How Can We Enhance CiteHR? Share Your Ideas for New Features and Sections

Hi everyone,

Recently, I received an anonymous email (anonymous only because the person probably forgot to include their email in the feedback form) saying a lot of good things about CiteHR and the members but also added this:

"The site provides a lot of information and good discussions but it needs more than just that... needs more features and more sections..."

Planned Enhancements for CiteHR

A list of things I am working on currently, which will be implemented one by one over the coming months:

1. Advertising Area for HR Consultants
A revolutionary advertising area for HR consultants. A cheap and effective method that will let HR consultants gain exposure with minimum cost. The CiteHR website receives many search engine hits, and many among them are looking for consultancy services. So here's what we'll do: we'll let our members subscribe to the advertising section and create their ads. Now, suppose someone comes to the site searching for performance management; we'll extract about five listings from our members for that keyword and place the ads on the page. This will make it extremely targeted, and we are sure it will help create a lot of business.

2. Job Posting Section
We'll remove the job posting section and place a new area dedicated to human resource jobs.

3. Projects
We are not sure how successful this will be, but we'll create a section for people to post their consultancy requirements and let our members bid on them. (We would appreciate it if someone could send us a list of project areas because we're struggling to create a key list of sections the projects can be divided into.)

Members are welcome to add their suggestions here.

Regards,

CiteHR Admin

Well, I cannot say right now, but there is one thing I was searching for badly. I hope you can include that—tools for HR managers (forms, tests e.g., FIRO-B, etc.). I will reply soon in detail.

Hi twrmanish, There's a great site called blr.com which has quite a few good links to forms and tests. However, it's not completely free. I don't know the exact subscription cost, so you'll need to find out. Here's the link: http://blr.com [i]<link updated to site home></i>

Frankly, it will require an immense amount of resources and funds to create an offering like this, but maybe eventually we will be able to create some tools for online testing and surveys. Thanks for your suggestion. I'm looking forward to your extended list.

Thanks and regards, CiteHR Admin

Hi CHR,

A revolutionary advertising area for HR consultants. A cheap and effective method which will let HR consultants gain exposure with minimum cost. The CiteHR website receives many search engine hits, many of which are looking for consultancy services. So here's what we'll do: we'll let our members subscribe to the advertising section and create their ads. Now suppose someone comes to the site searching for performance management, we'll extract about five listings from our members for that keyword and place the ads on the page. This will make it extremely targeted, and we are sure it will help create a lot of business.

Answer: It's a great idea, but may I suggest something. Our site is not well linked with search engines. I found this site through a friend's reference after searching on many pages on Google for a good HR site. I suggest that instead of advertising, focus on building the content and depth of the site and improving linking to search engines based on HR issues.

A job posting section: We'll remove the job posting section and create a new area dedicated to human resource jobs.

Answer: Absolutely right.

Projects: We are not sure how successful this will be, but we'll create a section for people to post their consultancy requirements and let our members bid on them. We would appreciate it if someone could send us a list of project areas because we're struggling to create a key list of sections the projects can be divided into.

Answer: Good idea to start with, but let's not have a bidding system here. Let the members contact each other directly regarding costs, proposals, etc. This forum should serve as a platform.

To the above, I would like to add the following ideas/suggestions:

1. The section where queries and articles are posted should be divided into two parts to include more topics and issues. I suggest dividing the active topics of 15 titles, which all members access, into two subsections to accommodate space for thirty topics/issues. The reason being that the collected articles sections are not getting adequate coverage despite having substantial value compared to the queries/answers posted.

2. Add more links and data in topics like Performance appraisals, training, and development, etc. We need to strengthen the content and topics further.

3. When a person joins our site, they should receive an automatic welcome note and links to topics of their interest.

4. Seek periodic feedback from members about what they liked and disliked.

5. Invite HR professors and seasoned professionals to contribute value to topic discussions. For instance, on the issue of the scientific process in succession planning, there has not been much discussion or views on this critical and important issue.

6. Consider adding colors to your site rather than just being in blue shade.

Well, that's all for now.

Thanks,

Rajat

Hi Rajat,

It's always great to read your posts. And thanks a lot for taking the time to give us some feedback; it's appreciated.

You are right. Currently, we get just about 500 hits a day from search engines. We need to improve on that, but unfortunately, this site is extremely niche, advertising is very expensive (we have no funds; ad revenue goes mainly into hosting and buying some ads on Google), and there's simply too much competition. But at least we have been able to keep this website free. Most HR websites are fee-based.

This may help us generate some funds. But that can only happen once this site has grown to a much larger community. Hopefully, in a year or so, we will be able to offer a good return on job posting fees.

Again, you are correct in what you are saying. I've seen many such sites with bidding systems, and things often tend to become inefficient as members just try to bid lower, and the consultant seeker eventually ends up compromising on quality for reduced cost. So, NO BIDDING SYSTEM! But I think it should be a small fee-based access system; otherwise, everyone will be tempted to bid even without having the required experience or resources to complete the project. Maybe the first couple of months can be free so that consultants can judge if it would be worth it.

We do have a section dedicated to articles, but perhaps it's a little difficult to navigate. Your article on retention was also added to the library.

It's impossible for me to handle this right now. A day job, moderation of this forum, other personal development projects, offshore clients leave me no time to research on topics anymore. Guess we'll have to wait until more members start sharing their collection of material with the community.

I intend to do this soon. A page to give them an idea of how the forum functions and some good links.

Always waiting for feedback from members. Some do write in to suggest changes, and I try to implement them ASAP. Have installed a feedback script; will be running a survey soon.

I remember a long time back I wrote to many professors, and only one joined (from IIM A). Will invite more soon; have to start researching for their email addresses. If any member is reading this, please do send an invite to your prof or institute.

Many have said this to me, but I've seen it becomes more and more difficult to read with too much color (usability study). I think simple is better, though I will be reducing the clutter in the head section soon.

Many thanks and regards,

CiteHR Admin

Hi CHR,

Thanks for responding back in detail. I really appreciate it, and above all, thanks for bestowing upon me the title of Valued Contributor!

You are right. Currently, we get just about 500 hits a day from search engines. We need to improve on that, but unfortunately, this site is extremely niche, and advertising is very expensive. We have no funds as ad revenue mainly goes into hosting and buying some ads on Google, and there is simply too much competition. But at least we have been able to keep this website free. Most HR websites are fee-based.

Why not create a section for advertising for training companies, placement consultants, and consultants in niche areas for a fee less than that charged by other sites?

Regarding the job posting section: we'll remove the job posting section and place a new area dedicated to human resource jobs.

This may help us generate some funds, but that can only happen once this site has grown to a much larger community. Hopefully, in a year or so, we will be able to offer a good return on job posting fees.

Great, and I am doing my bit to promote this site in the e-groups which I have recently joined. In fact, I am drafting the second series of the Retention strategy, which would be published only on this site, and I shall post the links in the e-groups.

Again, you are correct in what you are saying. I've seen many such sites with bidding systems, and things often tend to become inefficient as members just try to bid lower, and the consultant seeker eventually ends up compromising on quality for reduced cost. So, NO BIDDING SYSTEM! But I think it should be a small fee-based access system; otherwise, everyone will be tempted to bid even without having the required experience or resources to complete the project. Perhaps the first couple of months can be free so that consultants can judge if it would be worth it.

Add more links and data in topics like Performance appraisals, training, and development, etc. We need to further strengthen the content and topics.

It's impossible for me to handle this right now. A day job, moderation of this forum, other personal development projects, and offshore clients leave me no time to research on topics anymore. I guess we'll have to wait until more members start sharing their collection of material with the community.

If a person joins our site, he/she should get an automatic welcome note and be given links to the topics of their interests. I intend to do this soon: a page to give them an idea of how the forum functions and some good links.

Periodic feedback from members about what they liked and disliked is always appreciated. Some do write in to suggest changes, and I try to implement them ASAP. I have installed a feedback script and will be running a survey soon.

Invite HR Professors/Seasoned professionals to add value to the topics of discussions. For instance, on the issue of the scientific process in succession planning, there have not been many discussions or views on this critical and important issue.

I remember a long time back I wrote to many professors, and only one joined (from IIM A). I will invite more soon, but I have to start researching for their email addresses. If any member is reading this, please do send an invite to your professor or institute.

Thanks once again, and it's a pleasure to be a member of this site.

Cheerio,

Rajat