All About the Peer Groups

Peer Groups are designed to help you network with HR pros who have similar circumstances who can provide relevant ideas, suggestions and input.

• What are Peer Groups?
• How Can I Start a Peer Group?
• More Tips on Using Peer Groups
• How Do I Post?

What Are Peer Groups?

Peer Groups are your opportunity to discuss mutual areas of interest with like-minded HR professionals.

Maybe you’re with a restaurant or hotel, and want to talk to others in the hospitality industry. Maybe you’re a California company, and want to discuss certain state laws unique to California companies. Or, maybe you re a non-union manufacturing company, and want to talk to other members from manufacturing companies that aren t unionized.

Whatever your individual issues, peer groups are a great place to discuss them with other HR professionals who understand what you’re doing. There are no restrictions on who can join the discussion–all are welcome. The areas of discussion are up to you, so long as they comply with the Terms of this site.

It s easy to submit a request for a new Peer Group. First ask yourself these questions:

1) Are there a sufficient number of HR and management professionals who fit the criteria? You may want to search the member network to answer this one.

2) Are these issues not being discussed elsewhere?

3) Do members of the demographic group you propose (i.e. small retail employers, HR professionals in England, etc.) have issues and challenges in common?

If so, send over your request for a new Peer Group. Include your name, organization, location, and why you think the group would work. We ll set it up or get back to you within a week.

• Make it your own. The Peer Groups are yours. Feel free to use them every day, or more than once a day. Frequent visitors and frequent posts help keep the dialogue going.

• Send out invitations. Every so often, use the member network to search for members who might fit into your Peer Group. Then, send them an e-mail inviting them to join in.

• See If Someone Else Has Been There, Done That. Read a few postings, get a feel for how the Forums work, then post your message. You’ll be more likely to generate responses if your posting fits into the culture users have established here.

• Don’t Make Your Subject a Mystery. When posting a message to a forum, make sure to give your message a descriptive subject heading. Remember, if you want to generate responses, you have to make your subject clear for the people who see it — they will only choose to read the subject headings that are of interest to them.

• Formatting Is on Auto-Pilot. When you type in a message, don’t worry if your message extends beyond the boundaries of the input box. When you click on “Post Message”, the text will be automatically formatted and wrapped so that it fits a standard screen width.

• Become a Groupie. It’s easier to keep up to date with the discussions if you set aside a regular time period once or twice a week to visit the forums. And be patient, because sometimes thorough and helpful answers appear weeks after the original question was posted.
• No solicitation. Please, no advertising. Discuss specific products and services only when responding to relevant user inquiries.

• Read the legalese. Check out the Terms of this site. They’re a reminder that the information on the site is information, not advice, and that we are not liable for it.

Only Workforce Online members can participate in the Peer Groups. It’s is easy to become a member. Once a member, you’ll also have the opportunity to receive the free e-mail newsletter, Workforce Week, to keep you up-to-date on site content and activities. And if there are new Peer Groups, you’ll find out.