique voice, and something substantive to actually say about the issues and ideas involving the evolving world of work.
There’s a lot of noise out there in the social media space – and even the most complex technology can’t replace or filter out the most meaningful and interesting voices, as influence is inherently in the eye of the beholder.
And there’s nothing like social content to magnify the meaning of that timeless aphorism about one man’s trash being another man’s treasure.
The truth of the matter is that concepts like conversation, community and engagement are completely subjective. Like “quality of hire” and candidate scorecards, reporting remains an imperfect science at best.
Which is to say that the Monster 12 for 2012 is based on the most complex algorithm of all – personal preference and firsthand experience.
And while, judging from the numbers, there’s a good chance you haven’t heard of all of our top HR and recruiting bloggers to follow for 2012, that’s the point of our putting together posts like this in the first place.
Besides SEO, that is.
Monster 12: follow these top HR and recruiting bloggers in 2012
12. Paul Smith (@Pasmuz): Smith brings his work in the trenches as Director of HR at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to his blog, Welcome to the Occuptation, providing a first person perspective to the stories, and lessons, of everyday life in human resources.
11. We Know Next (@WeKnowNext): SHRM, the most powerful entity in HR, doesn’t really need to build community or create conversation – which is why their commitment to driving a dialogue through online outreach, driven largely by Curtis Midkiff (@shrmsocmedguy), is so commendable.
Their thought leadership blog, We Know Next, expertly managed by Mary Kaylor, mixes SHRM’s own human capital research and content with a running roster of some of the biggest voices in our industry.
10. Women of HR (@WomenofHR): According to the 140 characters allotted in their Twitter bio, Women of HR describes itself as a “community dedicated to the development of women in HR and business,” and the impressive line-up of contributors to this group blog shows that there’s no glass ceiling when it comes to social.
9. Joe Gerstandt (@joegerstandt): While we try to spread the love, no list of top bloggers is complete without at least a cursory mention of Gerstandt, who continually stands out as one of the most interesting, and insightful, voices talking talent today, on both his own blog and as half of the explosive Talent Anarchy team with Jason Lauritsen (who also has does some killer solo stuff).
8. Laurie Ruettimann (@lruettimann): As John Sumser of HRExaminer asked in the title of one of our favorite posts from 2011, “Why Isn’t Laurie Reuttimann on the top of every influencer list?”
We’ll mix things up by not putting her at the top of this list, but excluding her would be as crazy as her killer blogging on The Cynical Girl – an essential daily dose of entertainment and insight.
7. Lars Schmidt (@ThisIsLars): As Director of Talent Acquisition at NPR, Schmidt broadcasts some of the strategies and best practices he’s experimenting with as he builds the venerable brand’s employer branding profile.
On both his personal Twitter account and as the voice of @NPRJobs, Schmidt’s approach involves inserting himself in the community and conversation, openly offering expertise and experience with no agenda other than a dual passion for technology and talent.
6. Talent Culture (@TalentCulture): A group blog founded by Meghan M. Biro, TalentCulture lives up to its name by featuring posts and perspectives on the world of work and expertise around, as the name implies, talent and culture.
With co-founder Kevin W. Grossman, it’s also the host of #TChat, a weekly must tweet event driving digital dialogue between a recurring cast of HR and recruiting characters.
5. Charles Purdy (@MonsterCareers): Creating content is hard, but you wouldn’t know it through the efforts of Purdy – better known publically as the voice of Monster Careers and the brains behind Monster’s new job seeker blog, MonsterWorking.
Purdy delivers actionable, fresh advice about job search and career development that’s easy to understand, but never patronizing – a hard balance to strike, as every talent practitioner can probably attest.
4. Tim Sackett (@TimSackett): Speaking of prolific, Tim Sackett speaks volumes (literally) about the state of HR and recruiting on his blog, The Tim Sackett Project, and as an indispensable part of the Fistful of Talent line-up.
Not to mention a dozen other sites and sources. Good thing Sackett always has something to say – and offers a voice to which it’s well worth listening.
3. Glassdoor (@Glassdoordotcom): Finding compelling, shareable HR and recruiting content can be difficult, especially with an overloaded inbox and too many RSS feeds to possibly read. That’s why we appreciate Glassdoor’s blog, which mixes Glassdoor’s proprietary reviews and research with a highly selective, highly effective revolving roster of some of the industry’s leading vendors and voices.
2. Dr. Daniel Crosby (@incblot): The PhD isn’t the only credential Dr. Daniel Crosby brings to the table – he has the ability to translate complex academic concepts and theories into accessible, insightful advice on leadership and organizational development on the IncBlot blog and on Twitter.
1. TBD: We promise this isn’t a cop out, but the thing about the online recruiting and HR conversation is that it’s perpetually evolving, with new voices and new ideas emerging every day.
The process of discovering fresh connections and communities is one of the best (and most rewarding) parts of social media. With social content – and the online HR and recruiting community – expanding exponentially, we’re looking forward to a 2012 of finding, following and sharing the biggest ideas and innovations both here at MonsterThinking and on Twitter @Monster_Works and @MonsterWW.
Disclaimer: There’s obviously no way that this list is comprehensive. And while a common tactic down here would be to drive engagement by saying something to the effect of, “Tell us what you think!”
We presume, however, that the reader by now knows what a comment box on a blog is for. The formatting of this post is obviously finite – which is, if you’re not explicitly on this list, we’ll group you in the list at #1 (which was, to reiterate, in no way a cop-out).
And keep the good stuff coming.
Author:
Matt Charney is the Manager of Social Media Engagement for Monster.com, overseeing HR and recruiting focused content creation, engagement, community management and blogger relations across social media platforms as a member of Monster Worldwide’s Global Public Relations and Communications team. He also manages MonsterThinking.com, Monster’s Recruitment & HR thought leadership blog.
