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define yourself with merit

Tue, Aug 4, 2009

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One new start-up is allowing users to share their accolades with others.

MeritBuilder, a personal branding platform, allows users to collect the “thank you’s” they receive and display them for everyone to see. The site enables workers to build a portable brand and employers to improve the way they thank and value their employees.

Created by Dustin Henderson, an entrepreneur from Little Rock, Ark., the company hopes MeritBuilder may one day join, or potentially replace, the resume as the document of choice for those in the employment market.

Although MeritBuilder is a public site and the company encourages public use, the company also hopes it will be used by progressive HR workers looking for a cost-effective incentive program.

Lance Haun, founder of YourHRGuy.com, was recently hired by MeritBuilder. He said the site is not looking to replace others like Facebook, Twitter or blogs, but is looking at new ways to integrate the information on a MeritBuilder account into those sites.

“It enhances the way people view your personal brand because people can see the specific things you’re being thanked for so when it comes to a big promotion or your next career opportunity, you’ll be armed with real examples of the way you’ve positively impacted people,” he said.

The site allows users to send and receive merits, which are the center of MeritBuilder. You can send a merit to anyone by using their e-mail address, public profile or Twitter account to let them know they have made a difference.

The company wanted the site to be easy to use and claims that anyone who knows how to use e-mail can use MeritBuilder. Basically, you can send an e-mail to people and CC that e-mail to kudos@meritbuilder.com. The comapny will then send the merit to everyone you sent the e-mail to.

You also can tag a merit, which creates groups of merits that can be shared. You can create a tag for work, family or friends. Merit tags can be made private, or you can have new merits automatically tagged, allowing for a self-managed profile.

On top of that, each tag has its own public space that you can theme with a unique template and then share as a link or RSS feed. This allows you to easily post merits to your blog or existing social networking sites.

The site has two pricing options. The free option allows for one e-mail, one Twitter ID, one tag, five follows, three templates, one RSS feed, three achievements per month and five merits through e-mail per month. The Pro edition allows for unlimited everything and costs $2.99 per month.

“The really exciting part for me (coming from an HR background at least) is the part of the product that allows corporations to set up their own networks of employees and send their positive feedback that way,” Haun said. “The big positives for an employer is that there are tools you can use to track who is giving feedback, who is getting feedback, what kind of things are being said and tracking the progress of the program.

“Unlike the typical employee recognition system though, the employee gets something that they can take with them through their career,” he added. “They see the real value because the feedback that hits their MeritBuilder account will help their personal brand in a way that recommendations can’t.”

Even though it’s a newer site, MeritBuilder already has plans for the future. In addition to looking at re-launching the platform later this month, the company is hoping to unleash some new features, including increased integration with major social networking sites and increased functionality on the corporate and HR side.

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This post was written by:

Jennifer Carpenter - who has written 161 posts on Cheezhead Recruiting News and Opinion.

Jen Carpenter, originally from Wellsville, New York, was a staff writer for the Hornell Evening Tribune before becoming an employee of Cheezhead.com. Jen has a journalism/mass communications degree from St. Bonaventure University. She currently resides in Lakewood, Ohio.

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2 Trackbacks For This Post

  1. Transition Services Blog at RiseSmart » MeritBuilder: Building your personal brand with online kudos Says:
    August 6th, 2009 at 8:57 am

    [...] “It enhances the way people view your personal brand because people can see the specific things you’re being thanked for so when it comes to a big promotion or your next career opportunity, you’ll be armed with real examples of the way you’ve positively impacted people,” said MeritBuilder representative Lance Haun in a recent interview with Cheezhead. [...]

  2. El mérito es suyo « Blog RHOL Says:
    August 13th, 2009 at 1:16 pm

    [...] Fuente: Cheezhead [...]

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