Why Is CiteHR Buzzing with Activity Compared to Other Professional Forums? What's Your Take?

Dear friends,

Can anyone explain why CiteHR is far more active than its counterparts - CiteOperations, CiteFinance, and CiteSales?

Why is there so much discussion, exchange of ideas, posting of information, and knowledge sharing happening in CiteHR?

Does this mean -

1. There are many HR professionals who are willing to share their knowledge more than other professionals?

Or,

2. HR professionals have plenty of time to chat on the website, whereas other professionals are really busy with their work?

Or,

3. There are many new HR executives who have entered the HR profession without having sufficient knowledge and ask fundamental questions through CiteHR? (Whereas other professionals do not have this need because they possess sufficient basic knowledge about their profession. For example, accounts executives might have completed CA or ICWA and therefore do not have questions about basics?)

Or,

4. There is no single nationwide course or professional accreditation body for HR, so HR knowledge is not available in consolidated form but scattered across?

Or,

5. HR professionals have more issues than others, and as the issues involve people, they are often sensitive. Therefore, there is no templated solution available for handling these issues, leading to discussions.

Or,

6. HR is evolving as a great profession in India. HR professionals are involved in a significant networking. HR professionals are more serious than others in making their companies competitive; they feel the need for excellence in organizational performance, competence, etc. Therefore, they are quite active in knowing what is happening around. They want to know the benchmarks and implement the best people management practices in their workplaces.

Which of the above is true?

Can you please react and respond?

Jeev.

Hi,

In my opinion, the following are the reasons why citehr is very active compared to its other co-sites:

"HR professionals have plenty of time to chat on the website, whereas other professionals are really busy with their work."

"There are many new HR executives who have entered the HR profession without having sufficient knowledge and ask fundamental questions through citehr."

To put it in a nutshell, HR executives have more time to chat on the net, they have less work than other executives in sales, production, etc., there are many HR executives who do not know the basics of HRM, so they ask fundamental questions expecting some tips from someone. They want tips from others for managing their company's human resources.

Also, many HR professionals want to show they are experts. So, they freely share the hard work (PPTs, PDFs, manuals, etc.) of others without any hesitation and think as though it is their original contribution.

Many times we can find someone asking:

'How to start an HR department in my company? I have been recently appointed to start an HR dept.'

This is very strange. How that company has appointed that person to start an HR dept., God knows.

Giri

Hi all,

It's really true that HR professionals carry less burden compared to others.

We are a team here. We are here to help each other and find out a solution. The site is designed for this purpose only. We are not here to discourage the new entrants.

I would like to cite the example of a child; they need our help at each step. Don't we guide them?

HR, even though always criticized, is the most powerful in the organization. Everyone wants to be in touch with them. There are many people on this forum who are not HR professionals, but they are still part of all the discussions carried on.

The purpose of this site is only and only exchange of ideas so that one can have an open view of the happenings around. What else does one feel can be discussed on this forum?

Whenever a fresher asks a question, why is it always part of criticism? For example, in the above mail, we as HR have no right to hurt anyone's feelings. The person never says that everyone has to reply. It's always our choice to reply to any post. Then why criticize the person on their specific post?

If we can respond to a mail and even the person is fully satisfied with the reply, then it benefits both parties. The responder gets to know their efficiency. What else do we require? Don't we solve the problems in our own company? Then why not help people who are exactly in the same place as we are?

Thank you.

Hi,

All the points are very true except point number 2 because the HR managers of the 21st century are also very busy like other professionals.

"LEARNING IS LIKE EATING FOOD. IT IS NOT HOW MUCH YOU CAN EAT THAT MATTERS, WHAT COUNTS IS HOW MUCH YOU CAN DIGEST." :oops: :oops:

Sweta

Hi all,

Swetha is really adept. Work cannot be more or less; it depends on the way we carry it out. Another reason could be that HR requires more communication and sharing of knowledge. Creativity and initiative are something that drives HR professionals. Moving on to other areas like finance, production, and manufacturing, they have standard ways of implementing tasks, so there is probably less scope for clarifications.

Regards,
Srilatha

Technology Communities

"Technology" is another sector with many vibrant communities online. It's not because they have "time in hand" but because the problems faced are very dynamic in nature.

Operations and Sales Training

Operations and Sales require specific skills and training material, so their knowledge requirements need carefully crafted material to help them learn how to maintain and grow in their fields. This is where companies like Salesforce and industry-specific information service providers come in—they provide important and relevant data that has been carefully crafted or collected. CiteSales and CiteOps are intended to be repositories of information and pointers to help create those structures.

Finance Skills and Learning

Finance also requires a very specific skill set and learning of the rules. There are a few good online communities that provide information and updates on the various legal requirements.

Regards

Why CiteHR Remains Popular in the Citeman Network

The thread was posted on 06-Apr-2007. The Chief Administrator of this forum has revived the thread after nine years, five months, and a day. Why is CiteHR popular in the Citeman network? Setting this central point aside, the noteworthy fact is the validity or cogency of the thread even after nine years. Has nothing changed in these nine years about CiteHR, or has nothing changed about the HR function itself?

CiteHR attracts a larger number of threads. The reasons for this are varied. The first reason is the sedentary job of HR professionals. In contrast, sales professionals are always on the move in the field. Production or operations may not be on the move, but they are always busy on the shop floor.

The second point is about the command over English. The quality of English of some members of this forum is egregious. Nevertheless, they can still be considered as figures among ciphers. For those from Production or Operations, their knowledge of English is still poor. They are plain figures, and this exactly inhibits them from contributing to discussions.

Thirdly, the queries about CiteHR are not necessarily about HR. Some belong to the erstwhile era of personnel management. Furthermore, a few queries are asked by non-HR professionals, mostly about notice periods, on-the-spot dismissal, etc. These are queries related to the HR field but asked by non-HR professionals. Their queries help the forum in increasing the count of queries.

Fourthly, it is about the liberal view of the Administrators of CiteHR. Many queries are non-HR related. They could be related to data entry projects, buying or selling something. One gentleman has been posting news items for years without contributing to any discussion. Those who are old-timers like me might remember how this forum was filled with download masters. One member had a strong obsession with downloading from websites and uploading here. This liberal attitude of the Administrators helped increase the number of posts, but the benefits or losses of transforming CiteHR into a super melange are intangible.

Fifthly, it is about the homogeneity of the HR function. Many HR activities transcend industrial differentiation. In contrast, consider salespersons. B2C sales are different from B2B sales, and both are different from concept sales. Selling services is yet another category. The challenges of a Production Manager in the steel industry and garment industry are completely different. Finding solutions to their problems is quite difficult. Finance professionals are known to be introverted. Their role is not people-oriented like HR. Therefore, expecting them to ask queries on Citefin is an exaggerated expectation.

Last but not least, there are service providers who have been using this forum solely to promote their businesses. They have taken advantage of the liberal attitude of the forum's promoters to the core. Additionally, a few others benefit from the forum to promote their blogs.

Whether it is about the size of the country's population or a virtual forum, it is not quantity but quality that matters. Compared with earlier years, today this forum is far more moderated. There is nothing wrong if quantity is controlled to enhance quality. Besides appreciations, if some bonus points are awarded to those who enhance the quality, it will enliven the essence of the forum.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar