If you don’t know or follow these writers, you’re missing out on some of the best original content in the market. Don your shades, lather yourself with SPF and let’s take in the insight that only HR bloggers can provide. It will warm you with the knowledge that somehow, somewhere, someone has walked a mile in your sand-filled shoes:

• Mervyn Dinnen throws stones into the recruiting ocean and asks, Is your recruitment partner damaging your bottom line?
• Mike VanDervort’s sandcastle bridges the moat to his wife’s success in, Networking: It’s a small world after all
• Amit Bagria tackles waves of incentives with, What are the different categories of reward and recognition programs?
• Susan M. Heathfield covers up in, Documentation Dilemma, CYA or… ?
• Justin Field judges your surf skills with, Have you done your performance review yet?
• Lois Melbourne plays beach soccer and asks, How talent management is like the World Cup?
• Mark Vickers peers across oceans and describes Four key challenges for developing global leaders.
• Gireesh Sharma casts a line and questions whether Employers can be bad and still attract candidates.
• Mike Haberman recognizes the arrival of summer yet challenges the Value of vacations.
• Cathy Missildine-Martin scans the horizon with, Who values you most at work?
• Tanmay Vora faces the big waves in, Survival mindset, abundance and leadership.
• Melissa Prusher peers through clear blue waters with, Transparent communication.
• Ben Eubanks patrols the beach and offers An open letter to HR on policies, regulating and training.
• Lisa Rosendahl collects the shiniest shells in, How to make exceptional staffing decisions.
• Paul Smith chops up driftwood with, A tool by any other name.
• Laura Schroeder lifeguards your talent in, Are high performers the worst managers?
• Gautum Ghosh goes deep in, What does social CRM, enterprise 2.0 mean for hr and work?
• Lance Haun leaves terra firma behind with, Social media isn’t rocket science.

Dolphin break. Why? Because they’re smart and cool, just like certain HR peeps such as these writers:

• Dan McCarthy schools alpha fish in, Establishing a culture of distributed leadership.
• Melanie Sklarz questions your respect for the oceanic diversity with, Does your workplace really need sensitivity training?
• Wally Bock shares a fireside story with the classic, Once upon a time.
• Shauna Moerke body surfs through technical waves in, When it’s this easy…
• Jennifer V. Miller pushes against the current with, Game-changers welcome resistance.
• Benjamin McCall grabs his bucket and offers, How to make a sand pillow.
• John Hunter burns a little by asking, Are “classic” management theories still relevant?
• Naomi Bloom dives for treasure with, Sunk costs versus innovation.

As you soak up the sun this June take time to thank those who stole from their precious vacations to author some of the brightest content in the market. And if you have thoughts, comments or summertime stories, share them in the comments section below and let’s keep the (sunny) conversation going.

• Chris Young at Maximize Possibility, who asks who whether employee layoffs or paycuts are preferable.
• Lucie Phillips at People Management’s Editors blog who deals with the particular issues around part-time workers.
• Shauna Moerke the HR Minion who shares her experience ofoutplacement support.

• Sharlyn Lauby at HR Bartender asks what Is the new HR? 
• Chris Ferdinandi believes Renegade HR is an art (but you should act like a scientist)
• so of course you need to understand when to use qualitative vs quantitative research – see the advice from Tess Walton at Strategic Workforce Planning.”

Jon’s assembled some great bloggers and posts, so be sure to check it out!  This should keep your HR brain working while we return to our own original content over the next several days.  Thanks for your patience and let’s keep the conversation going.

“Wall Bock at Three Star Leadership asks what kind of working environment you create, and says that individual worker engagement is important, but engagement and productivity can change dramatically when a person is placed in a different environment.

Totally Consumed asks whether your employees trust the HR department and gives three principles to help get an HR department on track.

Prasad Kurian at Simplicity at the Other Side of Complexity says that when we are faced with situations that are radically different from the norm, we might need responses that look very different too.”

Enjoy the sugar rush and let’s keep the conversation going.

 ”Remember you are the expert (and act like it) – Ann Bares of Compensation Force shows us how in the area of compensation, related to when a request for a grade adjustment is real, and when it’s not.

-Tweak rewards and incentives based on the goal – Wouldn’t it be nice to be the expert on the impact of different types of rewards on individual vs. team behavior? Paul Herbert of Incentive Intelligence runs it down for you here.

-Use technology to deliver a customized experience for employees – Wally Bock reminds us that technology exists to customize our programs in many areas, including employee development.

-Become the expert on getting innovation through collaboration – Jon Ingham trots out some thoughts on the value of collaboration.  Maybe you should rethink locking down the social media sites via your web filter.”

…and there is much more, with 36 ”performances” across a litany of death-defying human capital stunts.  Enjoy the show and let’s keep the conversation going. 

There is a lot of great stuff in Jon’s summation, with a main topical thrust on HR bloggers who address the “sexiness” (or lack thereof) of HR:

“The need for HR to become more sexy is explained by Jessica Lee at Fistful of Talent. Jessica lists a number of areas in which development could make us sexier, for example by making more investment in social media. And helping up us gain a better understanding of this area are Larry Dunivan at Perceptive HR Technology, commenting on an earlier post by Jason Corsello, and Janet Walsh at Strategic Thinking.

Still confused by what sexy HR means? Well, some good examples of definitely not sexy HR are provided by HR Wench and Laurie Ruettimann at Team Building is for Suckers and some suggestions for being sexy in the downturn are offered by Frank Roche at KnowHR.”

I’d suggest you take some time to check out some of the links and other HR bloggers.  These are some of the knowledgeable, perceptive, insightful and even grumpy HR professionals producing interesting content on a regular basis.

Let’s keep the conversation going.