5 Hot Blogs For Online HR Management Degree Students

If you're a student in an online HR management degree program, you need to check out these blogs to stay up-to-date on critical HR issues and trends.

The job outlook for HR managers is growing at a faster-than-average rate and the issues HR managers need to be up-to-speed on are changing just as quickly.

If you're a student in an online human resource management program, then you're taking a great first step toward an exciting career helping people and organizations grow and become successful.

Equally important to obtaining a degree, however, is staying current on hot topics in HR management. Doing so will give you a leg-up on the competition when you search for a job after graduation – or when you are hiring or retaining workers for your employer.

Reading industry blogs is a great way to keep up-to-date on industry happenings and trends. We've rounded up five HR management blogs with distinct personalities and perspectives that you might want to check out. We've also highlighted a few of the posts on each blog that address topics you won't want to miss as complete your degree and enter the field.

HR Daily Advisor
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Adam Shoemaker, associate professor of management at Saint Leo University, recommends this blog as a good resource for general and trending HR info. "But you'll need to get past the ads to access the site's quality content," he says.

The blog covers topics such as strategic HR, HR management, training, employment law, hiring and recruiting, HR policies and procedures, compensation, and communication, along with some "strange but true" HR trending topics. The blog is hosted by Business & Legal Resources (BLR), a company that helps U.S. businesses simplify compliance with state and federal legal requirements.

A few interesting posts are: 

• "The 9 Essential Skills of Human Resources Management – How Many Do You Have": Organization, negotiation, and communication are just three of the skills highlighted here. Read the post to discover why these skills and others are so important to HR professionals and see if your skill set encompasses these nine essential skills.

• "Hiring New Grads: Prepare to Disappoint": A new report highlights how college grads' expectations differ from working-world reality, including in areas of salary expectations. This post explains report findings and offers links to more details.

• "Should You Be Concerned About a Candidate's Social Media Presence?": Learn how employers today use social media to screen job candidates and how this has evolved over the past few years.

• "5 Strategies That Bring Balance to Your Work/Life": As you enter the workforce, the time-management tips highlighted in this post can help you identify your priorities each day and make the most efficient use of your time. Be sure to click on read more to access the tips.

HRcapitalist.com
www.hrcapitalist.com

This no-frills blog is written by Kris Dunn, the chief human resources officer for Kinetix. It offers his perspective on topics such as benefits, books, branding in HR, communications, compensation, culture, employee relations, leadership, learning and development, retention, talent, and more.

A few helpful posts are: 

• "When Should I Mention the Vacation I'm Planning in the Interview Process?": In this "Ask the Expert" post, the blogger answers this question from one of his readers with six tips for navigating this tricky job interviewing situation.

• "Does Apologizing Make You Look Weak as an HR Pro?": Not all things are in your control as an HR professional. This post encourages you not to apologize for those things, but to explain why things are the way they are and what needs to be adjusted as a result.

• "Flat Results + Doing the Same Thing = More Flat Results": If a proven way of doing things no longer produces results, this blogger recommends looking at the changing environment around you, and then changing what you're doing.

• "CCs, Email, and Your Organization: It Doesn't Always Mean What you Think it Means": Email etiquette and expectations vary by organization and by manager. This post takes a look at how information flows and work occurs in your organization—and how the CC line in an email reflects that.

 
HRexaminer.com
www.hrexaminer.com

Company leaders at the California-based Human Resources and Human Capital author this online magazine. It covers topics such as people, ideas and careers, but focuses a majority of its content on technology topics. In addition to reading blog posts here, you also can listen to weekly radio segments about HR topics.

Check out these posts:

• "Refounding LinkedIn": With Microsoft's recent acquisition of LinkedIn, new questions are being raised about how effective this tool is for recruiting. Whether you'll be using this tool in your HR job or using it to find a job, this post is an interesting read.

• "HR and Security": This post discusses how privacy and security are on their way to becoming central issues in HR.

• "Meet Purpose, the New Black": After the Great Recession in 2008, companies focused on engagement campaigns – asking employees to do more with less. This blogger, however, says it's time to focus on purpose campaigns – helping employees understand their function at the company and how it contributes to the greater good.

• "Five Links: Accelerating Change": Blog post author John Sumser highlights five areas where change is on the fast track and provides links to more information about those areas.

HRzone.com
www.hrzone.com

This UK-based site has an international flair and covers hot topics in business and culture related to leadership, engagement, performance and talent. The posts are written in a straightforward, conversational style – a kind of a virtual water cooler for HR professionals.

Recent post highlights:

• "Things Managers Do That They Think Are Good for Motivation But Actually Suck": The headline here couldn't be anymore straightforward. The author talks about what not to do to motivate employees and provides examples of motivating on a more individualized basis.

• "Shoring Up Employee Relations in the Brexit Aftermath": While this post focuses on addressing employee concerns in the workplace in the UK, following the recent Brexit vote, its advice on how to reassure employees during any period of uncertainty is quite timely.

• "How to Make a Multigenerational Workplace Work": No matter where you work, you'll likely be in an organization with employees from multiple generations. Read this blogger's perspective on how creating a culture of fun in the workplace can bring the generations together.

• "Are Female Senior Managers Really Paid Less?": Pay inequality is a hot topic in the in the UK as well as the United States. This post highlights new research on inequality in pay for male and female managers at UK companies. The post also covers how maternity leave can impact a woman's salary.

• "6 Things You Should Be Doing With Your Workforce Data": According to this post on HR analytics, while many organizations have lots of "people" data available, they've been slow to use it to gain value and insight into their workforces. Read about six ways to effectively use your company's workforce data.

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Blog
blog.shrm.org

Saint Leo's Dr. Shoemaker says this is a good blog for professionals who want to stay on top of trending topics and current events in human resources management.

Helpful reads include:

• "The Skill Sets Needed for the HR Professional of the Future": This post describes four skill sets—being a storyteller, a futurist, a team player, and a networker—that will be critical to the success of HR professionals in the coming years.

• "Six Steps to Successfully Begin a Career in Human Resources": This infographic shows the path that can get you from student to graduate to successful HR professional.

• "HR Networking: Pay It Forward": After attending an HR conference or any event where you network with other HR professionals, consider how you can bolster your network. This post suggests several ways to interact with new connections in positive and meaningful ways after events are over.

• "Wow! Why Corporate Cultures Are So Hard to Change": This blog post explains how difficult it can be to change corporate cultures and why. It's a great post to read to keep culture change in perspective.

• "10 Ways to Make Your Employees Happy": Happy employees often mean higher productivity and less staff turnover, so check out this list of 10 things your company can do to make employees happy.

Are there any other blogs you would recommend for online HR management degree students?

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