Reader Profile
    Workforce readers and users are human resources professionals who are moving beyond their traditional roles as policy police and picnic planners. They are actively working to make their businesses better.

    They are college educated and have been in the human resources field an average of 12 years. Our community of readers and users works in all industries, and in organizations of all sizes; the average reader works in an organization with 1,200 employees.

Content Goals
    Workforce presents these HR professionals with the trends and tools they need to bring about important business results in their companies or non-profits. Both the magazine and the Web site establish context, raise awareness, and sight trends. Both offer HR professionals the tools they need to take action, and present content that shows how HR achieves business results.

    HR's business impact might be helping to achieve a specific business goal, such as opening a new market, remaking a hiring initiative, creating a training program that improves profitability, launching a new product, or completing an acquisition.

    Workforce recognizes that much of what HR addresses begins outside the organization. HR is shaped (in part) by the economy, changes in society, legislation and legal decisions, and general business trends. HR doesn't exist in a vacuum. It doesn't run programs for their own sake, but because they can help the organization achieve a business result. That result might be preventing costly lawsuits, slashing administrative costs, or consistently hiring top talent. HR's impact also might be found in its contribution to higher profits, greater productivity, higher stock prices, or greater market share. Whatever form the impact might take, it must be specific and measurable.

Feature Packages
    To make HR trends and tools for business results as useable as possible for our audience, writers and editors create feature packages containing several elements, as opposed to the more traditional 2,000-word-long narratives. Examples of these feature packages can be seen in our most recent issues (Dec. 2000 and later).

    When we assign freelance writers to create story packages for us, we pay them at rates commensurate with their background and experience, and the story's complexity and length. Contributors who are HR professionals and others in the field are compensated by the exposure they receive on the Web site and in the magazine. We ask you to sign an agreement to that effect.

    The feature packages we publish identify trends, provide readers with tools they can use in the course of their work, and give readers examples of the business results that come about through steps taken by the companies and people we write about.

    Here are some ways to think about presenting your story:

• Trends: What's happening in the world, socially, economically, and politically that affects HR and its work? How does the trend present itself? Are there statistics, studies, company experiences, etc. that demonstrate that this is an actual trend and not just an inconsequential blip on the business radar?

• Tools: In a story about formalizing flextime (Feb. 2001 issue), the tools included a sample flextime proposal from PricewaterhouseCoopers, seven tips from experts who have established workable flextime programs and a list of Web resources. These were all separate elements of the feature package.

• Business results: These represent HR's impact in the organization. How did HR help a company save money, increase profitability, retain key employees, etc., as a result of the initiative being described? Case studies are an excellent way to present these results. "Formalized Flextime" presented three case studies of how companies approached flextime scheduling.

What Kinds of Stories Do We Want?
    You are probably a regular reader, but if not, we suggest getting two or three recent copies of the magazine and reading through them. The most recent issues -- December 2000 and thereafter -- are a reflection of the kinds of stories we're looking for. You also can read recent stories on the Web site. Although feature packages are presented a little differently on the Web, they still give you a good idea of how we're presenting our content. (The top story on the homepage is usually something that also is featured in that month's magazine.)

    If you have a story idea, it's a good idea to first pitch it to the editors via e-mail. A pitch should be a succinct description of what the story would be about, who you would talk to, what sidebars and "tool" material might be appropriate, etc. That way, we can see whether the idea interests us without your going through the whole writing process only to discover it's something we did last year or something that's not a good fit for our audience.

    For example, Workforce does not publish articles that just summarize published thought on a topic-say, a piece that deals in the abstract with strikes or unions. Instead, in the November issue, we examined how a "new economy" strike at Verizon contained important lessons for all HR professionals. Once we had published a trend story on the graying workforce, we presented a feature package of stories on how HR can go about hiring older workers, and making the most of their talents (Feb. 2001).

    Also, Workforce is not a research journal or an academic Web site. However, we are committed to keeping readers informed of new trends and developments, as we did in a story about impairment testing as an alternative to drug testing. When writing about research, the focus must be on the implications of the results, not on the methodology. These articles may summarize either current practice (e.g., how many employers use pre-employment testing and a discussion of whether the number is increasing or decreasing and why) or discuss a new technique or system. In the latter case, articles should include some evidence that the idea has been tested in an actual organization.

General Advice

• Be specific. Many stories are not of interest to us because they are too superficial. Remember that readers need details. For example, don't merely advise readers to plan for retention, but instead find an interesting aspect of the retention challenge (see Nov. 2000's story, "Retention on the Brink.")

• Get to the point. Choose a single point to be made by the piece and state that point in the first two paragraphs. Although background information occasionally is helpful, several pages of introductory material should not precede the discussion at hand.

• Be original. If you already have a manuscript that you want us to consider, it must be original and previously unpublished.

• Attribute information. Identify the sources of information cited. For example, rather than merely noting that "30 percent of American employers offer child care benefits," say, "Thirty percent of American employers offer child care benefits, according to the US Department of Labor."

Lead Time and Acknowledgments
    Workforce magazine is published monthly, and we assign stories approximately three months in advance (In early March, for example, we are assigning stories for the June issue). The lead time for the Web site is a little more flexible.

    Given the volume of material we receive, we do not acknowledge all submissions. However, if we decide to use your story, we'll e-mail you to let you know, and send you an agreement for your signature. If you send a manuscript and want it returned, include a self-addressed stamped envelope. Publishing decisions usually are made within six weeks of receipt. Once a manuscript has been accepted, writers should allow as long as six months for publication.

Manuscript Specifications
    When preparing manuscripts, please observe the following:

1. Let us know if you are simultaneously submitting your piece to more than one publication .

2. Submit manuscripts as attached files in Microsoft Word or as a plain text (ASCII) file. Use the subject line of your e-mail to indicate that you are submitting a manuscript for review. Within the e-mail, please include your full name, e-mail address, street address, and telephone number. Direct your submissions to Carroll Lachnit.

3. Although electronic submissions are much preferred, we will consider sometimes hard-copy manuscripts. Please do not submit manuscripts by fax. If submitting by mail, please send to: Ronda Lathion, content development administrator, Workforce, PO Box 2440, Costa Mesa, CA 92628. If you are submitting hard-copy manuscripts, please send two copies. Please double-space the hard-copy manuscript and use standard margins. Include a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you want the material to be returned to you.

4. The author's name, title, organization, address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address should appear on the first page. Similar information for co-author(s) should be included as appropriate. Please indicate which author should receive correspondence.

5. Please include a brief (two sentence) biography of the author(s).

6. All illustrative material (charts, graphs, tables) should be referred to as figures and numbered consecutively as they appear in the text.

7. Generally, Workforce retains all rights for re-use of the manuscript. Occasional exceptions are made.

8. Please do not send anything that you need returned (such as your only copy of a graphics file).

Specialized Content
    We use more than just feature stories in the magazine and on our Web site. There are several ways in which users, readers and others may contribute material.

• Mini case studies: Sum up in 300 or so words how your organization solved a problem, found a new twist on an old strategy, or using an HR strength to improve the organization. For example: UPS found a way to bring inner-city workers to its suburban facility, solving two serious workforce problems with one great idea-subsidized public transportation.

• "Raw Data": Do you have a company document that encapsulates a great idea, presents an insightful mission statement or demonstrates how HR is doing its job creatively? We'd like to see it. Some examples: Hewlett-Packard's original mission statement; Ben & Jerry's job description for a "guerilla marketing" ice-cream sampler; Time-Warner/AOL's memo on how its benefits would be realigned in the wake of the merger.

• Assessments: Do you have any self-assessments, quizzes, or other interactive tools that HR professionals can uses to make decisions on hiring, promotion, teams, organizational direction, or other areas? We would love to take a look at your assessment tools, and possibly use them a sidebar or back-up material to support a feature article on the Web site or in the magazine. In all cases, the source is credited.

• Opinion: Editorials of 600-850 words about topics in news, sports, entertainment, culture, society, and business affecting workplaces appear in the "Work Views" section of the Web site. Keep your editorial to one topic, and feel free to write about the stuff you talk about at the kitchen table -- your passions.

• Survey results: We welcome the results of surveys about the HR profession or about issues of interest to HR professionals. This material may be used as a sidebar to other material, as a graph to accompany other material, as back-up material to support a feature article, or within an article. In all cases, the source is credited.

• Samples and resources: Because Workforce gives its users the tools they need to take action, we welcome samples of policies (such as a sexual harassment policy, employee travel policy, and so on), employee communication material (material encouraging enrollment in a 401(k) plan, for example), forms (such as an application form) and other material that users can learn from.

• Humor: Some of the strangest things happen at work. Even HR professionals can't be serious all the time, so we encourage submissions of anecdotes (stories about things that happened at work), examples (memorable gaffes on resumes, for example), and other work-related humor. Please, keep it clean.

Questions
    If you have further questions about a manuscript or an idea for a feature package for Workforce magazine or Workforce online, please send e-mail to Carroll Lachnit, content managing editor, 714/751-1883 ext. 224, or to Todd Raphael, online editor, 714/751-1883, ext. 223.