Hi everyone

I'd like to add my appreciation to the many comments on this thread - the Communities are a very valued part of my CIPD membership and I really enjoy reading, occasionally posting answers where I feel I can add something useful.

I use Mike's hidden link to see the most recent postings which is brilliant, so that should be available to all. Improving the searching facility and encouraging everyone to search before posting another question would be my only other suggestion.

Thanks, Kate

Many thanks, Kate. Reading you, and others on these points *loud and clear*. 

Steve 

Communities section - great....I used it for the first time yesterday and got guidance straight away..this section will be invaluable to me to guide my way round obstacles. As I work for a small Company I get involved in all sorts of areas I will certainly use this section for advice/guidance again.

My thanks to all advisors/contributors and of course, yourself.

 Happy Christmas

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year,

I'm a new CIPD member and this is my first time post here too.  There seems to be a great collaboration of ideas and opinions on the message boards and it is nice to see such a close knit group of professionals with whom I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts with.

Although a UK citizen I work in Japan which does not lend itself to too many opportunities for face-to-face networking with other professionals in the HR industry, so this is an ideal way to keep abreast of developments.

Thanks to both moderators and posters alike!  (though having some problems uploading my profile at the moment!)

Happy New Year to you, too Daniel, and great to see you here!

Always good to get an international perspective.

Email me directly - s.bridger@cipd.co.uk - and I'll help out on the profile front!

Steve 

I echo most of the comments on here already. This forum is a great place to share your experiences and dilemmas and gain advice and suggestions from others who have been in similar situations. As I too work in a stand alone role, this resource is an unvaluable way to seek input from colleagues.

Sometimes it just confirms to me I am doing the right thing. Sometimes it helps me come up with solutions to my challenges and other times it is just comforting to know other people are out there dealing with the same dramas and situations I am.

I am very grateful to the core ban of contributors who are always willing to share their views. The threads often turn into a good old debate of all the pros and cons of a a course of action, it's just like sitting in a university workshop.

I do like to answer, but often find others have already respresented my perspective, or that a thread is quite old and an answer no longer sought.

 My advice to first time posters, be clear about context and specifics, clearly tmark your thread in a topic area and have patience waiting for people to respond. It takes a while sometimes but I have never been ignored.

 Thanks, Rachel

Rachel. Thank you. Brilliant.

I reiterate again my commitment to write up a summary of the thread this month.

Steve 

I know this thread seemed to have run it's course a couple of months ago, but I've only just come across it, which just goes to show I don't check the forums often enough!!  I only started using the communities about a year ago and tend to read a lot more than I post, however I will take the points given above and make an effort to add my voice to queries whenever possible. 

Overall I have no complaints, I find the communities of huge benefit when I have particular issues I need to solve. 

I think this was a great thread as it was good to hear the value others are getting.  All I can say is keep up the good work!

Margaret

Old threads never die.... they just wait to come back into fashion!

......Sorry: I know...... bad pun...... I'll go back to the drawing board....

Thank you for your comments, Margaret. Always good to get feedback.

Steve 

I find the communities very helpful in giving me reassuring information and places to start on complex issues.  I benefit from both the experience of wise owls and also bright ideas from colleagues on what they might do in my place.   

 Can you improve the CPD record link?  Why can't we link a question we asked or answered directly to our accounts rather than clicking the button and having to do about 3 more clicks then get a blank record up and faff about recreating the data?  A link to your post or the thread, to which reflections can then be linked in your CPD log would be far better.  At the moment I can't understand the value of the "save in your cpd record" button. 

 Can we also have some expert moderators who can answer questions, providing some content expertise?  I currently post mostly in the International pages and I don't see the CIPD as an organisation providing expert responses or help there.  I think the institute could do more for members with international roles or responsibilities as we are increasingly expected to deal with global employee communities. 

Also, what about extracting data such as weblinks people suggest etc to add more content to the CIPD webpages on topics?

Kate - thank you! Brilliant post.

Adding your suggestions to my BIG LIST.

Steve 

I thought of another one. When we click on a long thread, like this one, why can't it remember where we got to and take us to that page (we are logged in after all). I'd like to know if there were new posts after mine or after I last looked at a particular thread, but the forums don't seem to indicate that or facilitate a quick check. 

As an example, I had to click the title of this thread then guess what page no it was at when I read it last, then scroll to the end to see there was nothing new. 

 Hope this helps

 Kate

" Can we also have some expert moderators who can answer questions, providing some content expertise?" Fair point then again another angle could be

 Expertise -- experience?

With St Patrick's Day (and a handsome win in the rugby) not far behind us it is appropriate to reflect on remarks attributed to Oscar Wilde "Experience is the name people give to their mistakes."

 The joy of the discussion board is it does not promise concrete answers but rather perspectives based on people's experience within a certain context - people we have never met before but fortunately are connected with via the joys of cyberspace. It could seem foolish to offer prescriptive advice since learning comes more often than last from trying out something new, sometimes with the input of others, then reflecting on what happened balanced against what we expected to happen.

Sometimes it would be particularly helpful if there was some wise counsel to provide prompt, accurate responses to our enquiries. However, the collective heads of the many and varied persons who read and/or post on these discussions provide arguably a far better sounding board than any one individual could.

Perhaps cynically I am always cautious about seeking expertise from experts as I remember well the following equation:

x = the unknown quantity

spurt = a drip under pressure.

I prefer a good sounding board, occasionally being knocked down a peg or two, or better still bouncing ideas around and drifting off a tad tangentially.

Participation is optional and in the end depends on how thought-provoking your post is or possibly how topical or somewhere in between.

It is not possible to transmogrify a reasonable discussion into an excellent one. It is all in the mix which is kaleidoscopic -- turn it even one small notch and the picture changes even if the ingredients haven't.

It would therefore be helpful to see some feedback on the number of times an individual post has been read rather than just the number of replies posted -- or is this information already available and I just need to learn how to do access it?

David

Hi David

I always use ex = has-been and spurt = drip under pressure, but we clearly share a mutual caution towards the value of (usually self-appointed) "experts".

I think that one of the refreshing (and sometimes humbling) values of "communities" is how often I learn something new (or a new vision of something "old") from someone who has "affiliate" or "associate" appended to their name.

Peter