It’s been several weeks since I joined Human Resource Executive®, and now that I’ve met most of my colleagues and can find the coffee and mostly work our website, it’s time that I introduce myself to you, our HRE readers.
I’m thrilled to say hello. And I’m eager to hear from you about the content we’re delivering and how we can change or improve it to better serve you. As you know, I will never be able to replace editor emeritus Dave Shadovitz, but I’m honored to take the reins into the future.
RELATED: Retiring editor reflects on three decades in HR
A few personal details about me: You can call me Elizabeth or Liz. I’m married and live in a quirky town called Lake Worth Beach with my husband, a fellow journalist, and two teenagers. I joined the HRE team from the world of daily journalism in South Florida—a hotbed of news even before the election of our part-time neighbor President Trump. Most recently I was editor of the Palm Beach Daily News, a community newspaper and website serving the small, oceanfront town of Palm Beach.
Before that, I spent many years as a reporter and an editor, including five years as a sportswriter for the Palm Beach Post. As a newsroom manager for the past six years, I spent a small percentage of my time on HR concerns—primarily performance management, recruiting and retention, diversity and inclusion, and training and development. In that time, I experienced the sometimes-painful transitions from paper forms to online tools and HR technology systems that increasingly became vital in the industry.
Still, it’s only been in the past few months that I’ve spent much time thinking in-depth about that term: human resources. That’s the new and interesting part of this job and of this publication: that intersection of people and work, where we all spend so much of our time, our energy and, if we’re lucky, our passion.
What that means is that I’ll be editing and guiding coverage about those subjects that matter most to you as HR executives leading your companies into the future. We’re working for you, digging into such key topics as talent acquisition, technology and health and benefits to provide information and insight—and that’s the essence of journalism no matter the publication.
If we’re doing our jobs well, we’ll do more than tell your stories. We will help you solve problems. We will recognize your achievements. We will understand your challenges, maybe before you do, and help you steer around them. We’ll be here doing what we love in hopes of helping you do your jobs better, no matter what part of the market you’re in. Over the coming months, that will mean a growing connection between our print magazine, our digital content and our related conferences as all three complement each other in providing you vital information and tools.
First, I’ve got a lot to learn. I’m grateful to those of you who have already offered to help me understand this space. I’ll be taking you up on those offers. Keep them coming, especially if you don’t mind a few inevitable dumb questions. And let me know who else I should meet, what events I should attend, whose podcasts I must listen to and what I’ve got to read.
It will take some time. Luckily, the experienced staff here are expertly leading the way through the transition. I also have two other HRE newbies with me on this learning curve: My boss, Tim Burke, senior vice president/publisher of HR products, and Kathryn Mayer, benefits editor and chair of the Health & Benefits Leadership Conference, also have joined the team in the past few months.
I hope to meet many of you soon, either virtually or in person, maybe during HR Tech this fall in Las Vegas. Until then, please contact me with your suggestions for HR Executive — or anything else on the subject of the people, tools, themes, challenges and ever-changing technology of human resources.
You can reach me at [email protected]; on Twitter @LizClarke92; or on LinkedIn.
