#Nextchat : just met it, and loving it!

Today I had the pleasure of getting introduced, randomly, to #Nextchat, and I was delighted!

Maybe it was the conversation that was taking place, or simply the positive spirit towards Human Resources in general, I am not sure, but one thing I am sure of .. this is some good stuff!

If you are not familiar with #Nextchat, let me first introduce that to you.

#Nextchat is a tweet session provided continuously by the We Know Next guys, hosting professional guests from the HR world, and allowing discussions on predefined HR topics.

It has been on, as far as i can tell, since February 2012 (sadly haven’t known about it since!), and has discussed several topics from social media in HR to work flexibility, female employment, HR Technology and so many other topics, such as the one i witnessed today being HR 2012 Performance Review .. and this was my eye catcher!

In fact, As a first impression regarding this session, the topic description was mouth-watering (well at least to me .. and i figure to any Human Resources professional who believes in modern HR .. another bracket: if you do not believe in modern HR and you’re in this profession, please change your career! .. close bracket ) as the session aimed at “SHRM @WeKnowNext wants to wrap up an inspiring year of HR success stories by hearing from you.  We want to know all about the brilliant ideas you implemented to become totally effective, completely strategic, and to positively affect your organization’s bottom line … We’re going to talk about how HR is changing the way we do business in the 21^st century” .. Love it ! (you can find full description here)

The #Nextchat session as I can tell can be qualified as a success. It hosted Eric B. Meyer the employment lawyer with The Employer Handbook blog, and came packed with 7 questions where I mention some highlights on some of the asked questions:

Q1. What was the biggest HR victory for you and/or your organization this year?  Tell us your success stories!

Some of the tweets were really enticing and mind opening, such as Eric’s comment as an HR Victory the coordination of “social-media outreach for #shrm12 | #nextchat“, or other tweets regarding hiring 50 people or so for organization (POFCareers).

Q2. What was the best use of HR social media at your organization (or that you saw at another organization) in this year?

One of the nice things to hear is what Jim Sullivan tweeted that “At a conference in the UK a live Tweetstream from audience members was posted while the presenter ran through slides”

Q3. What is the BEST and most valuable HR blog or blog post that you read this year? How’d it help you?

Several blogs were shared, this was a chance to learn about some important blogs in the HR world such as Eric’s own The Employer Handbook, or Switch and Shift blog which looks interesting, or the nice compilation by Nisha Raghavan. Other great blogs were also mentioned such as the all-time famous Blogging4Jobs, Laurie’s Cynical Girl, and many others..

Q4. Who did you meet in 2012 that really influenced you – and/or your HR career?  What did they teach you?

Q5. What are the biggest opportunities for HR in 2013? What will cause the biggest headaches?

I tend to agree with what was discussed over here focusing on social media importance by the different participants.

Q6. How can HR better avoid social media and other employment lawsuits in 2013?

Eric mentioned in this ensuring proper social media policies and employee training on proper usage so as to avoid lawsuits. It was in fact an agreement on the policies and the training.

Q7. How can HR pros connect and better support each other in 2013?

As Aliah D. Right mentioned, Social Media and openness to others, “don’t just ask questions, answer some too”

Finally I believe such communication among HR professionals is a great way to grow and progress in 2013; as such tweet sessions grow and bring in more active participants, #Nextchat might be the next big thing for any HR professional.. thank you We Know Next guys! Good work!