HR Examiner's List of Top 175 Influencers

Lists are fun. They are fun to read and can be fun to create. Lists can also be fun to be on if it's a good thing. (Who wants to be on the 10 Most Renowned Dog Abusers List?)

Lists can also demonstrate popularity. But they can also demonstrate that you're doing something right.

John Sumser and the folks at HRExaminer.com recently created a list of top online influencers within the HR world. HR Examiner is a "magazine focused on the people, technology, ideas and careers of senior leaders in Human Resources and Human Capital." They take the approach that, "There is no one-size-fits-all HR approach. Each company is different. We show you the people, systems and products that are changing the places we work and how we think about work."

To create the list, they recently searched for the most popular topics in online discussions within the HR industry. Of 125 subjects, here are the Top 10 that had the highest level of activity in the past six months.

•     Alternative Dispute Resolution
•     Wage Garnishment
•     Service Level Agreement
•     Unemployment Compensation
•     Career Podcast
•     Workplace Bullying
•     Voluntary Benefits
•     Americans With Disabilities
•     Exit Interview
•     HR Certification

Additionally, they searched to see who was paying the most attention to the top ten topics. Essentially, who is in the middle of things representing the pulse of the industry. Of the thousands of blogs and tweeters involved in HR online conversations, they created a list of 175.

This is not the first time I've been on a list. But as I thought about what they were attempting to do and how they created the list, I thought landing #71 on this list was something to be proud of. Like any statistical approach, their method behind the list is arguable. (One can read about the creation and criteria of the list here and here.) Nevertheless, I created a list as to why I'm proud to be on their list.

1. Online, I attempt to be informative and helpful with current HR issues.
2. I devote a good amount of time contributing to the online "conversation."
3. I wasn't chosen because I'm so lovable.
4. I was chosen because of the online work I've been doing.
5. It feels like I'm doing something right.

No one should think if they're not on this list that they're doing something wrong. But for the people who are, no matter where you landed, it says that your time spent is valuable and you're also doing something right.

Congratulations to all for doing the work and keeping the conversation going.