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HR executives whose companies appear on a "Most Admired" list exclusively recalibrated for HRE share insights into how they're successfully tackling global-leadership challenges.

In the online recruiting game, many believe niche boards, job aggregators and social networking will soon reign supreme. Others, however, aren't so sure, contending that the big job sites are taking the necessary steps to prevail.

Demographic shifts as well as the impact of the recession have the potential to cause a critical knowledge loss in the workplace. A company's sustainable long-term growth requires a formal and proactive strategy -- supported by senior management and woven into the cultural fabric of the organization -- that maximizes knowledge retention and knowledge transfer.

New economic realities and new technologies have joined forces to change the modes, messages and priorities of HR communications.

Competency models -- long used to deliver leadership goals to employees worldwide -- can also help determine succession plans and solve other talent-management challenges, but only if they're created and integrated correctly.

Why is it so hard for HR professionals to be accountable for mistakes and faulty judgments? All professionals are reluctant to admit they are less than perfect. And everyone is apprehensive about the consequences of making mistakes. But there is evidence that HR professionals may be a little more adverse to admitting mistakes than other professionals.

Washington is busily debating the biggest reforms to the nation's healthcare system in a generation. What's the bottom line for HR leaders?

Executive physicals have long been considered a perk that's also necessary for the health of corporate leaders. But some critics say they're ineffective -- not to mention inequitable.

The march toward virtual collaboration in today's workforce is inevitable as increasing volumes of work are being passed on to global partners who offer a cost advantage. Research shows, however, that diverse -- and dispersed -- teams can be less effective than homogeneous groups. It's time for HR to take the lead in developing the effective virtual and heterogeneous organizations needed to compete in this century.

John Murabito, 2009's HR Executive of the Year, prescribed a steady dose of analytics and teamwork to fix a less-than-efficient HR function at Cigna Corp.

Organizations that use assessment tools to build and enhance work teams are finding significant returns on their investments.

About 20 years ago, "HR transformation" was a grass-roots movement focused on shifting HR from a largely administrative organization to a more strategic organization. That new work quickly evolved into a broad initiative to transform all HR services. Now, as it has become a standard way of doing business in HR, human resource leaders need to ask themselves what more can be done to help their organizations achieve their strategic goals.

Online video interviewing is one of the hot new trends in recruiting. It can save companies hundreds or thousands of dollars, but the tools can't replicate the experience of meeting someone in the flesh -- and some candidates may be less than comfortable with the process.

HR leaders must learn to make better use of their existing HR systems, revisit the terms and conditions of their vendors and maybe even rethink HR processes in general, making them more efficient and figuring out the role HR technology can play in helping their organizations ride out the current economic storm.

Highlights from a recent tour of a few of the big HR systems -- including some of the new developments worth paying attention to. While there is a lot of innovation (as always), there are many reasons some things will stay the same, including the inescapable complexities of software for accomplishing administrative work.