#Hashtag - You're It!

Guest post from Kelly Joffe of Cliff Ross Design

Hashtags: we know that you have seen them all over the place, and maybe you use them yourself. They have played a significant role on Twitter and now they are starting to pop up all over Facebook. But what does it really mean to use a hashtag – what purpose does it serve? Far beyond #BeiberFever, hashtags are now playing an important role in online branding  for companies.

Hashtags originated as a conversation creator for specific topics on Twitter. Lets say someone was at the beach, enjoying the day with their family and posted a Tweet about it. If they used the hashtag #family or #BeachDay, it would start or join a conversation that has already been created about those topics. So when the hashtag is clicked on, you can view all the other “tweets” about that subject. Maybe other people in your area are enjoying a day at the beach with their families. Hashtags are just another way to connect people who are doing or talking about similar things. Now Facebook is utilizing hashtags as an additional way for people to connect and share information.

Recently we’ve been seeing how hashtags can play a key role in promoting a brand online. Similar to the way people use hashtags to connect with one another, hashtags can be used as a way to connect people to a brand. Lets use Red Lobster as an example. If someone is out to eat at Red Lobster and they post a status or Tweet about being there, they could use #RedLobster in their post. Now anytime #RedLobster is searched, everyone who has made a post about it will show up. This starts to create a buzz around a brand, and becomes a way for people to connect to the brand and help share the brand’s message.

Brands can also develop their own hashtags that are specific to their business. For example, McDonalds uses the hashtag #ImLovinIt – this is their brand slogan, which they have also developed into a hashtag. Now anytime that hasgtag is used, it’s associated with the McDonalds brand.

Social Media is a landscape that is constantly changing and evolving. If you are going to take part in this social environment – it’s important to stay current with the trends. Social Media will play a crucial role in business marketing in the future, just as it’s starting to do now. Hashtags aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, but how we use them will certainly evolve over time.

Here at Cliff Ross, our job is to keep up with the changing landscape that is Social Media. We are happy to answer any questions and help guide your business through the world of social media marketing. Give us a call at 610-829-1333.

Guest post from Kelly Joffe of Cliff Ross Design

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Rentschler Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram-Chevrolet Celebrate 40 Years with a Chamber Mixer!

Greater Northern Lehigh Chamber and Carbon County Chamber and Economic Development Present:

“Rentschler Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram-Chevrolet Mixer”

WHEN: Tuesday, June 11, 2013

WHERE: Rentschler Chevrolet and Rentschler Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram
     Route 873 (255 North Walnut Street) Slatington, PA 18080

TIME: 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

COST: Event is FREE


Details:

You are “PRE-APPROVED” to join Rentschler in celebrating their 40th Anniversary in Slatington. Take a tour and celebrate the grand opening of the two newly remodeled and renovated showrooms and service departments.  Food and beverages will be provided, and be sure to bring plenty of business cards for networking!

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Win 2 FREE Plane Tickets During The Chamber's May Signature Networking Event on May 16

Are you looking for an easy summer getaway? Lehigh Valley International Airport will be offering two free tickets to Myrtle Beach during the Chamber's Signature Networking Event on May 16.

The Chamber and Lehigh Valley International Airport to host Signature Networking Event on Thursday, May 16th, from 5 - 7 p.m. This event will be a chance to enjoy “business after 5”, while networking with fellow Chamber members. 

All attendees will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win two FREE tickets on Allegiant Air to Myrtle Beach! 

Immediately prior to the networking event, there will be a new member orientation from 4-5 p.m., open to Chamber members who wish to review their member benefits.

When: Thursday, May 16, 5 - 7 p.m. 

Where: Lehigh Valley International Airport, Main Terminal, 2nd Floor. Park in Short Term Parking and bring your parking pass to get validated.

Pricing Information: Free to Chamber Members, $10 for Non-Members 

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Why HR might refuse to network and is it important to do so within your organisation?

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

Judith Germain returns today to follow up her last post to focus on one of my favourite topics, networking. Judith asks is it really important to do so? (Ed Scrivener)

Why HR might refuse to network and is it important to do so within your organisation?

To most internal HR professionals the term ‘networking’ is assumed to relate to the activity of external consultants who need to network to find work. It isn’t something that ‘internals’ think they do or indeed need to do. This is a dangerous assumption especially in a recession where ability to do your role well is an underlying expectation of competency. Internal professionals need to be far more than just competent; the ability to build and nurture relationships, have advocates, build reputation and credibility, demonstrate openness and trust and have fantastic interpersonal skills is a must.

Everything that a good professional networker takes for granted.

It’s a shame then that one of the reasons that HR is deemed as not credible is because it can fail miserably in its ability to network. Technical competency is hardly ever the issue.

Why is it then that HR is reluctant to network?

There are a myriad of reasons why there may be disinclination to network especially outside the HR department. Sometimes it may be due to stepping outside comfort zones especially in what appears to be closed environments – where it’s all about business and not about the people. When HR is deemed by managers to be all about policing, best practice, training plans and the art of saying no – it can feel safer to stay within HR rather than venture outside. If the HR professional is all about people and less about the workings of the business then they may feel that they are unable to truly converse with their senior colleagues in matters that interest them.

Professional fear may dissuade networking

Sometimes the need for HR to hold close the best interests of the company and the people can lead to a situation where it is unnecessarily aloof from the rest of the business. There may be a concern that it would be unprincipled to mix too freely outside the department – perhaps due to fear of accidentally disclosing something that they shouldn’t all becoming too close to people that you may be disciplining in the future.

Fear of seeming unprofessionally may dissuade networking

Sometimes there is so much work to do that leaving the office, just to network, can be seen as a waste of time and valuable resource. Or conversely the need to build good relationships with the management team can mean that there is little interaction with the other employees which can cause disharmony or lack of insight on how they are feeling about the company and the management team.

Lack of time can dissuade effective networking

The benefits of networking

There are a number of reasons why HR professionals should network within their organisation. These include the following:

• Increased ability to do your job well
• Ability to build reputation and credibility
• Gather advocates
• Facilitate trust

A good corporate networker can sense the ‘temperature’ of an organisation before the evidence filters through official channels. They are able to facilitate cooperation and collaboration across departments through their ability, amongst other things, to be the conduit to information and understanding of behaviour. The networker’s excellent interpersonal skills enables them to assist others meet their objectives, build a good reputation for themselves and enable the business to increase their performance.

When you network well within your organisation you have the benefit of enhancing your career. This will of course depend on your view of networking and how you network. Those that only network with those that believe will be useful may gain some short term benefits but in the long term may find themselves short of advocates. A lack of authenticity and / or integrity has a habit of becoming transparent, and is very unattractive towards most people.

Good and effective professional networkers, network to be remembered. They network to build a reputation and use it as a way of demonstrating their expertise. They network to help others and have an open and transparent nature.

These are attractive traits and a good way to drawing advocates towards you.  Advocates are individuals who are evangelical in promoting you and in the corporate world this means they are likely to be your biggest champions. This of course better enables you to facilitate change in a more conducive manner, thus ensuring that the company can meet its objectives.

Building reputation and credibility is an integral part of your corporate networking strategy. Your strategy needs to incorporate your personal brand, and how you demonstrate it. To be truly effective it is important to create a brand that is trustworthy, and consistent no matter where it is encountered. For example, this could be in your writing (eg policies or training programmes), in the training room, in meetings as well as in 121s.

The execution of your network strategy will be in line with your corporate identity and establishes you as an expert in your niche. You will not be able to hide your intentions or personality for long periods; therefore it is better to demonstrate your integrity for better results.

Networking is not a dirty word and can do wonders for your company’s performance and your career. There are many ways to network throughout your organisation, but the method that will work best is the one that is value driven, has integrity and is open and transparent. Enabling others to succeed as well as having a strong reputation and credibility will enable you to attract advocates, thus enabling you to become more effective.

Read about Jude and our other authors here

*****

Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

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If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 29^th April.

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Chamber Signature Networking Event at Shula’s Steakhouse – Thursday, March 28th

Lehigh Valley, PA – March 26th, 2013: The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce will be host a Signature Networking Event at Shula’s Steakhouse on Thursday, March 28th.   Networking will run from 5 -7 p.m.. Join fellow Chamber members for quality networking, complimentary hors d'oeuvres, and a cash bar. Future members are welcome. Register here.

Event Information:

When: Thursday, March 28th, 5 - 7 p.m.

Where: Shula’s Steakhouse, 2960 Center Valley Parkway, Suite 700 (at Saucon Valley Promenade Shops)

Pricing Information: This Event is FREE for members, $10 for future members. Cash Bar.

About the Chamber: The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce’s mission is to serve as the voice for business by continuously improving the economic climate and creating growth opportunities for the Greater Lehigh Valley region. We accomplish this through business-to-business networking events and marketing products, affinity programs and exclusive, money saving member benefits, training programs, government affairs initiatives and public policy advocacy, and community development enterprises.  With nearly 5,000 members who employ more than 200,000 individuals, The Chamber is the largest in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and in the top ten nationwide.

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Member Relations Intern - Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce

Thank you for your interest in interning with the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.  Please find the information regarding the intern position below.

Appropriate majors & career interests:  Communications, Business, Marketing, Public Relations, Event Planning, Member Relations, Hospitatlity

Time commitment:  A minimum of 8 hours a week, to be fulfilled for one-two full semesters.   This internship is available for college credit, or work experience, only.

Contact information:  Please send resume & cover letter to Kara Johnson via email (karaj@lehighvalleychamber.org) or fax 610-758-9533.

Job Description:  Interns would work in one (or more) of the following two areas:

Member Relations:  The Chamber works actively and frequently to connect as much as possible with more than 5,000 members.  Our staff runs programs and events, and conducts research to communicate with our members as much as possible and keep them happy with the level of service they receive from The Chamber.  As such, interns can expect to work in many areas, including:

·         Researching Member Retention programs

·         Assisting in Member Benefit webinars, Making of Member Benefit Kits, and Member Plaque Replacement Program

·         Examining new ways to connect with our membership and ensure a high level of satisfaction

·         Run reports for the Member Relations Staff

Major Events:  The Chamber puts on several Annual Events, which are a value-added experience for our members. This intern will report directly to the Major Events Coordinator at the Chamber, and assist in ensuring that each event is executed excellently. This will include:

• Learn the steps to planning an event – from deciding on the event purpose and format, to booking the venue, all the way to providing registration for guests on event day.
• Attending meetings with the Major Events Coordinator, to aid in the booking of the items listed above. The Intern will record the minutes at these Meetings
• Assisting in all items leading up to each Major Event, including the registration of attendees, printing name tags, powerpoint creation, ensuring proper sponsor recognition, music selection, etc. 

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Express Business Center - Member of the Day

Today's Member of the Day is Express Business Center, a proud and active Chamber member since 2007. I've known Murtaza Jaffer, the owner of Express Business Center (EBC), since I started working at the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and ever since I have been meaning to visit and take a tour of their facility. I had been told multiple times that Andrea Hemphill, their Director of Development, made a delicious cup of coffee, and I finally found the time to see for myself.

Andrea makes a delicious cup of coffee!

EBC is located in Trexlertown at 6900 Hamilton Boulevard. At first glance it looks like your standard pack and ship store, but once I was inside I realized how wrong I was. The facility was much more advanced than I expected. In addition to their print and copy services that they offer in the front of the store, they had a whole back room filled with these enormous printers. Murtaza showed me drawers full of client work that they fulfilled while Andrea made me a cup of her 'famous coffee.' It certainly lived up to the expectations, and I have been dreaming of that coffee ever since. Unfortunately, she didn't tell me the secret to how she made it though, so you're going to have to head on over and try it for  yourself.

In addition to their full-service packaging and shipping operations in the front of the facility, they offer high speed color copying and printing, laminating, notary services, photo developing (through Dan's Camera, another great Chamber member), and even income tax preparation! They are seriously a one-stop shop for everything. While I was there they were in the middle of printing hundreds of blank coloring pages for an order through Red Robin. Side note - I really love to see all these Chamber members working together!

As I was talking to Andrea in the front of the store, Murtaza rushed out of the back and said he had to show me something. Their banner printer (Yes, they print full-size banners too) was in the middle of printing this hockey banner on canvas. They have the capability of printing banners five feet wide in amazingly clear detail. If you need anything printed that you can't do in house, do yourself a favor and go visit Murtaza and Andrea over at EBC to see what they offer. They are both great people and are usually in attendance at many of the Chamber events we hold. If you'd like an introduction, I'd be happy to help. Thanks for the hospitality Express Business Center, and I'm glad I finally had the chance to visit.

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Networking & Schmoozing

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

Today’s edition of Discuss HR is by none other than myself, so I’ll get straight to the point! (Ed Scrivener)

Networking & Schmoozing

If you’ve been reading Discuss HR since we started 3 years ago you will know I have written a number of posts relating to networking.  I have commented about how I felt HR could and should do more; I have arranged numerous HR networking events; and I have written how those entering into the world of independent HR consultancy need to appreciate that good sales isn’t phone bashing, but relationship building.  My twitter profile refers to me as a “networker and schmoozer”, the sentiment is sincere albeit expressed in a rather tongue in cheek manner.  In short, or at least short for me, I like networking!

I have spent the bulk of my career as a service provider, so it is easy to suggest my networking was sales focused.  I freely admit that there certainly was an element to that.  I have always believed you need to enter into a networking relationship with the belief that you are looking to help the other person, not just seek their help.  There are so many benefits to good networking; you can learn from your peers; you can find opportunities of all sorts; or you can just make good friends!

I recently benefited from my years of networking.  Late last year I decided it was time for me to make a career change and move away from being a 3^rdparty provider to become an in-house recruiter.  I looked at how I could achieve this move and decided to make a two pronged attack, firstly via social media and secondly via my network.  I reached out to everyone I knew professionally to seek their help and advice about my move and hopefully to hear about suitable opportunities.  To say I was overwhelmed by the response is a huge understatement!  I had numerous conversations with experienced people in the field that were able to advise me as to what information I needed to include in my CV and what approach I needed to take.  I had several referrals from people who flagged roles they had seen advertised.  Probably most valuable of all, I heard about opportunities with organisations where the role has not gone to market yet.  Therefore I wasn’t up against countless other applicants.  I had managed to catch a number of people who were in the process of reviewing their resourcing strategy and so my approach ended up being incredibly timely.  Not every approach resulted in a formal interview, but it would be naive to think it would.  Instead and importantly I become a known quantity within the field for the organisation which should hold me in good stead for the future.  But most importantly of all, these approaches did result in formal interviews (8 in total via networking) and crucially I secured exactly the type of role I wanted.  To further add to the proof that this is the best way to secure a role, I applied for 2 roles via traditional job boards; I wasn’t interviewed for either!

I firmly believe that following my years of taking the effort to go out and meet people both virtually and in real life, coupled with my desire to help them when they needed it resulted in this very positive resolution to my job hunt.  So my advice to anyone, whether you’re looking for work or not, a business owner or employee is to get out and do that networking and schmoozing!

Read about Ed and our other authors here

*****

Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

*****

If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 29^th April.

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Daily Briefing, 10/2/12

Good morning and happy Tuesday!

The Chamber hosted the Lehigh Valley Energy & Environment Conference & Summit on Friday at the Mack Truck Customer Center. The event was well attended and there were various discussions detailing how businesses can go green to save money. The featured speaker was Patrick Collignon, Senior Vice President, Americas Cab & Vehicle Assembly Volvo Group Trucks Operation, who spoke on "Lean Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement and Waste Reduction." Our next major event is the Lehigh Valley Mayors’ and Municipal Officials’ Annual Reception at SteelStacks, which takes place on Tuesday, October 16, with Mayor Nutter of Philadelphia as the featured speaker. Register here.

In local news, the owner of the former Dixie Cup plant in Wilson is seeking KOZ approval to transform the property into apartments and office space in the next few years. Easton Mayor Sal Panto has unveiled a 2013 proposal that increases spending 8% without any raises in resident's property taxes.

That's all for now, we'll check in with you later. Have a great and productive day!



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Daily Briefing, 9/25/12

Good morning! Today is National One Hit Wonder Day, and in honor of the day here's a video of one of the most popular one-hit-wonder songs ever from Mr. Benny Mardones. Who's that, you ask? Give the video a play and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. (I was going to link to the Macarena, but I'm not going to subject you to that this early in the morning.)

Today is also the second to last day to plan your Wednesday night. Celebrate the fall season in style tomorrow night with the Chamber as we kick off the Celtic Classic with a beer tasting event and wing eating contest from 5 - 7. Find out more here.

In local news, our staff was excited to hear about the fact that Harry Connick Jr. is in town to work with the Pennsylvania Youth Theatre to work on his upcoming musical production. If you happen to see him, let us know! Bethlehem Township will vote on a plan to develop a 470,000 office and retail park, including a hotel, sometime next month. In a more bizarre twist on local news, a squirrel was the cause of a loss of power to Muhlenberg College and hundreds of homes on Allentown's West End yesterday. 

That's it for now, enjoy your Tuesday! If you're not already a fan of The Chamber on facebook, what are you waiting for? It's the best way to stay up to date on Chamber events that will help you network your business.

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Daily Briefing, 9/21/12

Good morning and happy Friday! Today is officially the last day of summer, although it may not seem like it outside.

We would like to thank everyone that came out to the New Member Orientation and the networking mixer at Moravian Hall Square last night. It was a terrific event in a beautiful space and we were happy to see so many people turn out to network at Business After 5. The next signature networking event will take place on October 18 at Sam Adams Grill at Holiday Inn.

Have you ever wondered who was the artist behind the amazing creations featured on the Fegley's Brew Works bottles? Now you know. The iPhone 5 was released today, and retail stores across the world (including Lehigh Valley Mall) saw Apple fans lining up in droves to be the first to have the newest smartphone.

Are you a fan of The Chamber on facebook? All of The Chamber's upcoming events and news are just a click away!

Chamber events this weekend:
2nd Annual Bethlehem Fashion Show - Saturday, 9/22 
The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Annual Gala - Saturday, 9/22 
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Daily Briefing, 9/20/12

Good morning! We have a networking mixer tonight at Moravian Hall Square for all members and future members. Get all the details here.

In local news, more than 70 travel writers from all over the Mid-Atlantic are touring Lehigh Valley this week for Mid-Atlantic Tourism Public Relations Alliance (MATPRA) 2012, hosted by Discover Lehigh Valley, the region's DMO. If you see them visit your establishment, please do your best to welcome them to our fine region! The Lehigh Valley Job Fair yesterday drew just under 4,000 people to the Allentown Ag Hall who were looking for employment

In national news, Apple pushed back the shipping date for the iPhone 5 by two weeks due to a high amount of pre-orders. Chicago schools reopened after the 8-day strike.

Have a great Thursday!
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The big misunderstanding about online networking

Welcome to this week’s Discuss HR, the HR blog written for and by members of Human Resources UK.

Human Resources UK is a LinkedIn group and by default is a social networking forum.  As such it is only apt that following last week’s article about how and why HR should network more that we conclude the theme focusing on online networking.  Today we welcome our latest guest writer, Ellen Selby, an experienced blogger and somewhat of a social media guru. (Ed Scrivener)

The big misunderstanding about online networking

You WILL listen to everything I say!

The misunderstanding between social networking online and social networking face to face is long present in today’s world of constant ’dialogue’ marketing. However, you’ll find that both are equally as effective if you can understand them well enough.

Whether you’re a twitter addict, and you find – like many of us – a smartphone glued to your hand each day, or you simply cannot stop talking, you are basically using networking techniques that are the same. The only difference is, one of them is getting misunderstood far more than the other. Let me explain.

You’ve probably caught onto the relatively new craze that is Social Media for your business. Of course, whether it is working for you is another matter entirely and is dependent on whether you’re using it in the right way for the right reasons. To illustrate the point properly: what do you do when you attend a Social Networking event, to make you and your business look fantastic?

Common practise is to ask a fair amount of questions, answer the ones you can answer, interact animatedly with all potential clientele that you find, offer help to others as well as accepting help from the members of your networking group, and advertising your business where possible and when it is appropriate. It is this high and diverse level of interaction that face to face marketing allows that gives it the potential to be successful. However, many people using Social Media online find that they cannot replicate this successful social process. Rather, they are using online social media to talk AT people.

Let’s put it this way. When, at a networking event have you responded well to someone talking ‘at’ you? Unless the person in question is an incredibly inspirational speaker, you are unlikely to respond positively. Unfortunately a lot of people use Social Media for precisely this, and assume it is a free ‘Social Advertising space’, forgetting about the ‘Social Networking’, engagement or interaction element. These users post their content and leave it, without interacting with others or looking up relevant topics at the time. Not only does this make their posts uninteresting, it also makes the news they are reporting irrelevant to what is happening at the time and gives no opportunity for further engagement.

Unfortunately, of the 90% of websites and businesses that use Social Media as a networking tool, only 50% use it effectively. This leaves a large percentage of businesses tweeting and Facebooking into nothingness, when this needn’t be the case at all. The trick is to mimic the same skills you would use at your physical networking events, and use them online. For instance, the one thing everyone loves to do – business or no business, is talk about themselves! So ask your followers questions to show you are interested in helping, and give your followers the opportunity to indulge in writing a few lines themselves. This not only promotes the same feelings of involvement and community, similar to networking events, but also engages people so you are able to learn more about your potential customers.

Whether you are talking to an actual crowd or your online followers, your networking techniques need to be engaging and filled with the personality of your business. If you find yourself needing to ‘advertise’ certain aspects of your business online, ensure that your posts are enthralling and customer focused, and steer clear of saying anything on Social Networking sites that you would not say ‘out loud’.

The tone of Social Media is forever changing, and will continue to do so as we move forward, causing us to constantly evolve and change how we present ourselves. We must be flexible: but hold onto the human element that we know wins business.

About the author

Ellie Selby’s specialities lie in the realms of Social Media and helping and adapting businesses to grow their sales in the world of B2B. Quality and not Quantity is what matters when Social Media is involved: to be worthwhile it must reap results.

Email | LinkedIn |Website

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Discuss HR is the blog for Human Resources UK, the leading LinkedIn group for those involved with HR in the UK.  Next week’s Discuss HR will be published on Thursday 21^st June and will be written by employment law expert Annabel Kaye.

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HR, get out and network!

Welcome to this week’s Discuss HR, the HR blog written for and by members of Human Resources UK.

Well that was the long weekend that was and what a brilliant example of how us Brits can make the most of any situation.  The site of the drenched choir serenading the Queen and crowds in the Jubilee flotilla was a joy to behold and was echoed throughout the country with soaked street party-goers determined to have a good time.  Regular readers will know how I like my (very) tenuous links and these gatherings show how much we gain from meeting people.  Putting that into a work sense today I explore why HR needs to get out and meet more people. (Ed Scrivener)

HR, get out and network!

Maybe 3am was too early to start this event?

I shall start with a slight apology.  Regular readers will know these blog posts are non-promotional, but there will be an air of promotion to this!  Before you run for the hills I am not promoting how great my services are, but rather promoting this group – so apologies for breaking my own rules, but it is in a good cause!

Last month we held our latest round of networking events which were bigger and better than before, 7 in total held across the UK.  The reason I instigated these events were on the back of a survey I sent to group members a year ago.  A number of people commented that they wished to take their online networking into the real world and actually meet their connections!  Since the inception the events have been attended by more and more people, which is fantastic but what I would like to look at today is the need for HR to network more, in fact a whole lot more! (I will add this is not a veiled attempt to grow numbers to the events!)

First and foremost, why do we network?  Whilst there are some truly selfless people out there, I’d suggest 99.99% of us network to get something in return.  This doesn’t need to be as cold and calculated as winning new business or finding a job, it could be simply as honest as wanting to expand your knowledge or even just talking to peers (a trait particularly important to self-employed consultants I may add!).  Clearly one of the most important factors is choosing the right networking avenue – if you attend spam sales sponsored by spamalot then clearly you’re going to be bombarded! – but it you do some research you should quite easily find numerous events that are just there to let you network.  Whilst everyone will be there to get something out of the event, they won’t be there to thrust business cards down your throat.

So why is this not only beneficial, but essential for HR professionals to be at these events?

I’ll use the recent HRUKLI events as an example.  I am aware that some attendees have found new employees via these events.  I may be an evil recruitment consultant wanting to charge extortionate fees, but even I can see the benefit of recruiting via referrals as the cost is a big fat £0!  Looking on a less tangible sense but networking can also do wonders for the employer branding of a business. You not only represent yourself at these events but your business too; you can wax lyrical about what your business does and without doubt you’ll raise a few admiring eyebrows. A further example would be expanding your knowledge.  Meeting with your peers you are undoubtedly going to meet those who specialise in areas different to yourself.  Rather than paying for support, a simple chat in this environment may provide the solution you needed.  In the recent HRUKLI events we had a number of themes which did just so, such as an employment law clinic and a discussion on the recent pension changes.

All of the above are rather obvious reasons for networking, but only touch upon the 2 elements of networking I feel are essential.  Firstly, the above examples are all about attending HR events which is fine, but I’d be very interested to find out how many HR professionals have attended general business networking events? I’d strongly suspect very few.  We all know and often have to go out of our way to state that HR is a valid and valued business function, if so why is HR not participating in these kind of events?  Networking amongst entrepreneurs and senior managers of other businesses will without doubt expand a person’s knowledge.  You may also be in a position to change people’s opinion of HR in a commercial sense, which is no bad thing!  A criticism often levelled at HR is that it is often a blinkered profession, whether this is a valid argument or not mingling with other professions will give you a certain insight.

Trying to catch all the business cards proved tough...

Before moving on to the next point I will say that of all the types of networking events the general business events are the ones to be most cautious about!  Please research the right type to attend otherwise you’ll find yourself at 7.00am drinking a liquid apparently called “Tea” whilst being cornered by a desperate sales person!

Over 98% of the traffic that views this blog site is referred via a social media site.  No surprise when you consider I market it mainly on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.  As a result, the very nature you are reading this means to an extent I will be preaching to the converted.  Nevertheless I feel HR needs to do far, far more social networking.  As I have often written about HR and social media I won’t bore you by regurgitating the same information, but I will cover the salient points.  Essentially social media is a fantastic medium for employee engagement, talent management, employer branding and comms to name but a few.  However, too many HR divisions are focused on policing social media than utilising it.  So stop being stuffy and start engaging!  I find it very interesting discussing, or just eavesdropping, with my Twitter buddies as numerous have commented that in the last 12 months the best  new contacts they have made have been via Twitter (other mediums are available, but they’re probably not as good!).  I would strongly agree with these sentiments.  You can find some truly inspiring and knowledgeable people on Twitter (you can also find me, so maybe it’s not that good...) and you can use it to bring together numerous areas of interest in one fell swoop.  The beauty of this is that you’ll soon find out how many of your peers share your hobby, or vice versa, which will undoubtedly strengthen your relationship.  If you’re thinking of joining Twitter or want to expand your HR networking I would strongly recommend you look up the #connectingHR tag.  This is an incredibly interesting and engaging HR community who you’ll find most welcoming.

Have I made a convincing argument to make you network more? Maybe, maybe not, but as I have found time and time again the proof is in the pudding.  Try networking a bit more than you currently do and I am extremely confident you will start seeing tangible benefits. So come on HR, get out and network!

HR networking events to consider (all have come recommended):

• HRUKLI – surely I have to put this at the top of the list, as it’s the events of our group!
• ConnectingHR – they have various events and tweet-ups and reach areas even we don’t get to, namely Dublin!
• Reconverse – they discuss the future of talent management

General business events:

• The likes of Business for breakfast and 4 Networking can be good, but the quality does vary from region to region.
• Check with your local Chambers of Commerce as I have found the best events are specific to an area and you should find a list of events there.

About the author

Ed is an HR recruitment specialist and social media trainer.  He holds over 8 years industry specific experience recruiting mainly for middle and senior HR management positions. He stumbled upon social media a few years ago and has since become passionate about the subject.  He now trains companies and individuals alike in social media techniques. He is the Group Manager of Human Resources UK and Editor of Discuss HR and occasionally his humour will creep into articles!

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Discuss HR is the blog for Human Resources UK, the leading LinkedIn group for those involved with HR in the UK.  Next week’s Discuss HR will be published on Thursday 14^th June and we welcome our latest guest writer, experienced blogger Ellen Selby.

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