The 2019 HR Media Study: Hot Topics + Key Insights

But what exactly are today’s biggest HR names talking about the most? If you’re in the talent acquisition world, you could likely rattle off a few recent hot topics — AI, employer branding, diversity and inclusion and company culture all come to mind. 

To achieve a more precise answer to our question, we dug into the data to learn exactly which HR topics are currently the most relevant, who’s discussing them and how often, and which publishing formats are most popular. 

Yello’s 2019 HR Media Study is a comprehensive look at seven leading HR publications: HR Dive, Recruiting Daily, SHRM, NACE, TLNT, ERE, and Human Resource Executive. We reviewed every article from each publication over a month-long span, categorized them into key groups, and identified key insights. 

Here’s what we learned:

Top 3 takeaways from the 2019 HR Media Study:

• The most popular discussion topics include recruitment strategies, HR technology, HR leadership, and diversity and inclusion. 
• The majority of HR content is made up of research, long-form content, news, and interviews.
• Tuesday is the most popular day of the week to publish HR content.
• HR Dive publishes the most content of any publication surveyed.
• William Tincup is the most-followed HR media figure on social media, with almost 300K Twitter followers.

What are today’s most popular HR topics?

Unsurprisingly, a majority of human resources publications continue to offer practical advice and resources for building recruitment strategies, staying up-to-date on legal matters, and incorporating technology into HR practices. Less popular topics include employee education and benefits, HR news, candidate experience and candidate sourcing.

Gap alert!

Another recent Yello study found that talent acquisition professionals are most interested in learning about employee retention, HR technology, and hiring trends. While media publications actively discuss HR tech, there’s an opportunity to provide more education around how to combat job hoppers and improve employee experience.

What types of HR articles are published most often?

Other popular types of articles include long-form content, news and how-to articles that offer new recruiting strategies and best practices.

What are the most popular days to publish HR content?

Who’s publishing the most content?

When it comes to article volume, HR Dive blows its peers out of the water. Publishing 163 articles in one month alone, HR Dive is home to many of today’s top recruiting insights. TLNT, HR Executive and SHRM are a close tie for second, with ERE, Recruiting Daily and NACE trailing behind.

Which authors are making the most impact?

It comes as no surprise that HR Dive’s writers are publishing the most content. Here are the loudest voices in HR media today:

Who are the most active HR influencers on social media?

William Tincup

Twitter: https://twitter.com/williamtincup (282.7K followers)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/

William Tincup is President of RecruitingDaily, the influential network of recruiting blogs and conferences covering topics such as HR tech, industry trends, recruitment marketing, and sourcing. Tincup’s popular Twitter feed, boasting nearly 300k subscribers, is a must-follow for original insights and curated highlights of other industry-leading voices.

Jason Buss

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jjbuss (67K followers)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbuss/

A highly-influential leader in HR and talent acquisition, Jason Buss is the vice president of global talent acquisition at MongoDB and is the founder of the Recruiters Network, a collection of some of the nation’s largest and most active regional recruiting communities. Buss also runs Talent HQ, a wide-ranging blog, email list, and collection of webinars.

Laurie Ruettimann

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lruettimann (66.5K followers)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurieruettimann/

An outspoken writer, speaker, and podcaster, Laurie Ruettimann has made a career out of hating her previous jobs in corporate America. Focused on helping leaders create meaningful, non-toxic work cultures, Ruettimann’s blog and Let’s Fix Work podcast is an extension of her passion to restore dignity and self-worth to the workplace.

Kevin Grossman

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevinWGrossman (61.4K followers)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinwgrossman/

Kevin Grossman is President of Talent Board, a non-profit organization focused on the creation of a quality candidate experience. Grossman hosts #TheCandEs Shop Talk Podcast, where he speaks with talent acquisition leaders, industry influencers, and winners of the CandE Awards, a candidate experience-focused competition produced by Talent Board.

Jennifer McClure

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure (59.2K followers)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure/

Professional speaker and business advisor Jennifer McClure travels the world discussing leadership, talent strategies, and the future of work. A onetime HR executive and executive recruiter, McClure is also the CEO of the DisruptHR conference, and regularly explores leadership topics on her blog and podcast, Impact Makers.

Josh Bersin

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Josh_Bersin (56.9K followers)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bersin/

A world-renowned HR and talent industry analyst, Josh Bersin is the founder of Bersin by Deloitte, a research-based people strategy consulting service. Bersin is a prolific writer who frequently blogs, tweets, and publishes articles on his LinkedIn Influencer site and Forbes.com.

Greg Savage

Twitter: https://twitter.com/greg_savage (58.5K followers)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregpsavage/

Over the course of his four-decade career, Greg Savage has founded multiple successful businesses in the recruitment space and was named the most influential person in the Australian recruitment industry in the past 60 years. An early adopter of social media for recruitment, Savage’s powerful reach made him one of LinkedIn’s top voices in 2018, and his industry blog, The Savage Truth, and Twitter feed have become must-reads for recruitment professionals.

Steve Boese

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SteveBoese (49K followers)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveboese/

A leading voice in HR technology with a background in developing HCM solutions at Oracle, Steve Boese is co-chair of the HR Technology Conference, the world’s largest gathering of the HR tech community. Boese also co-hosts the popular podcast and web radio show HR Happy Hour with Trish McFarlane and co-founded the HRevolution event series.

Trish McFarlane

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrishMcFarlane (44.3K followers)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishamcfarlane/

The CEO of H3 HR Advisors, Trish McFarlane is a former HR executive and HCM product leader with over two decades of experience in leadership development and talent acquisition. McFarlane co-hosts HR Happy Hour with Steve Boese, one of the industry’s most-listened-to podcasts, and is a co-founder of HRevolution and the Women of HR Blog.