How To Stay Current With #HR Changes – Ask HR Bartender

Sharlyn Lauby

5 Jan 2014

With the pace of change in business and the workplace, today’s question is a common one:

Good afternoon! I work as a HR Generalist in Texas. How can I keep myself updated with HR changes? Who can I follow on social media? Thanks!

I know how hard it can be to stay on top of changes happening to the profession. Whether it’s a compliance issue like the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or a workplace trend such as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies, professionals need to keep current. Our senior leadership teams depend on us to know what the next “thing” will be and have an opinion about how it can impact our culture.

Here are some places I rely upon to stay current with human resources trends, issues, and changes:

Professional Associations. I’ve been a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) for over 20 years. The information on the website is well worth the cost of membership. One area I use regularly is the legal issues and public policy section, where I can reference regulatory and judicial filings pertaining to HR.

If your focus is training, be sure to check out the resources offered by ASTD and for compensation professionals, visit the WorldatWork website. And don’t forget these organizations have local chapters you can also connect with for information.

HR Product and Service Providers. Companies that provide products and services to the human resources profession are a wealth of information about what’s happening in the field. Many vendors consider it to be part of their offering to conduct research and distribute relevant data about trends. They have the manpower and financial resources to dedicate to the effort. And they are hoping to put it in the hands of human resources professionals.

So when a HR services or product provider has a whitepaper or ebook, download it. Benefit from the information that they’ve spent the time and effort to prepare. It helps us do our jobs better.

Blogs and Social Media. Many talented individuals share their knowledge and experience on blogs and various social media outlets. Couple ways to find blogs and social media connections that might be valuable for you:

Check out blog carnivals. These are compilation posts, usually tied to a theme. For example, there’s an Employment Law Blog Carnival each month that showcases content related to employment law.
Lists. These are created for many reasons but they do provide readers with the opportunity to check out new sources for information. You can check out some recent ones here, here, and here. And to find some great folks on Twitter for 2014, look here. Careful though, not all lists are good ones. Make sure the list creator knows their stuff!

There’s so much information available to us. It’s important to have a number of “go-to” resources. Otherwise we can waste a lot of time. Where do you go to get the best information? Leave your resource in the comments. We can start a resource list!