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Lucy Nixon

Lucy Nixon

The Fortune Follow-up

Fortune Top 100 commentsIn the final installment of the Employer Brand series, I promised a postscript on how the Fortune list of ‘100 Best Companies to Work For‘ has been received by readers—and here’s the summary, along with a couple of takeaways. Then read on to see some runners-up for the ‘Cynthia’s Favorite Five’ list.

  • Several people comment that their companies either won’t participate in the ‘100 Best’ contest, or used to participate and have now quit. (Southwest Airlines, which was once prominent on the list, is mentioned in the latter category.)
  • A few commenters allege their companies actually run campaigns and/or create false impressions to garner high marks.
  • The most frequently found single comment type is some version of “Why isn’t IBM on the list?” (Not sure why the obsession with IBM.)
  • Many comments have the theme “maybe Company X is great somewhere else, but not in my location/department/position.” (One person comments that Google is not fun for people over 35, which seems believable.)
  • Company enthusiasts frequently mention that they personally have been treated well; that company leaders exhibit the company values; and/or that the company is not laying off.
  • Company detractors frequently mention toxic culture, poor leadership, depressed employees, hypocrisy, and/or that the company is laying off.

Relevance for improving Careers sites? (a) People have a lot of passion—positive and otherwise—about their employers, past and future. Give site visitors something they can respond to with feeling. (b) Employee testimonials on the site can have value. But be sure they accurately reflect the company’s culture and circumstances. Even a suggestion of hypocrisy or manipulation will turn off some visitors.

PCLRounding out Cynthia’s excellent adventure: As mentioned in the last post, I chose Alcon as the most energizing site among the bigger companies I visited. Actually, though, Alcon is tiny compared to Starbucks–and at 7,000+ employees, is among the smaller companies on the Fortune list. Better to say I was looking for something interesting among companies in more conservative industries or business sectors.

And in that spirit, here’s a shout-out to PCL Construction (I liked the stylishly industrial look of their design, plus the prominent placement of the sub-menu) and to Johnson Bank (the pinstripe look done well, with a sophisticated yet sincere feeling). As for the biggest company on the list . . . the FedEx Careers site earned my entry-level praise phrase: ‘Functions well and fits the brand.’

Shaping the Employer Brand

Recap: Google has slipped from number one (two years running) to a mere number four on Fortune’s list of the ‘100 Best Companies to Work For.’ Why? Partly because companies one through three have gotten ahead of them. But also (according to Fortune) because Google has eliminated some ‘frills’–most notably, afternoon tea and the annual all-expenses-paid ski trip.

Fortune

Since few companies on earth provide afternoon tea to supplement their all-day, all-free offerings of fabulous food—it may be hard to see why this change would be a blow to Google’s reputation. But as we know, perception trumps reality, and the important point is this: Once a company has become famous as an endless fountain of goodies, closing the spigot even a little can disrupt that image. (To see what actually got cut at Google, check out ‘Frugal Google.’)

The Fortune rankings are determined primarily by questionnaires sent to employees (sampling at least 400 per company), and there’s no detailed breakout of who-said-what about a particular company. So a bit of sleuthing was required to get a better picture of Google’s slight downhill slide. The big surprise (to me anyway): Although Google was number one on the overall list in 2007 and 2008, it didn’t even show up as one of the top companies on the ‘perks’ indexed in the Fortune rankings. The perks evaluated include basic benefits like health care, as well as extras such as child care, sabbaticals, telecommuting–and Google doesn’t rank high on any of them.

So number-one Google wasn’t actually lavishing its employees with exceptional benefits. Nope. The benefits were certainly good enough, but the real perk was ambiance—an idyllic work environment that made employees feel special, valued, and carefully cared for. To get a full picture of this widely publicized mystique, check out the in-depth exploration Fortune provided when Google topped the list in 2007.

Google

Yet you won’t find a lot of hype over at the Google Careers site. Google did not (and doesn’t) depict its company as paradise, just as a really nice place to work. The ‘Top Ten Reasons to Work at Google‘ page stresses opportunities to create, participate, and achieve—and although it does mention free food, that’s number 10.

Which brings us to today’s first takeaways: (1) remember that the Careers site sets up expectations, but (2) don’t forget that visitors bring expectations with them. Most of last year’s 770,000 applicants for 350 jobs at Google (yes, really) probably came to the Careers site with a pre-formed opinion about what it would be like to work for the company. Do visitors to your site have a pre-formed opinion? If so, what is it?

And if visitors don’t have an idea already in mind, then the Careers site will create that all-important first impression …

Cisco

The final takeaway: perks provide a significant opportunity to shape the employer brand. They demonstrate the value placed on employees by the company—and that’s the message to keep in mind. So if you showcase benefits, present them as truly integral to the company culture, not just competitive lures or business obligations. For a very interesting example, take a look at how Cisco (number five on the Fortune list) weaves its employer brand into a far-reaching corporate vision.

Recruitment agencies and the corporate website

I recently invited Aaron Blower, from Chelsea Search Group, to explain how recruitment agencies use corporate recruitment sites, and what services the corporate site could provide for the external recruiter.

Targeting the One

An astute Corporate Eye editor recently noted that “Most corporate sites, it seems to me, are designed for the new graduate or the experienced hire – individual potential applicants, not agency recruiters …” 

Oh how right she is! 

This raises some interesting questions, both about the structure and usability of corporate recruiting sites, but also about their purpose. 

Let’s start by laying out some of the general goals of the different groups here:

Recruitment Agencies

The primary goal of headhunters is always to make the most money with the smallest amount of effort.  They work for two types of clients:

  • Type 1 clients, who actively source active job seekers and use recruitment agencies only for the most difficult positions after they have exhausted all of their options
  • Type 2 clients, who use agencies for most or all of their positions and do not do much to attract direct applicants. 

Recruitment agencies are always on the lookout for type 2 companies, but their bread and butter is the passive job seeker for type 1 companies (a passive job seeker being one who would consider a job if made aware of it, but isn’t actively looking, unlike the active job seeker).

Corporate Recruiting Website

Corporate websites are designed to attract potential applicants for current and future positions as well as inform all applicants of the benefits of working for the corporation.  This is one of the primary things that turns a type 2 company into a type 1 company; the better the corporate website, the more attractive it will be for active job seekers.  A company with no online careers presence is unlikely to attract the same quantity of applicants. 

Since agencies are hoping your corporation is a type 2 company, they will be talking to active candidates as well as passive candidates.  What this means of course, is that the corporate website is in competition with recruitment agencies for the same active candidates!  If a corporation can get a candidate to apply through the company’s website before an agency submits their resume, the corporation saves significant quantities of money. 

How to Make Them Work Together

With regards to agencies, the corporate website should serve a couple of primary goals.

First, it should be easy for everybody to see all of the open positions without registration or too many clicks.  Most recruiters are going to corporate websites to find out what jobs are open, to see if they might have any candidates that they can skill-market to that company. 

Second, it is nice when they have their corporate policy regarding use of recruiters in plain sight.  These are all examples of sites that clearly spell out their policy towards recruiters.  Some take the extra step of providing information on how to inquire about providing recruitment services.  This one seems to go the extra step of even listing which positions might be open to recruiters if they have a contract.

The point is to have a website that works towards your recruitment goals.  A note specifically tailored to recruiters may decrease the number of cold calls you get and most certainly will decrease the number of unsolicited resumes received – both of which saves HR a lot of time. 

I would probably take an additional step and note which positions the company would be open to filling via recruiter, with specific instructions on how to inquire with specific candidates.  Corporate HR departments cannot spend a lot of time fielding speculative calls from recruiters, but most would be willing to receive targeted contact from recruiters with candidates they would actually be interested in. 

Thanks, Aaron!

Primark’s Sweatshops: The Future of Sustainability Assurance

Primark Store, ManchesterThink of great classic combinations: Fred and Ginger; Sonny and Cher; Laurel and Hardy. “The BBC and Primark” could soon be added to this list.

Last summer the BBC exposed how some of Primark’s fashion clothing range came from Far East sweatshops.

Now the BBC has done it again, this time showing that Primark’s continues to engage suppliers who use unsustainable employment practices.

Reaction to the news will been varied. Fashionistas may shake their heads sadly and say that the cheap, ethical fashion Primark which claims to sell simply cannot exist.

On the other hand, political deep-reds may get all agitated, saying corporations simply cannot be trusted. Both are, to some extent, correct. [Read more…] about Primark’s Sweatshops: The Future of Sustainability Assurance

ExxonMobil: reflecting on industry issues

You’ll have seen the news over the weekend that ExxonMobil have called for a carbon tax to tackle global warming … interesting, isn’t it?

So what changes have they made on the website to reflect this change of heart?

ExxonMobil

Impressively, there are not one but two items about this on the site home page – a press release, and a direct link to the speech transcript in the focus area at the top of the page. This demonstrates the importance of this news, both to the company itself, and to the wider community.

We believe that corporate websites should be reflecting the issues that are facing us at the moment:

  • demonstrating that the company is considering the issues
  • and mirroring the issues, refracted through the different stakeholder areas, to communicate with the people affected by those issues.

This speech (and speedy update of the website) demonstrates that ExxonMobil are deeply considering the best way forward in the current global warming crisis. Whether or not you agree with their strategy, it can’t be denied that they are thinking about it, and are prepared to change their minds in the light of new information.

And from our point of view, the high profile placement of this on the corporate website – and the speed with which it was done – is exactly right, indicating the importance that ExxonMobil place on this issue, and keeping all stakeholders informed.

Philip Morris

Another corporate website that has expertly handled a significant change in the industry is the Philip Morris site. We all know about the difficulties the tobacco industry has faced over the last few decades, yet the Philip Morris site faces these difficulties squarely. Their home page is almost completely devoted to information about health issues, stopping smoking, persuading children not to smoke, and the Settlement Agreement.

Granted, this isn’t a site that needs to include investor relations, say, as that is handled by the parent company, Altria, but nevertheless, Philip Morris are working hard to provide positive messages about their product and their approach to the industry issues.

Yet, on visiting some corporate websites, you might get the impression that the major issues affecting – say – the economic climate are imaginary, or at least that the company is not willing to discuss them. Why not? You know that the visitors to your website will be thinking about them, and wondering how you are affected …

Making Your Web Site More Robust, Part 2

In my last post I looked at some of the things companies are doing with charting to help investors.  In this post I”ll examine some of the less obvious ways companies can help investors gain insight into their operations.  

Glossaries – I found sites that provided a glossary very helpful. Every industry has its acronyms and special catch phrases and to the extent these can be explained and accurately defined, a lot of questions and head scratching can be eliminated. In retail, for example, a common measure is same store sales, but many companies calculate it slightly differently. A clear definition of how the measure is calculated can save both investors and investor relations officers a lot of heartburn.

Total

Along similar lines, but even more interesting, is a feature I came across consisting of a page that discussed other, non-company indicators as they may affect the company. An obvious example, (I live in Houston) is the link between the price of oil and the performance of the oil companies.   Other companies have exposure to things such as inflation, commodity prices and consumer spending to name a few, and a page where companies gather the data and discuss their outlook on these trends is quite useful not only as a data source, but also as an additional insight into how the company thinks about how it is linked to the greater economy.

Finally, while most companies today provide links to their recent earnings conference calls, very few provide a transcript of the call. Although you miss the tenor of the speaker’s voice when you rely upon a transcript, it is a more time efficient way of reviewing a conference call. It would be fairly simple for most companies to post a transcript and save us all the additional hassle of going over to the Seeking Alpha web site to get it.

None of these items requires a lot of programming or a large investment of time and effort to accomplish, but I rarely see anything of this nature on corporate IR sites.  A little bit of creative thinking by investor relations staffs could really help their sites become much more investor friendly.