Is Your Web Site Wrecking Recruitment?

Recruitment is often cited as the No. 1 challenge for partners. Is your Web site helping?

As a quick exercise, pretend you are a student graduating this spring with a degree in business information technology. (Even better if you can imagine that you are something other than a white male student.) Now, go to your company Web site.

• On the home page, are there any words or photos that appeal to a young person looking to make an impact on the world?
  
  
• Is it easy to find the careers page, or does it feel like an afterthought?
  
  
• Look at the leadership page. Do the photos reflect diversity and the opportunity for advancement, regardless of gender or ethnicity?
  
  
• Are there any pictures of real people on the site (other than management), or just stock photos of corporate-looking models?
  
  
• Are there any stories about the projects that you work on, or the people who work for you?

How did you do? Is your Web site a talent magnet or is it time to put a Web site refresh at the top of the to-do list?

Inspiration  
There is no one "right way" to make your Web site attractive to the young and talented. The good news is that there are partners doing it right and lessons to be learned. Here a just a few examples:

• The personalities of the employees featured on the home page of Centare shine through to speak volumes about the culture of the company.
  
  
• It looks like the "interknowlogists" at interknowlogy have a lot of fun. Who wouldn't want to work with that group?
  
  
• Reading the profiles of Slalom Consulting employees is like eating Doritos -- just one more before I get back to work. They also share heartwarming stories of the employee sabbaticals.
  
  
• Perficient features employee blog posts on its home page and lets employees tell the story themselves. The diversity of the storytellers must attract not only young but "seasoned" professionals thinking about a job change.

The even better news is that the same elements that attract new employees will also appeal to potential customers. People want to do business with people they like. Letting prospects get to know the people who would work on their project builds trust and confidence.

Time for a Refresh
Refreshing your Web site is a daunting task. It's easy to keep moving it to the bottom of the marketing to-do list. If recruitment is a priority, now you have another reason to move it to the top. And, a bit of inspiration.

How are you attracting talent? Add a comment below or send me a note and let's share the knowledge.

Posted by Barb Levisay on October 16, 2013