This is the theme of discussions and conferences

Earlier this week, Human Resource Professionals of Minnesota held their spring conference. The focus/title was Post Recession Strategies: Regroup - Retain - Recruit. On April 16th, the University of Minnesota is hosting its 31st Annual HR Tomorrow Conference. The title is The Changing Face of HR: Navigating in the 'New Normal'.

What are employees REALLY saying about their employers?

The tech-savvy candidate (and you need people to have this ability) is checking out his/her options - and more and more options are coming to the forefront. Check the following websites and see if your employer is listed:

• JobVent.com
• PingMyCompany.com
• Criticat.com
• JobBite.com

Did 2009 Really Change Anything?

On April 8th, staffing.org came out with an article by this very title. According to the article, there were three insights that came from their research:

• The critical importance of talent at all job levels for all companies
• The difficulty of competing for talent in an increasingly fragmented job market
• The growing efficiency gap between technology 'haves' and 'have-nots'

The article stated that 2009 represented a reprieve in the War for Talent as employees hunkered down, but the reprieve is looking to be short-term.

Hewitt on Communications

Hewitt Associates, well known for their global HR consulting, came out with an article called Ten Principles for Leadership Communication. Some of their themes and principles included:

• Everything communicates - policies, incentives, treatment of people going in or out.
• One size does not fit all - vary the communications for your diverse audiences.
• There is a difference between information AND communication.

The conclusion from all of the above - make sure you start working today on getting employees to re-engage in your company.