Like every business department these days, HR is awash in Big Data. But, as Carol Anderson, a leading human resources expert, writes on Human Capitalist, the analytics HR teams are using aren\’t all that useful.

\”Time and again,\” she writes, \”I have watched HR professionals spend an inordinate amount of time defending their data to leaders and employees who don\’t believe that the data is credible.\”

Anderson\’s advice? Stop obsessing about Big Data, and start focusing on Good Data. Here\’s how:

“An excellent place to start is, as usual, at the end. Key questions to consider: What data do leaders and executives need to understand organizational performance and leadership strength? How useful is the current data being provided? How accurate?”

“Now, armed with the knowledge of what is important, it’s time for a candid review of the current state of data. Who inputs the data and how is the integrity of the data ensured? Where are there inconsistencies in the data? Why do they exist (you may need to push beyond the \’because we need it\’)? Can we provide the data that the leaders need in a timely and accurate manner? If we find gaps, what data is the priority to address?”

“Pull together small cross-functional teams to complete the analysis and revise the data processes. Break the work into small chunks, and give the teams the challenge to eliminate inconsistencies, and recommend a process to ensure data quality.”

It\’s back to business at colleges across the country — but not for the nation\’s most recent graduates. More than 40 percent of them are unemployed and many are loaded with student debt. Small wonder, then, that some question whether a college education is really worth the time and money.

The answer is: Yes, depending on which major a student chooses. PayScale, an online provider of compensation data, recently tracked the academic disciplines that offer the greatest salary potential both in the short and long term. Here\’s a closer look at the most lucrative job titles and salaries, based on annual pay of bachelor\’s degree holders without higher degrees and grads who typically have two years\’ experience when they start.

Given the planet’s growing need for energy, the expanding population of global travelers and the speed at which information technology is spreading in the industrial and developing worlds, engineers with highly specialized skills are in high demand. Engineering makes up six of the 10 top-earning degrees (and 12 of the top 20).

Applied mathematics, on the other hand, is more concerned with mathematical methods, which can lead to careers in science, engineering and general business. Statisticians typically work for federal, state or local governments or private companies.

Another hot commodity: computer science majors. They\’ve been in demand since the dawn of the personal computer era, but their value has skyrocketed as the number of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices worldwide has exploded. Future advances in industrial, medical and research methods depend on the know-how of computer scientists. Ranked No. 9 on the PayScale list, computer science majors can expect to start at $58,400 and reach a mid-career salary of $100,000.

The left-brained crowd clearly has the lead when it comes to earning potential, but that doesn\’t mean right-brained folks are destined to pinch pennies. International relations, advertising and film production, for example, appear in the top 50 majors on the PayScale list, with international relations leading the group at a starting salary of $40,600 and median salary of $93,000 (although, to be fair, liberal arts and other more creative-oriented majors dominate the list\’s bottom 50).

The use of social media at the office is a tricky one. Some employers draw clear lines around postings to corporate accounts on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites. But what about the Likes, photos and miscellaneous commentary employees regularly post on their personal accounts? It\’s a tricky issue.

For starters, the law on whether employers have the right to monitor activity on personal social media accounts is unclear. Can employers discipline an employee for a late-night Facebook rant against a boss? Or is the employee protected by free speech? Some 12 states have enacted laws that expressly bar employers from gaining access to the social media accounts of either workers or prospective employees. Courts, too, are grappling with the issue.

For now, there are six basic steps that companies can safely take to regulate their employees\’ social media use — and avoid a full-blown PR crisis:

1. Encourage employees to maintain separate accounts for personal and professional use. Mixing accounts is risky. Warns Tom Petrocelli, a senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group: “It’s even okay if you maintain an account for business messaging that is under your control to further your personal brand and include some corporate messages with it, especially as they relate to you. Just keep business in one place and personal in another and don’t blend them together.”

2. Remind employees that disclosing insider information is a no-no — under any circumstance. Companies should make clear that divulging company secrets is against company policy and they should routinely refer to the diktat as a reminder.

3. Create an open — and safe — environment for employees to admit online mishaps. Encouraging employees to confess when they\’ve posted an inappropriate comment on social media can help minimize any fallout. Acknowledging a mistake is better for both the employee and employer because it creates a culture of honesty and trust, writes Heather Huhman, founder and president of consulting firm Come Recommended, on BBC.

4. Don’t ask employees to promote the company on their personal accounts. Some companies are asking employees to change their cover photos on their personal Facebook profiles to promote the company. Yet, employers don’t have to look much farther than the Facebook terms of service to find out that using personal timelines for commercial gain is prohibited. If employees want to promote the company by posting pictures of them at the annual summer picnic, more power to them, notes lawyer Ruth Carter of Carter Law Firm. The key takeaway: let them make the choice.

5. Clearly set out when personal social media accounts are accessible by employers. There\’s only one scenario in which employers have a fairly clear right to access employees\’ social media accounts: workplace investigations. Although an employee claiming discrimination or sexual harassment is likely to volunteer supporting evidence, employers in most states are allowed to request account credentials in cases of alleged wrongdoing, says employment lawyer Eric Meyer.

6. Establish guidelines for those who own the company\’s social media accounts from the beginning of employment. \”The line between a personal and professional social media account can be blurry,\” writes employment lawyer Renee Jackson on Forbes, \”so if this ownership issue is not hashed out at the beginning of employment, the employer and the employee may both believe the account is theirs.\” Management should create the accounts under the company’s name, manage the logins, and oversee the content posted, recommends Jackson. Specify account ownership and acceptable content in formal job descriptions or offer letters.

The use of social media at the office is a tricky one. Some employers draw clear lines around postings to corporate accounts on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites. But what about the Likes, photos and miscellaneous commentary employees regularly post on their personal accounts? It\’s a tricky issue.

For starters, the law on whether employers have the right to monitor activity on personal social media accounts is unclear. Can employers discipline an employee for a late-night Facebook rant against a boss? Or is the employee protected by free speech? Some 12 states have enacted laws that expressly bar employers from gaining access to the social media accounts of either workers or prospective employees. Courts, too, are grappling with the issue.

For now, there are six basic steps that companies can safely take to regulate their employees\’ social media use — and avoid a full-blown PR crisis:

1. Encourage employees to maintain separate accounts for personal and professional use. Mixing accounts is risky. Warns Tom Petrocelli, a senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group: “It’s even okay if you maintain an account for business messaging that is under your control to further your personal brand and include some corporate messages with it, especially as they relate to you. Just keep business in one place and personal in another and don’t blend them together.”

2. Remind employees that disclosing insider information is a no-no — under any circumstance. Companies should make clear that divulging company secrets is against company policy and they should routinely refer to the diktat as a reminder.

3. Create an open — and safe — environment for employees to admit online mishaps. Encouraging employees to confess when they\’ve posted an inappropriate comment on social media can help minimize any fallout. Acknowledging a mistake is better for both the employee and employer because it creates a culture of honesty and trust, writes Heather Huhman, founder and president of consulting firm Come Recommended, on BBC.

4. Don’t ask employees to promote the company on their personal accounts. Some companies are asking employees to change their cover photos on their personal Facebook profiles to promote the company. Yet, employers don’t have to look much farther than the Facebook terms of service to find out that using personal timelines for commercial gain is prohibited. If employees want to promote the company by posting pictures of them at the annual summer picnic, more power to them, notes lawyer Ruth Carter of Carter Law Firm. The key takeaway: let them make the choice.

5. Clearly set out when personal social media accounts are accessible by employers. There\’s only one scenario in which employers have a fairly clear right to access employees\’ social media accounts: workplace investigations. Although an employee claiming discrimination or sexual harassment is likely to volunteer supporting evidence, employers in most states are allowed to request account credentials in cases of alleged wrongdoing, says employment lawyer Eric Meyer.

6. Establish guidelines for those who own the company\’s social media accounts from the beginning of employment. \”The line between a personal and professional social media account can be blurry,\” writes employment lawyer Renee Jackson on Forbes, \”so if this ownership issue is not hashed out at the beginning of employment, the employer and the employee may both believe the account is theirs.\” Management should create the accounts under the company’s name, manage the logins, and oversee the content posted, recommends Jackson. Specify account ownership and acceptable content in formal job descriptions or offer letters.

New CEOs tend to talk a big game about getting involved in day-to-day engagement with employees and teams, but many tend to fade back into the C-suite after a honeymoon phase — not because they aren\’t involved, but typically because higher-level management duties tend to crowd out lower priorities. So how can the top exec remain an integral member of the team while running the company? Human Capitalist\’s Jay Forte suggests it\’s easier than most people think.

\”The next step is to list the CEO’s current responsibilities. Circle the ones that fit the CEO based on the answers above,\” Forte writes. \”Review the remaining responsibilities and delegate them accordingly (with the proper training and authority-level, of course). Any duties that cannot be reassigned remain with the CEO. This creates a customized role for the CEO in the same way strong workplaces customize roles for their employees to ensure great fit, engagement and performance.\”

Forget LinkedIn. \”A whole barrage of exciting tools have been created to help companies better find and source key candidates,\” writes Bersin. \”These companies mine your personal code postings and other social information to create a profile and actual \’competency ratings\’ based on your social data.\”

\”Today, driven largely by the power of the cloud, there seems to be an explosion of new assessment tools.\”

\”The highest-performing companies are now pushing more and more responsibility onto the shoulders of hiring managers (training them how to interview) and letting recruiters focus on high-powered sourcing and initial screening.\”

\”Today’s high-powered recruiters work directly with the SVP of Marketing to create a research-based, authentic employment brand and promote it on the front page of the company website (not only in the \’careers section\’).\”

\”Our research shows that the most advanced thinkers in HR analytics start by measuring recruiting.  Do you know where your most effective candidates come from?  What backgrounds and experiences make the best sales people? Which sourcing or advertising channels are most effective and efficient?\”

Forget LinkedIn. \”A whole barrage of exciting tools have been created to help companies better find and source key candidates,\” writes Bersin. \”These companies mine your personal code postings and other social information to create a profile and actual \’competency ratings\’ based on your social data.\”

\”Today, driven largely by the power of the cloud, there seems to be an explosion of new assessment tools.\”

\”The highest-performing companies are now pushing more and more responsibility onto the shoulders of hiring managers (training them how to interview) and letting recruiters focus on high-powered sourcing and initial screening.\”

\”Today’s high-powered recruiters work directly with the SVP of Marketing to create a research-based, authentic employment brand and promote it on the front page of the company website (not only in the \’careers section\’).\”

\”Our research shows that the most advanced thinkers in HR analytics start by measuring recruiting.  Do you know where your most effective candidates come from?  What backgrounds and experiences make the best sales people? Which sourcing or advertising channels are most effective and efficient?\”

Cloud computing has nothing to do with the weather, yet most people actually believe that storms can cause problems with the technology. It\’s a fair guess that HR managers make up a good chunk of the mis-believers — at least according to William Tincup, who argues on Human Capitalist that fear and ignorance of the cloud is still a major drag on workplace innovation.   

\”In almost every other aspect of our modern life we implicitly trust the cloud,\” Tincup explains. \”Facebook, cloud. Salesforce.com, cloud, LinkedIn, cloud. Almost everything delivered over our \’smart\’ phones touches the cloud. Then why do we question the cloud at work?\”

Institutional fear in HR, Tincup explains, is founded in its longstanding aversion to change. The way out of that jam? Tincup suggests it starts with a few simple lessons. 

What\’s the hottest job of the future? It might very well be the \”permalancer\” — part-time contractors who can often appear to be regular members of an organization but aren\’t full-time employees.

The population of part-timers in the United States is growing fast, according to recruiters and government statistics: there are 27.4 million part-time jobs in the country, up 10 percent from 2007. By comparison, the number of full-time jobs during the same period has dropped by 4 million, to about 118 million. According to Adecco, a staffing firm, one full-time job will be created for every three or four permalancer positions in the coming year.

But the permalancer trend isn\’t driven just by companies looking to keep costs down and maintain a flexible workforce as business demands change. Many permalancers like the setup, for a multitude of reasons: most like having the freedom to choose when, where and for how long they work. \”Contract work gives [permalancers] exposure to many different companies, work environments and projects,\” Matt Rivera, the director of customer solutions at staffing group Yoh, told The Chicago Tribune. \”While it would seem like there\’s less stability because they\’re not working as a direct employee, for many workers with in-demand skills, it allows them to dictate the types of projects they work on and how much they work.\”

The growing trend poses some challenges for employers. The first one is legal: to prevent employers from exploiting workers, regulations protect independent contractors from being unfairly denied healthcare or other benefits. The second challenge is cultural: the size of the permalancer workforce means they make up a bigger share of a company\’s workforce. With that comes the need to ensure that they fit within the company. Here\’s how a handful of workplace experts recommend striking the right balance:

What\’s the hottest job of the future? It might very well be the \”permalancer\” — part-time contractors who can often appear to be regular members of an organization but aren\’t full-time employees.

The population of part-timers in the United States is growing fast, according to recruiters and government statistics: there are 27.4 million part-time jobs in the country, up 10 percent from 2007. By comparison, the number of full-time jobs during the same period has dropped by 4 million, to about 118 million. According to Adecco, a staffing firm, one full-time job will be created for every three or four permalancer positions in the coming year.

But the permalancer trend isn\’t driven just by companies looking to keep costs down and maintain a flexible workforce as business demands change. Many permalancers like the setup, for a multitude of reasons: most like having the freedom to choose when, where and for how long they work. \”Contract work gives [permalancers] exposure to many different companies, work environments and projects,\” Matt Rivera, the director of customer solutions at staffing group Yoh, told The Chicago Tribune. \”While it would seem like there\’s less stability because they\’re not working as a direct employee, for many workers with in-demand skills, it allows them to dictate the types of projects they work on and how much they work.\”

The growing trend poses some challenges for employers. The first one is legal: to prevent employers from exploiting workers, regulations protect independent contractors from being unfairly denied healthcare or other benefits. The second challenge is cultural: the size of the permalancer workforce means they make up a bigger share of a company\’s workforce. With that comes the need to ensure that they fit within the company. Here\’s how a handful of workplace experts recommend striking the right balance: