Your Website: A Recruitment Tool

Last night I had the pleasure of attending Enterprise Minnesota's "State of Manufacturing" kick-off event at the Minneapolis convention center. It was an exciting event filled with an opening address by our very own Senator Amy Klobuchar, a panel of esteemed manufacturing CEOs and of course a presentation on the fourth-annual State of Manufacturing survey results.

Every year Enterprise Minnesota does an annual survey of 400 Minnesota manufacturing executives about economic outlooks and top industry issues. Throughout the survey it was discovered that nearly six out of ten manufacturing executives considered "the ability to attract and retain qualified workers" as one of the top company concerns.

We are presented with many issues throughout the course of a website project. One of the top considerations are website audiences. In the past, primary website audiences have typically consisted of past/present customers, while over the last year or so we have been seeing more companies using their websites as recruitment tools. There are many ways to go about this, and with a pressure to hire for both qualifications and culture, and it is therefore incredibly important to teach website visitors who you are as much as what you do.

We are presented with many issues throughout the course of a website project, one of the top considerations being website audiences. In the past, primary website audiences have typically consisted of past/present customers, while over the last year we have seen more companies using their websites as recruitment tools. There are many ways to go about this - and with pressure to hire for both qualifications and culture - it is incredibly important to teach website visitors who you are as much as what you do.

At Plaudit Design we utilize an amazing HR consulting firm, HR Service Team, to handle our human resources needs. Kathy Smith, HR Service Team's company president, and I had a great conversation regarding the importance of a corporate website for recruitment:

"The website needs to draw candidates into their [corporate] world. If the site is poorly constructed and the candidate cannot find information they may stop and not go further [in the recruiting process]. The website frames the culture – tells the company’s story – provides the look and feel to what it would be like to work there. You want candidates just as much as your customers to buy into your company."

I'm sure you're wondering "How would I use my website for something like this?" Good news! At Plaudit Design we are big fans of actionable lists. Here are some considerations:

More about Enterprise Minnesota and Plaudit Design

For the last two years Plaudit Design has worked with Enterprise Minnesota to better relate the organization's valuable mission in helping Minnesota Manufacturing Enterprises grow profitably. Over the years quite a few of Plaudit Design's B2B clients have taken advantage of Enterprise Minnesota's business growth services and we have witnessed the viable results first hand. Enterprise Minnesota approached Plaudit Design with interest in rethinking their website's framework in order for their team to easily publish content, link business growth services/magazine content and present the organization as a vital Minnesota manufacturing resource.

In 2011 Enterprise Minnesota contracted Plaudit Design with interest in redesigning its State of Manufacturing website for the organization to easily publish results, focus groups, sponsors and provide a snapshot of Minnesota manufacturing's economic climate.

• What's The Call To Action? - Every page should have a call to action enticing visitors to do what you want them to do, and the careers section is no different. Avoid a complex employment application since you can't have social security numbers being passed via email anyways. Stick to a small contact form, link to a third-party site such as www.Monster.com or your HR application suite such as Taleo.
• Show Off Your Personality – This is the place to feature community volunteer work, team interests, average tenures and more. Why would someone want to love to work at your company? What do you do better than anyone else in your industry? Include some quotes from your team members. Your team pictures don't need to be stiff, they can offer great insights into who you are (check out the people from www.WomenVenture.org).
• "Join Our Team" not "Careers" – Your employment section should be an extension of your culture, not a page for robots. A title may just be words, but by being open and assertive you can get more people to the section.
• Showcase open positions and try to promote involvement – What positions are there? Do website visitors know anyone who might be interested? It's easy to add a form that would allow potential site visitors (free recruiters!) to share a relevant job posting with someone they know.
• Benefits Information – Include some information about benefits like our clients from Bay West (http://www.baywest.com/about-us/careers/benefits.html). They are a great example of what to do. From benefits to working/moving to the Twin Cities, Bay West has one of the best careers sections we've seen.
• Feature relevant news postings – What's going on in the world of your company? Have you finished any awesome project lately? The guys at RFA Engineering (www.RFAMEC.com) highlight that their employees get to work on their dream projects and couple this value proposition perfectly with their demand for practical experience.
• Measurable Success – How popular is your careers page? The results may surprise you. Our client MFRA (www.MFRA.com) found that their careers section is the second most popular page on their site! Focusing on calls to action, measurable success and return on involvement may be just the thing you need to increase your talent pool.