Introduction
Globalization and development of technology brought into the picture significant changes in social and economic environments, shaping new organizational strategies, based on human capital and innovation as central concepts of competitive advantage (Swanson and Elwood, 2009). That said information and learning processes became significantly more accessible, while employment relationships are increasingly complex. Some of the latest trends in Strategic HRM include informal learning and information sharing through a digital environment, unsolicited and innovative approach to job hunting and recruitment and selection, online-based HRM Journals and other important aspects of this body of knowledge. The purpose of this work is to examine, compare four different online knowledge contributions in the field of professional development and Human Resource Management (HRM). More specifically, the study will focus on the analysis of four distinct websites, related to HRM (1) SHRM, an online knowledge sharing community for HRM professional and other interested parties, (2) HR2HR website of the HRM Outsourcing Company, (3) LinkedIn, professional social network, and (4) JHRM, an online Journal for peer-reviewed articles centered around HRM. Topic. The objective of this research is to analyses the effectiveness of these online sources in reaching their initial goals. The criteria for this examination include four major elements: (1) quality of the website, (2) user-friendliness, (3) accuracy and timeliness of the information and (4) accuracy of the language and style choice for the target audience. Each criterion will be ranked either exceptional quality, high quality, meet expectations or below expectations for the sources in a review.
Analysis
Website I: SHRM
Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is an online source, centered around HRM issues, news, trends and events with the focus on the development of the community of HR professionals, who benefit from the information as well as contribute to the website and the community with their unique knowledge and experience. The website received an average of 79,000 visitors per day (Semrush, 2017). The scope of the website is ample, as it provides discussion room, news serves as an advertisement tool for various events courses and seminars in the field, as well as has its e-commerce platform with a variety of HRM-related books, articles, and events on sale (SHRM, 2016). The website is developed on a complex platform, which allows easy and intuitive navigation. The marketing and design of the source are professional and is aligned with the objective of the same. This allows ranking this website as the high-quality source and exceptional quality on the user-friendliness criteria. The news and resources, presented on the website are "fresh" and reflect the latest events and trends in the industry. At the same time, the website does not aim at building on a sensational news and becoming the "discovery channel" for its public. With that in mind, it is possible to rank it as meet expectations for the third criteria. Finally, the language and design, used by the developers and administrators of the source are business, at times, it is possible to see informal business language, which is aligned with the target audience – young and active HRM professionals. The website aims at international public, but the sources are available only in English, which can be seen negatively by professionals from other geographical areas. Considering the above observations, the website is ranked as meet expectations qualify for the criteria of language and style accuracy.
Website II: HR2HR
HR2HR is a website of a commercial organization, offering a range of HRM outsourcing service, including management, learning resources, and consultancy services. The website traffic is very low, attracting on average the website traffic does not exceed 100 visits per day (Semrush. 2017). The interface of the website is simple and is developed on the non-interactive platform. The design and the choice of colors make it easy to navigate and relatively intuitive for the users. Taking into consideration that the target audience for the website are the potential clients, who have understanding and idea of the business model of HR2HR it is possible to conclude that quality and user-friendliness of the website are adequate and can be ranked as meet expectations. The contact information, provided on the website is accurate and makes it easy for the visitors to give continuity of the services. As the objective of the website is not to build an interactive platform or e-commerce, but rather to inform and attract the users to call and make a personal contact, the third criteria also meet expectations. The analysis of the textual content of the website, however, demonstrates that the company focuses on the professionals that have above average knowledge of the HRM field and can navigate, knowing specifically, what they are looking for. While this information is important, the organization will potentially use the clients, who are less knowledgeable about the services and could be attracted as a “cold” call. That said there is a clear lack of marketing appeal, which should be present in this type of online source, making the last criteria below expectations.
Website III: LinkedIn
LinkedIn was the third website, considered in this analysis. The website is the professional networking platform, allowing individuals keeping in touch, update their resume, search for jobs and receive up-to-date information about their contacts’ professional actions, movements and interests (LinkedIn, 2017). Evidently, the website is significantly more popular that the other resources. Per Semrush, the website receives over 38 million unique daily visitors, which demands advanced technological solution and support. Moreover, LinkedIn is the highly interactive platform, which requires specific attention to user information safety and privacy. The website is ranked as exceptional quality for both, desktop and mobile devices, as it offers the effective and fast solution to the clients with high level of privacy and information security. While the website is used by many individuals, the field experiment shows that LinkedIn interface and layout can be at times confusing for a user, especially when shifting from "job" to "personal" pages. With that, it only meets expectations on the user-friendliness criteria. Information on the website is linked to the organizational websites, news, blogs and personal pages of individuals and, thus, it always reflects the latest events and news in the industry. The quality of the information, however, depends on the contributors and the website does not offer a mechanism for the control over a situation. This allows concluding that the website can only be ranked as meets expectations. Finally, the style and language of the website reflects the trends in the industry and can be personalized, depending on the user, which makes it exceed expectations.
Website IV: JHRM
Conclusion
The four websites analyzed in this study represent various knowledge contributions and services in the HRM field. The quality and usefulness of the websites vary significantly and it is possible to see the differences, based on the investment, quality of marketing effort as well as the objectives that the websites seek to fulfill. At the same time, one of the major observations is the fact that the quality of the website on the chosen criteria increases along with the increase in website traffic and it's commercial intention. That said SHRM.com and LinkedIn.com represent higher quality overall, relative to the other two sources with lower traffic.
References
Swanson R.A. and Elwood F.H. (2009). Foundation of Human Resource Development. 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Barret-Koehler.
Sims R.R. (2007). Human Resource Management. Contemporary Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
SHRM (2016). Society for Human Resource Management. SHRM [Online]. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://www.shrm.org/
HR2HR (2017). About Us. HR 2 HR [Online]. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from http://hr2hrsolutions.co.uk/hr-support/2574692
LinkedIn (2017). LinkedIn. LinkedIn [Online]. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from https://www.linkedin.com/
JHRM (2016). Aims and Scope. Journal of Human Resource Management [Online]. Retrieved 28 January 2017, from http://www.jhrm.eu/
Semrush. Website Traffic. Semrush [Online]. Retrieved 29 January 2017, from https://www.semrush.com/info/linkedin.com
