Happy 2009 ranters!

A belated happy new year to all readers of the rant. 2008 has been and gone and it seems like only yesterday that we were welcoming it in with a festive top 10 for HR.

The business agenda has changed significantly and we are now in the grips of the largest downturn in our economy since the 1980's.

Fear not loyal bloggers as we all know (and the evidence supports us!) that it is in these times that innovation and creativity come to the fore. We have seen the growth in popularity of applied psychology and creativity with the the likes of Brain Rules (John Medina), Presentation Zen (Gar Reynolds), Guy Kawasaki, Slideology (Nancy Duarte), Meaning Inc. (Gurnek Bains) and Seth Godin leading the way. The HR agenda has not been quite so dynamic with many in the profession seemingly battening down the hatches and planning for the worst. Take the fact that the Web 2.0 masterclass was the poorest attended at this years UK HR professionals conference and you get the feeling that many in the profession still don't get it.

So what for 2009? As ever I am hopeful that the giant that is (or could be) HR will finally waken from its Ulrich slumber and assert itself as THE oil in the engine of our corporations and institutions. To do this HR needs to grasp the opportunity that is Web 2.0 and get its teeth into collaboration, social networking, engagement, creating meaning in the workplace, virtual business and new talent management.

Finally, thanks you to all of you who have visited the rant in 2008 without your enthusiasm and support life would not be quite so interesting.