I recently ran across a neat site called Stop Blocking. The site has this to say:

Companies everywhere are blocking employee access to the Net, fueled by questionable research and irresponsible pronouncements of self-serving individuals and organizations. This site is designed to serve as a hub information resource for those who believe the benefits of providing access far outweigh the risks.

When (if ever) is it acceptable to block social sites, then? I’ve worked in places that blocked 90% of the web and places that blocked none. I think there’s a middle ground in there.

Now, I’m for the open web. I use social sites daily and my work just wouldn’t be the same without them. Companies that try to maintain a stranglehold on their users by blocking social sites are not the kinds of places I want to work for. But an interesting angle most openness proponents ignore is that of resources. Companies with one IT guy don’t have the resources to keep up with viruses and spyware people download via Facebook and MySpace. Those issues threaten the integrity of networks and can be a data security nightmare.

Another finite resource (with a nearly limitless demand!) is bandwidth. Checking your friend’s latest Facebook pictures of their kids and watching YouTube videos about cats can quickly suck down the network for everyone else (whether they’re trying to work or watch their own YouTube videos).

So… While I freely admit that I’m a fan of being open and forward thinking with regard to the social web, I am looking for answers to these pertinent issues.

Anyone have an idea to share?

The idea for this post started from the impact WordPress plugins have had on my blog and my desire to share those amazing little plugins with you. Originally I was going to call this post my “Plugin Roundup”, but… the more I thought about it, there are other important tools that I am using for my site that are not WordPress plugins. So, long story short, I am not limiting this post to plugins only.

My good buddy Ben over at upstartHR has had a huge impact on Logic Writer, he has graciously offered advice along with some great tips on getting my blog going. Some of the tools that I am going to talk about here were suggested by Ben to help me get going in the right direction. Well, enough chatting, let get down to the great tools that can help make a difference in you website.

1. WordTwit: WordTwit is a WordPress plugin that automatically sends a tweet from your twitter account with the post title and link. Why is this valuable? Well.. this plugin will help drive traffic to your site assuming you have someone following you on Twitter and if your Twitter followers find your post handy, it is super easy for them to retweet it.

2. All in One SEO Pack: All in One SEO Pack is another great WordPress plugin that allows for you to optimize your website for search engines. This will help search engines determine what is the important content on your site and help direct visitors to your site if it relates to their initial search.

3. Website Grader: I love this website! I am a statistics junkie. Website Grader is basically a SEO tool that will take a look at your current site and will rank your site based on over 50 variables. This tool is helpful for tweeking your site to help your SEO.

4. Google’s Webmaster Tools: This is another web based tool and it requires you to sign up for a free account. Once you sign up for the free account and configure your website properly Google’s Webmaster Tools will help you to more or less see your web site from a search engines eyes. Webmaster Tools will give you helpful stats like telling you what keyword searches you are showing up in, what keywords make up the content of your site (Are you really talking about what you think you are?), managing sitemaps and if there are any errors on your website.

5. Add to Any: Share/Bookmark/Email Button: This is another nifty WordPress plugin that adds a small button to the bottom of your posts, pages or both if you choose. When the visitor to your website hovers their mouse over the Share/Save button, it allow them to save, print, post a link to your article on any number of social media sites and much more. The easier you make it for your visitors to share your content, the more exposure you will gain, at least in theory.

Well, there you have it. Just a handful of tools that I am currently using and enjoying. If you have any blog or website tools that you would like to share, please leave a comment and tell me about them.

My view of SHRM apparently is different than the growing disdain among my fellow HR Professionals. As I was developing my knowledge of HR at the University of Michigan, I was given a great deal of support by SHRM either directly or indirectly. There in lies the key to why I feel that SHRM is still a relevant organization. While in college, I went on to become the President of the student chapter of SHRM at my University. I’m not saying that to toot my own horn (Trust me, its doesn’t amont to a hill of beans), but because this is a good example of SHRM creating an opportunity that allowed for great personal growth. Without SHRM, there would have not been an affiliate chapter at the University of Michigan nor the opportunity to further my knowledge of HR so easily.

Another example of SHRM’s relevance to me would be the HR certification and the HR Games. Again, while still in college, myself and two other HR majors studied and competed in 2005 HR Games. The information we gained in the preparation for these games was above and beyond what we were learning in our college curriculum. It just seemed to me that SHRM was making it possible to walk away from college with a much more well rounded understanding of Human Resources.

I understand that both of my examples are from the start of my HR career, but that does not mitigate the importance that SHRM had on my growth as a HR professional. I feel that if the only accomplishment SHRM does day in and day out is to bring awareness to the field along with providing students a wealth of information, then they are relevant and important. I dont look to SHRM to solve all of the worlds HR problems.

Ultimately, what I am expressing is that there is and will be a lot of good that SHRM has done for the field of HR and we should pay them just a little respect once in a while.

Long ago in a far away land called Michigan, I fell in love with computers. I still remember to this day walking into my elementary school computer lab and sitting down in front of that beast of a machine Apple IIe. You know the one that was bought with all of those soup can labels that you saved and turned in. Well… there really wasn’t much that I learned from those early days. I did however become damn good at the Oregon Trail game. But that aside, it was the beginning of fascination and a world of possibilities with technology.

Throughout the coming years I can still remember with great excitement all the personal computer milestones that have come and gone. The first program I wrote, the first Internet search (done on Altavista for all who care), the first time for burning a CD (Blazing fast 1x speed), the first time pirating software (err… I mean borrowing) and writing my first line of HTML that displayed correctly on the Internet.

Well, if I love technology so much, how did I end up in HR? It all started because of a conversation 10 years ago with my friend Peanut. I was an aspiring engineering major at the University of Michigan. I had come to the conclusion that I despised the staff of the entire engineering department. There in lies the problem. How was I going to complete a program when I couldn’t stand the professors? As I walked with Peanut though the University Pavilion discussing my predicament, he started telling me about his major of Human Resource Management. Peanut went on to tell me all about the HR profession.

They hire, fire and start out at 35K a year (Come to find out, this annual salary proved to be somewhat exaggerated).

Well, I’m not going to lie to you, 35K is just like hitting the lottery when you are 19 years old. Hire and fire, those sound pretty good too.

With my finely tuned research in hand (Thanks Peanut) and before you knew it, I was the newest HR major on the block. I will be honest, I was starting from scratch with my understanding of Human Resources. HR is almost like a secret club… Everyone knows that it exists, but not everyone knows what really goes on inside HR. As I went though college, I grew in both my knowledge and respect for the field. I went from having three pieces of knowledge to a healthy passion for everything HR.

I continue to interweave HR and technology together every opportunity I get. My goals and dreams are ever changing for HR and Technology. If you want to collaborate, let me know, I love expanding the pool of HR knowledge.