Methodology for "The HR Blog Power Poll Rankings" sponsored by The HR Capitalist

--SEE HR BLOG POWER RANKINGS HERE

--Poll is based on 103 HR-related blogs, including properties focused on HRM, recruiting, compensation, rewards/recognition, benefits, vendor products, leadership, workplace culture, employment law and related legal issues.  Oddly enough, the search continues for the world's first payroll blog.  Go figure...

--Blogs seeking inclusion in the HR Blog Power Poll may submit their site to The HR Capitalist for voting moving forward.  Blogs seeking inclusion must support RSS via Google Reader.

--Poll Sponsor (HR Capitalist) has all eligible blogs loaded into latest version of Google Reader and pledges to read, or attempt to read, every post from every eligible blog moving forward.

--Upon reading blog entry, Poll Sponsor determines if entry contains news/thoughts/humor/entertainment exceptional enough to recommend to HR colleagues for consideration.  In short, the entry must have data/news/opinion/reflections with substance to improve the life of an average HR Manager/Director/VP as judged by poll sponsor.

--If entry is judged as exceptional, entry is starred for the record moving forward.

--Per the structure of Google Reader, all eligible blogs are sorted according to the number of exceptional entries judged to be created by owners.  Blogs are then ranked from #1 to #25 based on this criteria.

--Blogs in Top 25 will receive overall ranking, a power index noting the number of starred entries, an indicator noting last position in poll and some quick-hitting notes regarding what makes them special. 

--Blogs not in Top 25 but receiving starred entries will receive a "shout out" in the "Also Receiving Votes" section of the poll, meaning they are players in the eyes of the poll sponsor.

--Ties among blogs with same number of starred entries are broken according to even more subjective criteria than those listed above.  Kind of like the College BCS poll in this area...

--Power Index/Number of Starred Entries always reflects the body of work for the last 30 days.  With this in mind, blogs consistently generating great work are rewarded, those having one strong month out of twelve are destined to become another "Tone Loc".

--Quality posts are what is measured via the poll, but blogs are not penalized for posting more frequently than their peers.  If it takes you 10 posts a day to crank out the masterpiece, cool.  If you can become #1 with two posts a week, more power to you.

--Blogs with lots of political humor or dirty words generally won't be ranked high in the poll since I can't recommend them to all my HR friends.  Sensitive bunch, those HR people.  Additionally, Q&A from employees generally won't generate a recommended post unless it includes content a HR Generalist can appreciate.

--Blogs from specialists in areas like recruiting, vendors, benefits, etc. may have more excellent posts than reflected in this poll.  The Poll Sponsor will only count as exceptional those posts with strong projected interest to the HR Generalist community at the Manager/Director/VP level.