HR Resources: Sifting the Wheat From the Chaff
By Erin Douglass
The available HR resources could bury an office park in paper and pixels. There are magazines, newsletters, books, journals, advice columns, websites, chatrooms, helplines, associations, conferences, seminars and certificate programs, to name a few. All eagerly await HR's careful review—and often your registration or subscription dollars.
Rather than relying on Eenie, Meenie, Meinie and Moe to separate the wheat from the resources chaff, take this efficient look at the desks and into the planners of your HR peers for clues to the best ways to get answers, get advice or get ahead.
The Pros Share Their Secrets
The following HR professionals wax straightforward on the resources they actually grab and use.
Joanie Pacheco-Anderson
HR Manager for Chronicle Books, a San Francisco-based publisher with 160 employees
- Harvard Business Review and Harvard Management Update. These monthly publications "give you a lot of information quickly," says Pacheco-Anderson.
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). She recommends the national chapter of SHRM for finding a policy or getting background information on tricky topics and the local chapter for professional development. Says Pacheco-Anderson: "Their classes keep you up to date—when you have time to take them."
- Workforce—both the magazine and the website, Workforce.com.
- Fast Company. Pacheco-Anderson subscribes to the magazine, even though "sometimes it isn't worth the paper it was printed on."
- The daily newspaper. The business section offers helpful tips, trends and updates.
Tom Mathews
VP of Human Resources for AOL International, the global arm of America Online, Inc., an Internet technology firm with 15,725 employees headquartered in Dulles, Virginia
- Periodicals. Mathews, whose internationally-focused job keeps him "on planes, trains and automobiles constantly," reads a raft of publications: The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, The Industry Standard, WorldatWork.org, The New York Times online—NYTimes.com, Business 2.0 and Fast Company. "I don't read Fast Company as much as I used to, though, because I can't lug around that phonebook on the road."
- Thematic conference calls. Several years ago, Mathews launched a global conference call for AOL's internationally-based HR heads. Every six weeks, 25 to 30 people representing 12 to 15 countries dial in at 7:30 or 8 in the morning Eastern Standard Time—"a bit early for the guy in Mexico, who's an hour behind us, and late for the Australians. But they'll do it," according to Mathews. The calls feature experts discussing particular topics, followed by Q&A sessions. "They help us all keep current internally," says Mathews.
Six months after the onset of these calls, SHRM rolled out a similar program. Mathews participates in these calls as well, which tend to be bigger—involving 50 to 100 people—and with a slightly different focus, since most of the participants work within the United States. - University of Michigan Business School's HR program. Two and a half years ago, Mathews took the University's intensive, two-week Advanced Human Resource Executive Program, which he chose for the global flavor that matches his own position. "From a networking perspective, the program was very important," says Mathews.
Jennipher Kirby
HR Manager for Loudeye Technologies, a 130-person Seattle company that provides tools and services for delivering digital content
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The organization's website and periodicals, says Kirby, "are right at hand and full of the information you need."
- Puget Sound Business Journal. Kirby relies on this local publication to learn about business trends, including which companies have let employees go.
- Certified Employee Benefit Specialist program (CEBS). Although she struggled with the program, particularly its lack of Real World, HR focus, Kirby recommends CEBS for higher level, more book oriented learning.
- Network of local HR managers. Peers from the local SHRM chapter offer regular help and support—a boon, Kirby says, since mentors have been hard to find in Seattle, "where everyone is so young."
Maureen McGraw
HR Director for Peet's Coffee & Tea, a Berkeley, California-based coffee roaster and merchant with 1300 employees
- Extension classes. McGraw got a Human Resource Management Certificate through the University of California, Berkeley and found it "pretty helpful." She also regularly takes classes through a nearby university, San Francisco State. McGraw describes SFSU's offerings as "four weeks long, very topical and taught by HR practitioners. It's a neat environment."
- The local SHRM chapter. McGraw attends daylong seminars thrown by the organization once or twice a year, although she finds she doesn't retain the information as well as that taught in longer classes. She also reads the organization's newsletter.
- HR Comply—both the newsletter and the website, HRComply.com.
- LawRoom—This membership-based website, LawRoom.com, provides customized answers to legal questions based on one's company profile.
- Mentors. Early in her career, McGraw had three mentors, all VPs of HR for whom she worked." Says McGraw: "I learned so much through them—everything from how to balance my personal and worklife to how not to lose my cool at work."
Ana Flores
Vice President of HR for Vorhaus, a 30-person public relations firm based in New York City
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Flores calls SHRM "an extremely good resource. You name it, you can pretty much find it there." She reads the organization's HR Magazine and HR News, along with its diversity newsletter Mosaics.
- Certification program. Flores went through the HR Management Certificate program at the University of Miami. "It runs the gamut of HR classes and is geared to those already in the profession," she says.
- Mentors. Two mentors have figured prominently in Flores' career: an HR consultant who taught in the University of Miami program, as well as the Director of HR at a previous employer, who, Flores says, "helped me learn the intricacies of HR in a very short time."
- Periodicals—Other publications on Flores' reading list include state-specific reports such as those from the local Chamber of Commerce and payroll provider Paychex's member newsletter.
Suzan Windnagel
Principal of Carta Consulting Group and an HR coach based in Oakland, California
- The Wall Street Journal. Windnagel picked up the newspaper at the start of her career and continues to page through it daily. "I needed to know what was going on in the heads of other managers—CEOs, CFOs—and what was important to them," she says.
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)—including the annual conferences, certification program, website and HR Magazine. At the local level, Windnagel attends meetings and volunteers for events. "This way, you don't become so insular. And this kind of participation can really springboard you in your HR career," says Windnagel.
- Websites—the Bureau of Labor Statistics at bls.gov, the Department of Labor at dol.gov, Dow Jones Interactive at DJInteractive.com and HR-focused sites including HROne.com.
- Books. Favorites include: Requisite Organization by Elliott Jaques (Cason Hall & Co.), Love 'Em or Lose 'Em by Beverly L. Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans (Berrett-Koehler), Leadership and the Art of Conversation by Kim H. Krisco (Prima) and Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman (Bantam).
John McGlynn
VP of Screamer Services—Screamers being company employees—for Screaming Media, a New York City-based content services provider with 291 employees
- Websites. To develop his professional moxie and keep up to date, McGlynn regularly visits a number of sites, including: HiringTools.com, HROne.com, SHRM.org, Salary.com and Workforce.com.
- The local SHRM chapter. McGlynn relies on the group primarily for networking.
- Silicon Alley Human Resources Association (SAHRA). The local organization draws most of its attendees from startups and meets every two months. "Even though it's smaller now because of the contraction of the industry, it's still a great networking resource," says McGlynn.
- Online watercoolers. Websites such as FuckedCompany.com and Vault.com offer places for workers to rant about employers, current and past. Says McGlynn: "These are interesting sites that provide a good way to take the temperature and hear from employees. But you definitely have to take what you read with a grain of salt."
Bridget Sanders
Director of HR for Red Whistle Communications, a PR firm with 30 employees located in San Francisco, California
- California Chamber of Commerce's Labor Law Directory. Says Sanders of this legal reference: "It always seems to have the right answers."
- Workforce—the website, Workforce.com.
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)—primarily the website, SHRM.org and HR Magazine.
- The local SHRM chapter. Along with the organization's bulletins, Sanders finds the annual conferences "good learning tools, particularly because you can choose the topics most relevant to you."
- Electronic Recruiting Exchange. This networking and information resource for recruiters sends a daily newsletter filled with useful tips.
- Monster.com. Along with copious other employer-focused offerings, the website publishes an HR newsletter. Says Sanders: "Every few issues, there's something really useful."
Dante Nuno
HR Manager for Berkeley, California-based Nolo, a self-help legal publisher with 100 employees
- California Chamber of Commerce—particularly the Helpline staffed by volunteer lawyers who can give you help right then and there.
- The local SHRM chapter—the website, NCHRA.org.
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)—the website, SHRM.org.
- HR mixers. Nuno calls these informal Brown Bag Lunch meetings with local HR professionals the "most beneficial" resource he has. Started by his friend and former manager, who called a few of her HR friends and invited them to her office to talk shop, the group gathers every two months or so to discuss what's going on at one another's company, as well as personally. Says Nuno: "You get HR straight from the horse's mouth."
Marsha Mellecker
HR and Benefits Manager for GAIAM, Inc., a Boulder, Colorado-based company with 300 employees that sells natural health, environmental and personal development products
- Employer's Guide to Record-Keeping Requirements. Mellecker received this hefty resource, published by the Alexander Hamilton Institute, an organization that provides products and information to executive managers and HR directors, after taking one of AHI's workshops.
- U.S. Employer's Guide. A handbook in a three-ring binder published by Summers Press.
- HR degree. Mellecker recommends the University of Phoenix program, through which she earned her degree, "because people actually working in the field teach the courses."
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)—the website, SHRM.org, and HR Magazine.
Margaret Warton
Senior Director of Human Resources and Finance for HR One, a website for human resources professionals and small business owners headquartered in San Francisco with 40 employees
- California Chamber of Commerce. Warton relies on the Chamber's print newsletter and website, CalChamber.com, along with its Labor Law Digest on CD-ROM.
- Websites. Warton tries to do as much as she can on the Internet, turning regularly to the Department of Labor site at dol.gov, the IRS site at irs.gov and, not surprisingly, the HR One site at HROne.com. Adds Warton: "I occasionally visit lawyers' sites to get an overview of a subject before digging into the nitty gritty elsewhere."
- Company law firm. Says Warton: "If I ever feel uncomfortable and feel that I'd do something that would put the company at risk, I'll call."