Holiday Hiring Frenzy Needs Answered with VoiceScreener

harQuen (pronounced "har * ken") unveiled the beta version of VoiceScreener on November 23 of this year.

VoiceScreener lets its account holders set up a web-based dashboard to develop and distribute custom-recorded phone interviews so business owners, hiring managers or recruiters can quickly and efficiently find those perfect candidates. VoiceScreener couldn't come at a better time--especially in this holiday job market.

Employers easily set up a VoiceScreener account and create as many job campaigns as they like online. They then record their greeting, the screening questions and send applicants invites through an automated email. Applicants respond to the invitation online enter their phone number and wallah -- the VoiceScreener magic online assistant calls them to conduct the interviews and the employer can easily screen the results at their convenience.

Of course VoiceScreener was not designed to take the place of live interviews, but like many other types of pre-screening tools available online today, it does help you get to the short list quickly and easily.

Opponents of the technology argue it may appear a little impersonal. A cold, automated phone system could drive away potentially good candidates, but that’s just more of a reason to spend a little time adding a dash of corporate culture into the recorded questions.

Alternative uses for the technology include:

• Qualitative Phone Surveys
• Customer Testimonials for use in Audio Podcasts or Customer-Focused Radio Ads
• Market Research

Check out HRmarketer’s blog post, "Pre-recorded phone interviews the easy way with VoiceScreener" for more information and a special HRM blog reader promotion. Don’t forget to subscribe to their blog too. It’s an excellent source of news and information regarding the Human Resource Marketplace.


Interested in something a little less corporate? Check out Comic Wonder, a competitive joke telling site, also from harQuen.

Retooling the Automotive Industry

The US automotive industry is famously miss-managed. According to the Associate Press, General Motors (GM) posted $2.5 billion in losses just in the third quarter of this year. They have already announced they could run out of capital by the end of 2008!

GM’s management (much like the other 'Big 3' automakers) has resorted to tactics of old like trying to boost liquidity, slashing production, boosting sales, and suspending their 401K matching program. All of these are business band-aids and a Public Relations nightmare.

Everyone’s talking about the problem; few offer solutions that don’t amount to huge government subsidies.



I’ve given it a lot of thought and here are two things JDM would do if we were in charge of the Auto Industry, or at least GM.

:: "OnDemand" Sales and Production

Imagine keeping an inventory of only about 20 cars for test drives and curb appeal. Now imagine a kiosk-based sales process similar to Dell’s custom computer purchasing model.

Besides simplifying the purchasing/financing process, this would also greatly reduce GM’s cash-flow problems as they try to predict future consumer spending and market trends during design and manufacturing. Imagine test driving a car you’re really interested in and then custom-designing your actual car with all the options, colors, extras you want and none that you don’t.

They need to be thinking Dell, not Henry Ford. We’ve come a long way since the Model T. It’s time their business model caught up.

:: Less Innovation; More Renovation

Why does a “new” automobile model have to come out every year? Imagine the huge savings in research, design and manufacturing if truly “new” model cars and trucks only hit the market once every three years.

If car manufacturers shifted their focus from developing automobiles on such a limited timeframe and spent that extra time and money on developing really great, recall-free cars with extended warrantees, they would go a long way to digging themselves out of this hole.

Of course, they could offer models equipped with the latest technology yearly or even quarterly, but we don’t need their best attempts at a new model each and every year. The costs are far higher than the opportunity yields—especially in this market.

That’s our two cents. What do you think?

The Brand Bubble: Don’t blame the brand - blame the business.

John Gerzema and Ed Lebar recently published a book which speaks to a previously unknown bubble in the US economy. This bubble represents $4 trillion dollars in the S&P market capitalization alone. It's twice the size for the subprime mortgage market and accounts for one-third of all shareholder value.

Give up? It's 'brand value'!

The book is entitled “The Brand Bubble: The looming crisis in brand value and how to avoid it.” Learn more about it on their website: www.thebrandbubble.com.



Marketers refer to 'brand value' as the value consumers put on one brand over (or under) another. Think of it as how much more you would pay for brand name paper towels versus the store-brand stuff.

The Brand bubble alleges that investors are irrationally overvaluing brands as consumer brand loyalty falls dramatically.

Here’s the thing.

This Brand Bubble (if there is one) is likely relegated to the highly homogenized products and services of the B2C marketplace. Are you particularly brand loyal to Pfizer's drugs over Bristol-Myers Squibb's? I doubt it.

This Brand Bubble really comes down to those businesses who have been riding their own coat-tails far too long. They may promise new and better, but we end up with tried and true. The only way consumers and investors will see them beginning to live up to their name is when that bubble deflates a little. If a business is only worth its logo, then the bubble could burst. Since any investor who chooses his or her investment portfolio based on those businesses with the pretties logo deserves a swift kick in the pocketbook, I see no danger here.

The Brand Bubble may be crying “The sky is falling!”, but we all know how that turns out.

Branding is an important part of a successful business. However, when consumers look to the less expensive, generic product, don’t blame the brand—blame the business.

Related Links:

• Learn about Rebranding on our post: “Ruin a Rebranding in 5 steps.”
• Having a Brand Identity crisis? Check out JDM’s Brand Identity services page.
• How do your favorite brands measure up? Check out The Brand Bubble’s BrandAsset Valuator.