Max Gladwell

As social responsibility and corporate citizenship become key factors in recruiting and retaining top talent, JustMeans steps in with a social network for this very purpose

“Just Means is a social media platform that rallies both companies and individuals around social responsibility.” That’s the pitch. We toured the platform with COO Kevin Long and discussed the company’s mission.

Individuals sign up for a profile similar to that of LinkedIn. You enter an “about me” section with contact info, upload your resume/CV, and add work/education background. What differentiates this from a general job site or business network are two questions: “What kind of positive change do you want to create in the world over the next 12 months? How do you plan on creating this positive change?” Your answers are cross-referenced with other JustMeans members, and possible networking matches are generated. So unlike Facebook and LinkedIn, you are encouraged to meet new people as opposed to networking with those you already know. The profile gauntlet doesn’t prompt you to invite friends through your email or address book, but this is an option.

Companies have their own profile platform, where they can post news and information about their CSR efforts as well as networking with both members and other companies. This news can also be fed to the site’s main landing page. Timberland is a founding member of JustMeans and provides an ideal example. The company promotes its four pillars of Energy, Product, Workplaces, and Service, complete with goals such as “Carbon Neutral by 2010.” The company encourages feedback and participation in its CSR efforts:

Our partnership with JustMeans represents another step in our journey to improve our actions as a corporate citizen. Take a moment to browse the information that is highlighted and leave comments for us on how we can make it better.

Alex Hausman, Timberland’s CSR Reporting Manager, appears to have ownership for the corporate profile, and he makes his email address available on his personal profile. The company is obviously committed to transparency, which is somewhat of a prerequisite when it comes to this type of outreach and engagement. Indeed, this is a basic tenet of both CSR and social media. So it says a lot about a company or organization to even become a member of JustMeans.

Between these two constituencies, there is plenty of opportunity to network. Members can become “stakeholders” of a company and form Facebook-like groups, such as the CSR Chicks of London. You can also network by Region, Interest, and Conference. Of course, one of the primary reasons for joining is to find a job or recruit talent.

JustMeans has two primary revenue streams, both originating from companies. The monthly quarterly fee for a profile can range from $350 $250 to $2,000 depending on annual revenue and for-profit/nonprofit status. Companies pay additionally for job listings. As of blog time, JustMeans has an Alexa ranking of 742,000. Long says they have 5,000 active members and a handful of founding-member companies. According to a recent email update, there are two founding-member spots left. The year-end goal is for 100K users and 360 companies.

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