From the category archives:

Reports

SHRM released its Future Insights Report on the Top Trends for HR according to SHRM’s HR Subject Matter panel.  This report highlights key HR-related topics and trends, as seen by subject matter experts from SHRM’s Special Expertise Panels. These trends are a valuable resource for any HR professional interested in seeing what issues HR subject matter experts believe will have the biggest impact on the workplace today and in the years ahead.

The report is broken down into key categories for HR, with each area having about 10 top trends. The trends indicate a promising revolution to the traditional role of  HR in the organization and how organizations interact with employees and HR’s important role in this change. Of note, however, is the distressing (but not all that  surprising to read) insight that technology and social media are seen as becoming more of a negative influence on workplace civility, manners, company information, privacy, business writing and etiquette. And their use is seen as increasing opportunities and avenues for harassment.

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Top Areas For Social Marketing Investment and Biggest Social Marketing Challenges in 2012

From Awareness, Inc
Creators of the Social Marketing Hub

The definitive social marketing industry report.

In December 2011 Awareness surveyed over 320 marketers from a wide variety of industries and levels of social marketing experience. This report brings to you those insights and benchmarks to solidify your social marketing strategy, grow your social footprint and engage with your audiences for maximum return. You will learn how leaders allocate resources, discover the top social platforms and social media management tools they use,  social marketing investment priorities, and the practices companies will adopt to ensure 2012 is the year of the social business.

You will notice some underlying themes in this report:

  • Executives and senior managers are looking for traction in three key areas – ROI, integration of social with lead generation and sales, and expansion of social presence and reach.

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The Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging and Twitter Usage by America’s Largest Companies
Conducted By: Nora Ganim Barnes, Ph.D., Eric Mattson CEO, Financial Insite


Due to the hugely influential role of Fortune Magazine’s list of America’s largest corporations (“Fortune 500″) play in the business world, studying their usage of new technological tools like social media offers important insights into the future of commerce.

In 2009, the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth released one of the first studies of the Fortune 500′s adoption of one of the best-known forms of social media – blogging.

This new study revisits and refreshes that prior in-depth study and expands to look at the Fortune 500′s usage of the most dramatically growing new social media site – the microblogging service Twitter.

Read the Full Article

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Historically, brand owners were able to determine the relationship that consumers had with their brand. Now, thanks to social media, consumers are the ones who increasingly define how the brand is perceived.

The law firm of Reed Smith, LLP has published, “Network Interference—A Legal Guide to the Commercial Risks and Rewards of the Social Media Phenomenon.” This guide highlights the benefits of social media, while giving you tips on protecting yourself against the inherent legal risks surrounding this phenomenon. These tips will help you:

  1. Understand the sensitive nature of information that flows through social media.
  2. Recognize the serious compliance and litigation risks that the collection and distribution of such information entails.
  3. Know your obligations under all applicable data privacy and security laws and have a plan to meet those obligations.

Visit the AAAA’s web site for more information and to download the guide in its entirety.

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Research commissioned by Microsoft in December 2009 found that 79 percent of United States hiring managers and job recruiters surveyed reviewed online information about job applicants.

Most of those surveyed consider what they find online to impact their selection criteria. In fact, 70 percent of United States hiring managers in the study say they have rejected candidates based on what they found.

Review the results of the survey to see how online reputations impact people’s lives. The research comes from interviews with over 1,200 hiring and recruitment managers and 1,200 consumers in the United States, the U.K., Germany and France.

The results of the research reveal what you post on the Internet and what people post about you can affect your professional life.

Monitor your online reputation

First, find out what information is already on the Internet and assess the impression it leaves on people.

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