15 Top UK HR blogs for HR professionals to bookmark in 2019

These HR blogs by organisations and HR professionals are at the top of their game and well worth a bookmark for HR and leadership insights.

It’s no secret that we think the world of our HR blog. You may already have it bookmarked as a giant HR resource of over 3,000 articles, regularly updated with expert-led insights and inspiration. With an Autumn revamp scheduled (watch this space) you’ll soon be able to explore the Changeboard HR blog like never before.

Latest HR ideas and best practice for senior HR leaders

The Changeboard HR blog features the latest expert-led insights and developments on HR trends. Topics range from HR tech and AI in HR to work culture, ethics in HR, productivity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, wellbeing at work, diversity and inclusion, recruitment, managing people, strategy and much more. If you want to be the first to hear the latest, subscribe to Changeboard Magazine – it’s an essential read for HR professionals, and it’s where our flagship in-depth features make their first appearance.

You’ll find careers advice for senior HR professionals exploring their next opportunity on our HR jobs board, too.

Big ideas from big thinkers

We regularly scout out world-class leaders in their field to share insights and best practice. Explore big ideas relating to HR and business with the likes of Neil Morrison (Group HR Director, Random House) and Nancy Lengthorn (Managing Partner and Head of D&I and Future Talent, MediaCom). Broaden your horizons with champions and pioneers like Sally Gunnel OBE (Olympic gold medallist) and comedian Ruby Wax.

We also have an HR podcast so that HR professionals can absorb information on the go. Who said commutes have to be boring?

“It’s time we value our data – as people and society” (David D’Souza, Changeboard, 2018)

David D’Souza is Membership Director of the CIPD and uses this treasure of a blog as a way to “think out loud” about HR, L&D, management, business, and leadership.

His blog takes an engagingly personal, witty and warm-heartedly real approach to various HR/business trends and issues. A chance line on his recent feature on chatbots: “You can’t hurt the feelings of a chatbot and you can’t harass it as it can’t feel distress. But you can be disturbingly odd.”

David D’Souza doesn’t solely rely on his infectious charm, fortunately – his posts are peppered with insight, news, cross-referencing for further research and general food for thought.

When 101 things are half connected, it can be a highly rewarding endeavour to join the dots.

We would like to congratulate London-based CakeHR on being named one of the best business tools of 2019 by Newsweek; they help organisations find the optimum solution for a range of HR challenges including leave management. They feature a range of interesting weekly-ish posts on topics including employee engagement and recruitment, with an additional focus on HR tech and software.

“Recruitment is not the same as bidding for an item on eBay” (Neil Morrison, 2019)

We’ve previously had the honour to interview HR Director Neil Morrison, and his HR blog is a tour de force. He’s an influential proponent of passion and creativity in the fields of business and HR; best of all, his views are entirely his own.

It’s refreshing – and insightful – to take in a leader’s unique and pithily-voiced perspective, combining knowledge and lived experience to provide a fresh take on the issues that can beset all HR professionals.

CIPHR provides UK-based HR software for the public and private organisations, supporting key aspects of the employee lifecycle with 24/7 accessibility. They post HR-related blogs about three times a week, with a mix of organisational culture, HR operational strategy and advice for HR managers.

HR Dept offers a wide range of HR services, and its blog relates quite heavily to tricky issues for HR professionals such as health and safety, disciplinary and grievance, employee absence and employment law.

The HR Director is a UK-based HR hub that updates with a couple of new posts per week – and they have a substantial archive of useful content. Their site as a whole has a handy section on legal updates. Their blog content as a whole is both insightful (‘The Real Reason Most L&D Programmes Fail To Make The Grade’) and holistic (‘There’s Nothing Artificial about The Benefits of Plants’).

“Flexible working is already here. Where are you?” (Gemma Dale, 2019)

Gemma Dale is an experienced HRD and a Fellow of the CIPD. She’s a writer, coach, speaker and her HR blog People Stuff takes in all things HR, including employment law and the nuances of social media. “I’m all about doing good people stuff,” says Gemma, and her passion for people makes her blog posts on employee engagement a highly insightful read.

HR Grapevine is a vast online HR community – the largest in Europe. Recent blog posts have tackled disability, discrimination, training a global workforce and parents returning to the workforce as leaders. Content is frequent and of high quality, much as you’d expect. It’s a valuable HR resource, with useful blog content worth bookmarking in your must-read lists.

Based in London (as is Changeboard), HRreview is a regularly updated resource of news and information. Their HR news are notably frequent, with multiple daily updates. Along with some great general HR content they offer a particularly useful resource on employment law comprised of both news and analysis.

HR Revolution provide services covering the entire employee lifecycle, from attraction and recruitment through to development and exit. A neat feature of their weekly HR blog is their #HRFAQ rolling feature, where they answer questions typically asked by clients on a regular basis.

HRZone structure their content in a slightly different format to other HR blogs. Their key areas of focus are “Lead / Engage / Perform / Talent / Hot Topics”, with a Community area for their blogs and discussion forum for registered members. If you’re curious, the hot topics at time of writing are all related to organisational culture and company values.

The ‘news’ section on this HR service, support and outsourcing organisation is less news-orientated and more of a resource for HR how-to guides with evergreen value.

This organisation offers HR analytics and various services including consultation, HR outsourcing and payroll services. If you’re looking for a blog that places a major focus on payroll trends and advice, this is the one to go for.

“Employee experience and journey mapping are great, but can feel a bit like putting shiny engagement lipstick on a clunky organisational pig!” (Jon Ingham, 2019)

Jon Ingham is a consultant, author and speaker. His HR posts may be relatively infrequent (expect a few every month), but they’re consistently fascinating, and have been so since he first started his blog in 2007. Jon makes it easy to subscribe to his blog, too – as you’d expect from someone who’s professionally comfortable with technology. He was named one of the Top 100 HRTech influencers in 2019.

HR blogs help professionals stay up to date with opinion and best practice

Whether they’re managed by organisations or individuals, HR blogs are written with passion by people for people. At their core is a desire to communicate with one’s professional peers. The fresh takes and conversational approach of these HR blogs can add a much-needed dose of humanity to the documentation and regulations often accompanying the HR function.

If you know of an influential UK-based HR blog you think should be added to the list, you are welcome to get in touch at [email protected].

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