For non HR people looking in, it may appear that all we do is paperwork, make processes and procedures, and hire and fire people.
Honestly, I have had an HR person or two who lives up to this stereotype….HOWEVER, let me tell you first hand, as an HR professional for over 5 years, who has a very large network of HR people…….. Our day to day problems could run the BEST Soap Operas!
Inter office conflict, training supervisors, interviewing strange characters, and doing our best day to day to prevent lawsuits…… our day to day experiences could make you stop in your tracks and say “NO WAY!!!!” And all I could respond with was……. “WAY.”
Soooo…..then the question is how do HR people make blogs, and tweets, and Social Media fun and exciting to read while also getting the point across on some pretty serious business?!?!?
HR: Getting and Keeping it Real!
1. Be Honest
When blogging it is important to put real life experiences into what you are sharing. It humanizes your story and gives the readers something great to remember. Obviously you want to remove names, and you would NEVER want to share anything protected under laws such as HIPPA, but most things that happen to us can be shared with other professionals.
2. Get to the point
Don’t ramble on and on about legal things, and lawsuits, regulations, and the Governments and what they are doing or not doing. Pick a topic an issue and discuss why it matters to your target audience. They rarely care about how something became the way it did. They always want to know how it will affect them and what they need to do to minimize the possible risk. If you think your reader may want to know more, than I would put links into the blog to read more.
3. Don’t be afraid to take a side
Many HR people are terrified to take sides, and make a stand on something, because heaven forbid….someone disagrees! It is okay to have an opinion, and to speak about it, as long as you do so respectfully and are open to differing opinions. Never shut someone down for not agreeing with you, but make a stand and create conversation. If you don’t stand for something it can be hard to create connection, because you may seem inhuman.
4. Don’t try to please everyone
So often HR people want to come up with a solution that is best for everyone. Don’t get me wrong this is a really nice goal…..but I have NEVER heard of someone who has EVER been able to achieve this! When you blog you will likely be discussing policies, legal issues, and new regulations which companies need to be aware of and will need to adjust to. People will be angry, people will be happy, people will be annoyed, people will be inconvenienced…… get over it! It happens. Share the important information, share where more information can be found, after that it’s to each their own.
Blogging and Social Media are all about creating connections and conversation. In order to do that you have to want to drive conversation, and at times create change. By following some of the above tips you will likely draw a solid following of people who read your posts, tweets, and blogs for the content AND for your own personal twist of story telling!
Opinionated Woman 