Is the new Inc. 5000 social network a good thing for companies?

VERY smart move by MSNBC to acquire Newsvine. The existing social journalist community is priceless.

From my client:

By Brendan Courtney, senior vice president, Spherion Corporation

It's 7:45 and you're stuck in traffic - again. It's like a bad version of Groundhog Day. You got up at 5, rushed yourself and your family out the door and here you are, foiled again! As you seethe through yet another teeth-grinding, stress-causing delay, you think, "This is not a good use of my time. There has got to be a better way."

And there is, for many people. Depending on the demands of your job and your personal circumstances, flextime, telecommuting or another option could be just what you need to help balance your work life and home life.

OK, that was the easy part. Now comes the challenging part; explaining to your boss how a flexible schedule makes sense from a business standpoint. Luckily, that task is easier than ever. Smart employers understand that retaining good employees makes good economic sense. They also know that happy workers are more productive and help boost morale and performance across the organization.

Larger social and economic trends are also in your favor. Today's worker is likely to have family obligations, such as children or aging parents. Commutes have become longer and more congested. And technology has fundamentally changed the way we live and work.

Put it all together and the future of work is clear: It's in your home or done during non-traditional work hours, fueled by a high-speed Internet connection and a newly flexible attitude about work.

So, where do you start in your personal quest to maximize your time, restore balance to your life and simultaneously become a more valuable employee and a more attentive parent or caregiver?

Start by analyzing your job, breaking out tasks that require face-to-face collaboration and those that can be done remotely, through e-mail or by phone. Once you have that analysis, determine how many days a week you must be in the office and what hours are most critical. Research your company's policies on flexible schedules and investigate how other employees have negotiated similar accommodations.

Next, establish which of the available options works best for you and your employer. Full-time options include flextime, telecommuting or a compressed workweek. Part-time options include job sharing or reduced hours.

Now create a written plan for your boss that details how your job can be done as well – if not better – utilizing one of these options. The plan should emphasize how you will accomplish all your essential tasks and should anticipate concerns, such as attending meetings and working with clients and customers. Arrange a time to discuss the plan with your boss and be sure that the meeting emphasizes practical solutions rather than personal issues.

Once you get the go-ahead, understand that you are only partway to your goal of work-life balance. Now, you must do a thorough overhaul of your physical, intellectual and emotional environment. To make your new arrangement work, you must be organized and efficient. Take whatever steps are necessary to ensure this, from a well-appointed home office that is off-limits to family members to a time-management coach.

Now, good luck and get to work. You have joined the future of the workplace and it's up to you to be successful – in all areas of your life.

By Brendan Courtney, vice president, Spherion Professional Services Group

Particularly in a tight labor market, it is often said that one of the most difficult tasks a manager has is letting someone go. While firing an employee is an emotional and awkward undertaking, hiring a new team member can be an even greater test of a managers professional acumen.

Bringing in new team members is a weighty responsibility. The cost of failure can be high, from the pricey possibility of rapid turnover to overworked, frustrated teams forced to compensate for poor hiring choices. An ever-present specter of failure hangs in the air when the final selection must be made.

Will she be up to the task? Can he work with the rest of the team? Do enthusiasm and intelligence make up for a gap in experience? Couldnt there be a better candidate out there, somewhere?

Start with the Interviewer

For too many businesses, the success of the hiring process is pinned on two unknown factors: the interviewing skills and preparation of the interviewer. Because interviewing is more art than science and more instinct than evidence, managers must be well prepared and well equipped in order to conduct successful interviews.

One of the most effective tools for sparking rich, informative discussions with job candidates is behavioral interviewing.

What is Behavioral Interviewing?

The interviewers job is less about matching skills to needs, which has already happened in the prescreening process, and more focused on exploring the professionalism and workplace competency of the individual. The interview must concentrate on past performance and experience, which is the purpose of behavioral interviewing.

Behavioral interviewing is a questioning technique that forces interviewees to give real-world examples of how they have handled specific events and challenges in the workplace. For example, in a typical interview a candidate is asked to describe the duties of his or her previous jobs. In a behavioral question, a candidate will instead be asked to describe a recent work situation in which he or she overcame a difficult challenge. The focus is on the action taken, professional techniques employed and lessons learned. These behavioral inquiries probe into workplace skills and behaviors the candidate has already demonstrated.

Quality, Not Quantity

In all interviewing, the quality of the question is much more important than the amount of questions asked. Managers should take time to consider what they really want to know about an individuals work style, experience, collaboration capabilities and past performance.

On the other hand, too many non-behavioral interview questions (What do you see as your strengths? or What are your long-term goals?) can lead to stock answers that dont probe deep enough into the candidates capabilities and compatibility. An interviewer should prepare a concise but balanced list of questions that explores performance, behavior, experience and accomplishments.

Talk to the Team

Team members and prospective colleagues offer rich job insights from the frontlines of the workplace. Managers not only get a better picture of the professional needed to fill a role, but also gain an understanding of the resource needs, goals and expectations of existing employees.

From Great Interviews to Great Hires

In the end, it will always be peopleHR staff, recruiters, hiring managerswho lead to the right hire. By improving the pivotal interviewing process, a business energizes managers to take greater care in talent selection and to see greater value in every hire.

Here is an unpublished article from a professional acquaintance of mine that I wanted to share.

The Punk Rock Brand

By Darryl Ohrt, Visual Intelligence Agency
darryl@viaworldwide.com

Fans crowd around the stage, mesmerized, as the bare-chested singer writhes in broken glass. It's the early 70's, and the bleeding rock star is Iggy Pop. Fast forward to today. Iggy's anthem "Lust for Life" is the background track to one of the most successful cruise line ad campaigns in the world. Iggy Pop selling family vacations may seem like a career-ending decision, but that's punk power at its best.

Punk rock is more than music, it's a life philosophy. Punks reject what society considers the norm; they question authority and they fight to be different and make a difference.

I was a punk rocker from the early 1980's. But after shaving off my last Mohawk and meandering through my 30's with a wife, kids and a house, I figured my punk rock days were long gone. Then I started a design and branding firm...

How does punk philosophy relate to branding?

Within the punk rock credo of my youth were the seeds of a larger business philosophy. Ten years in a boutique design and branding firm has shown me how valuable the punk rock attitude is to a successful brand plan. The brands that consistently rise to the top have questioned everything that's been done before. Adding "X" to a razor's name? Just a lame attempt at buying an audience with weak, non-genuine branding. Inventing a razor for shaving heads? Totally punk rock.

Who are the current punk rock brands and why?

Punk rock brand philosophy exists in nearly every successful product or service. These brands break through the clutter, present themselves in unique ways and generate the kind of fans that create buzz. When a businesses inspires people to talk about it, get emotional about it and believe in it, that's punk rock. Some recent examples:

Burger King. Before the Subservient Chicken came along, burger ads and burger joints mellowed in the mediocrity of general family advertising. No wonder their campaigns were failing. With a target audience that was primarily male and in their 20's and 30's - the same audience as beer advertising – the king needed a makeover. Their agency, Crispin, Porter & Bogusky introduced Subservient Chicken, the freaky king mascot, and "big, buckin' chicken" to position BK as a burger joint that does things differently.

Google. Prior to the launch of Google, search engines (and specifically industry leader Yahoo) had become cluttered pages of content. Google questioned the conventional wisdom of how search was presented, and turned the search industry upside down. They've since created a unique company that's hell-bent on product development, and they do it all without "being evil."

Apple. This is a brand that has questioned everything, and come up on top as a result. Music compressed below the quality of current compact discs and fit into a stylish white box? You bet. Computers that feel like artwork and become conversation pieces for their owners? Absolutely. Through hard core product development, Apple has emerged as the lanky looking kid with a Mohawk in the computer and technology industry. They're different and proud of it.

How can your brand become punk rock?

Target early adopters.
It's okay if at first only a handful get it. In fact, your product's low-profile can be a selling point during the early days. Eventually, everyone else jumps on the bandwagon. REM, U2 and Sum41 were all unknown alternative bands. Geico, GoDaddy and Google were all unknown brands. Now they're all household names.

Make people stand up and take notice.
Sport an 18-inch Mohawk. Or the business equivalent in your marketplace.

Support your fans.
Fan culture can make or break a band. Or a brand. Let your fans become a part of the experience. Celebrate fandom, and put your fans up on stage with your brand.

Never sell out or it's over.
Fans know the real deal. So do your customers. An audience will only last as long as your brand's reputation. NHL? Sold out. Dell's exploding laptops and frustrating customer service? Sold out. But the Beastie Boys - who started as a punk band, have managed to evolve their brand image and their product - while keeping their fans signed on.

Don't be a poser.
Punk rockers – and the people who buy your products – can smell a fake. Apple has managed to maintain a loyal fan base, even after the tremendous success of the iPod. They're earliest fans are still devotees - because they've kept it real.

It's ok to be controversial.
Scream loud. Pierce your cheek. Your brand will never stand out from the masses if you stay meekly within your industry norms. You won't always be right, and you'll create a few enemies in the process, but in the end, you'll foster discussion, attention, and fans that celebrate your achievements.

Be the revolution.
Punk rockers are change agents. Learn from the brands that have questioned everything and ask yourself: what can my brand can do to turn our industry upside down?

Most importantly, understand that your brand can't be a punk rock brand if it's not genuine. It's not about putting on the trappings of punk culture. To be a real punk rock brand, you've got to evaluate every aspect of your company, and honestly assess how it stands up to the punk rock credo. It's not as easy as licensing an old punk song for your TV spot. Brands that are punk have reinvented their operations, their products, their branding and their customers. They have a "Lust for Life."

A good article about PR agency life vs. working in-house.

Story for people into customizing credit cards. Kinda cool.

Hot on the heels of the MINI credit card launch, Forbes Autos has done a feature piece about automaker affinity cards and their various reward programs.