Best Trench HR Blog Posts of 2012

When I started down this blasted blogging path almost three years ago, there were three things that were particularly tantalizing about the prospect. First: Catharsis! I was going through a particularly challenging time with my current employer and it was a good way for me to vent. Second: I realized I wasn’t as deeply connected with my profession as I wanted/needed to be. I saw blogging as an opportunity to grow my network…and to learn a whole lot from it. Third: After spending some time in the social-media-sphere I noticed the dialog, debate, and direction were all one-dimensional. There was a particularly important voice missing from the community: the voice of the real practitioner – the voice of the professional who spends the preponderance of their time on the ground, in the trenches, driving the workforce strategies, employee-centric operations, and is generally focused on molding the career experience for an organization. Trench HR – it’s what we’ve (I’ve) come to call this voice.

The fact that I’ve even called this out doesn’t please every one. Some call me divisive. Others don’t like the term “Trench HR” because they believe it makes the profession sound too gritty, more tactical than it should be, less polished than it is. That’s fine – think what you will. I actually believe there’s something quite celebratory about engendering an entire population to speak up. And speak up they certainly have. We now hear far more (good) stuff from Trench HR in the social realm. I have two Twitter lists alone which comprise close to 1,000 such Tweeps. We now have more (really good) Trench HR bloggers than we’ve ever had. Several years ago, the number of Trench HR bloggers on Fistful of Talent’s list of Top 25 Talent Management Bloggers was nominal. This year, a Trench HR blogger took the #1 spot on the list. Bang!

I will continue to wave the Trench HR banner because I think it matters. And as we’ve reached the 50-yard line of 2012, I’d like to start a living/breathing list of the Top “Must Read” Trench HR Blog Posts of 2012. We’ll cultivate it over the next 6 months. I hope you’ll contribute to it – add and endorse certain posts.

This will be a crowd-sourced effort – no funky algorithms behind the scenes. I’ve added a few to get the conversation started…KEEP THEM COMING!