Corporate Eye

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Cynthia Giles

Cynthia Giles

A Tale of Two Makeovers

Ever since Fred Astaire turned Audrey Hepburn from a bookworm to a cover girl in Funny Face, the makeover has been a Hollywood staple.  And more recently, a great source of ratings for reality TV.   Although a website transformation doesn’t have quite the same level of drama, it can still be entertaining—and instructive.

So here we have two makeover stories, both of which show what a difference design can make.  But while one is a clear winner, I’m perplexed about the other.

Let’s start with the unambiguous improvements made by DaVita early in 2008.  It was a perfect case study, with statistics to back up the effectiveness of the new design.  Within a year, site visits were up 88%, unique visitors up 76%, return visitors up 128%–and applications up 97%.

DaVita, a Fortune 500 company, is the largest independent “kidney care” (aka dialysis) company in the US, employing more than 33,000 “teammates.”  Also—winner of the 2009 ERE award for Recruiting Department of the Year, which makes the makeover worth a revisit.   For a fairly detailed presentation of DaVita’s approach to talent acquisition, watch this slideshow.

Here’s the single slide from that presentation which deals with the website:

DaVita Slide

Although the build text left on the published presentation makes it a little hard to see the old site, this side-by-side depiction of the old and new website designs clearly shows the increase in visual interest.  The lively new look features lots of people, along with clearly marked one-click paths to high-interest content.

The makeover goes beyond just improving look-and-feel qualities.  A big addition to the new site is a “Life in the Village” tab that focuses on this core message:  “The DaVita Community is a unique place where we care for our patients, each other and our world.”  One of the components is a Community and Charity section that goes far beyond the token presentations found on many sites.  DaVita organizes its wide-ranging collection of Village programs into three tabs (“Each Other,” “Patients,” and “The World”), ranging from employee recognition plans to clinical research grants to Bridge of Life, the medical missions program that “allows teammates to bring quality dialysis care to underserved regions, such as Africa, Latin America and Asia.”

With a full complement of social media connections, video tours, You Tube links, and other modern must-haves, DaVita touches all the bases nicely.  And it does so with a clean look that is cheerful without being frivolous.

Turning to the other makeover . . .

Earlier this year I picked the education/publishing company Pearson as one of the websites that charmed me unexpectedly.  It wasn’t slick and didn’t have all the bells and whistles we’ve come to expect—but it had an authentic, quirky feel.   Here’s how the “Our People” page looked in March:

Pearson Our People Old

And here’s how it looks now:

Pearson Careers New

As to whether this is an improvement, I think it depends on what measures you use.   The page is a component of a whole new site design that flows along a sort of bright, contemporary line—and there’s no doubt it looks more up-to-date and offers better functionality.  But it also seems generic.  The headline text on this page still emphasizes creativity and imagination, yet (to my eye, anyway) the design does not reinforce that message.  Perhaps there could have been a more engaging approach to modernization?

I’d love to hear other opinions!

A Christmas Post: Room for Beauty . . .


Winter Trees

Every season has its own kind of beauty, and Winter is no exception.  Those pesky leaves that looked so refreshing when Spring came are now long gone, so trees are showing off their sculpted shapes.   It’s an annual reminder that what’s underneath is just as important as what’s apparent.

Which is my not-so-subtle way of saying that the fundamental design values of a website are as much a key to excellence as those persuasive videos and clever messages that decorate the surface.

By and large, corporate Career site designs are not exciting.  And some are downright dull.  In a number of cases that’s just because the design has been around for too long.  While business sites can’t be continually scurrying after the look of the moment, they should periodically shake off the dust of outdated design values—not merely because time has passed, but because web design has come a long way fast.  The paradigms emerging today are just far better, aesthetically and otherwise, than what could be done (or imagined) in the past.

Here are a few other reasons why dullness happens:

  • “Boring” has been mistaken for “businesslike.”
  • Stakeholders are afraid to take a chance on something different.
  • No one thinks the design really matters.
  • The Careers site is tied to a dull corporate design and can’t get loose.

I keep an eye out for signs of changing approaches among the mid-size to very-large companies, but don’t see much yet.  While we wait, though, here’s a Christmas card of beautiful sites designed for smaller businesses and creative professionals.  Consider them an inspiration!

First:  A rich, inviting design sets the tone for this thematic microsite, created by Sounds True to showcase related products and content.

WithInsight 2

Next, the artful energy of WebDesignerDepot has helped to build a large, enthusiastic audience for the site.  And the outstanding content is worth following for anyone who has an interest in design.


WebDesignerDepot

Whimsical charm paints a quick picture of imagination at work, from the Australian design studio Racket.

Racket

The eclectic artistry of Peapod creations is perfectly captured in this design.  (Mousing over a category produces a ravishing color view.)

Peapod

Of course–sometimes all you need is a beautiful product!

Porsche

And finally, here’s proof that stand-out colors plus bold simplicity can make even a grid look great.

FWJ

That’s all for this Christmas.  But while we’re exploring imaginative options, here’s food for thought from 37 Signals:

Imagine an employee handbook that just said: “We trust you. Be mischievous.”


(Many thanks to ahisgett for revealing the beauty of winter’s bare branches.)

Riddle: How Is a Careers Site Like a PPT Presentation?

Actually, a Careers site is pretty much exactly like a PowerPoint presentation.  Which means the answer to this riddle isn’t very funny.

But the answer is important, and here’s why:

PowerPoint presentations (affectionately known as PPTs, or sometimes “decks”) have become the most frequent means of communicating information in many—perhaps most—organizations.  And for purposes of discussion, we’ll just lump in niche platforms like the Mac program Keynote and online options like SlideRocket, which are PowerPoint-by-any-other name, even if they are better in some respects.

The result in all cases is basically the same:  ideas/information organized in slide-sized “bites.”

Once you start thinking about it this way, a website could be seen as a stack of presentation-like pages, each one displaying several slides—sort of like the Slide Sorter view in PowerPoint.  The visitor has self-serve access to these slides, so they can jump around to different parts of the “presentation.”

And now to the point.  The rules for creating good slides/presentations are few and definite, but mostly ignored.  For example, some excellent rules are:

  • Don’t put too much information on one slide—use several slides to build a theme or explain a complex idea.
  • Include something visual on every slide—but be sure the visual content is informative, not merely decorative.
  • Be consistent in formatting—not only on each slide, but across the whole presentation.
  • Provide a clear structure that organizes the slides—and make sure the audience always knows where they are and where they are going.

These rules apply every bit as well to a website design, but are just as often ignored.

Presentation expert Olivia Mitchell takes the psychology of PowerPoint even further in New evidence that bullet-points don’t work.  This substantive post explains research that shows improved comprehension in audiences viewing “sparse” slides (strong graphics, little text) rather than conventional slides that combine bullet-point text with smaller illustrations.  Mitchell goes into detail on the factors that involved—well worth a read.

Now in fact, most Careers sites I visit use lots of bullet points and lots of text.  To validate this impression, I picked out (completely at random) three big companies in completely different industry segments, two of which I’ve never visited before.  Here’s what I found . . .

Bullets--Costco
Click to enlarge

Costco Careers

Bullets--WF
Click to enlarge

Wells Fargo Careers

Bullets--MGM
Click to enlarge

MGM Careers

This is not a criticism of the three sites—just a confirmation that the bullet-point style is ubiquitous.  Like these examples, a great many of the designs I see have a few visual elements around the perimeter, with a big block of text in the middle.

In terms of presentation-style impact, contrast that look with this one:

Bullets--Yahoo
Click to enlarge

Yahoo Careers

Since website visitors aren’t getting additional information from speakers, the main ideas obviously must be explained on the page.  But breaking up text into thematic zones, putting some information into a graphical format, or even just changing the round, black bullets to (for example) square red bullets would certainly liven up the page.

Replacing boring bullets with interesting ones would be really low-hanging fruit!  And there are probably quite a few other tweaks that could improve the “presentation” qualities of a typical Careers site and bring about high-value change.

Welcome to Real Time


Real Time

Start thinking about real time.  Start now.

If that statement makes perfect sense, you can probably stop here and return to your Twitterstream.  If not, read on.

ReadWriteWeb took a swing at Explaining the Real-Time Web in 100 Words or Less.  Here’s the first sentence:

The Real-Time Web is a paradigm based on pushing information to users as soon as it’s available–instead of requiring that they or their software check a source periodically for updates.

And here’s the last sentence:

Real-time information delivery will likely become ubiquitous, a requirement for almost any website or service.

ReadWriteWeb is not infallible, but still pretty authoritative–so let’s assume this topic is important!  However, that definition was published on September 22, 2009, and “two months ago” equals an eternity in real time. So we fast-forward to a very recent post and presentation by the guru of now, Jeremy Owyang:  Real Time Web Is Not Fast Enough—Three Strategies For Business.

While I’m writing this, Jeremy is tweeting his real-time observations from LeWeb, “Europe’s largest Internet conference,” which is focused this year on (you guessed it) “Real Time.”  And LeWeb is live broadcasting in another window on my desktop.

Which is a perfect example of the real-time-web experience.  I’m semi-watching the conference (which is in another country) along with nearly 3,000 other viewers, while getting tweets from people who are there, while simultaneously researching the topic on the “slow-time web” and writing about it on my WiFi laptop.

All of this takes very little effort on my part (though of course I’ve spent time setting up the infrastructure).  Nor do I need fancy equipment—everything I use comes from regular retailers and is reasonably priced–and I have normal broadband cable service, which is not especially fast.

There really are few barriers between the average user and the real-time web.  But there are some real challenges involved for companies.

Jeremy writes:

Real time data is exploding at a rapid pace with the influx of status features and mobile devices.  This brings new opportunities for people to get information when they need it and opportunities [for] the companies that want to provide contextual information.  Yet, despite the opportunities, most companies are unable to keep up with the “Slow time” web as it is.

More to come about those challenges—and some emerging prescriptions—in future posts.  But for now, I strongly recommend Jeremy’s post mentioned above, along with a more detailed version in which he offers some forward thinking about “what’s next” (the Intention Web) and how business can meet the challenges of “right now.”

Takeaway: The time to start thinking about now is . . . well, you see the point.


(Many thanks to kasrak for the evocative “self-portrait.”)

Social Networking: Make Room for the Introverts

Bokeh

I see the terms “social media” and “social networking” used a lot.  Really, a lot.

Susan Burns makes an important distinction between “social media” (a collection of tools) and “social networking” (the application of social media):

Social networking is pursued with the underlying intention of dialogue, engagement, and interest . . . If you are simply pushing jobs out to Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, you are socializing job postings by using social media, but not necessarily engaging in social networking. If you’re engaging prospective talent in discussions and building active communities, you are pursuing a social networking strategy.

A very valuable point.  But let’s say a company and its recruiters understand the nature of social networking and want to engage, build, and generally communicate on a community level.  There is an “easy” side to that strategy, in the sense that there’s an eager audience of social media users out there who will welcome the opportunities they are presented with.  They will naturally communicate and communitize.

Of course there is also a set of people who don’t have the connectivity and/or the technical capability to respond to social networking opportunities.  They will have to be reached by some other means—and that’s the challenge of the “digital divide.”  Although it’s less and less of an issue, it does still exist.

But there is also a third group, and these folks may be the most ignored.  Social networking is by its very nature geared toward outgoing, expressive personalities.  As well as ambitious, even aggressive personalities.  And these “extroverts” often have a natural knack for connecting via social media tools.

Yet not all potentially valuable employees will fall into this “extrovert” profile.  In fact, many highly successful executives are “introverts” according to a fascinating article in USA Today, which offers insights into the relationship of creativity, charisma, leadership, and personality type.

So.  Where do introverts fit into today’s world of social recruiting?

A thoughtful post by “Cincy Recruiter” Jennifer McClure explains that the difference between extroverts and introverts is not what most people think.  Extroverts are not necessarily non-stop socializers, and introverts are not necessarily shy and retiring.  According to McClure, one big difference is that “introverts recharge by spending time alone,” while “extroverts recharge by being around people.”

That rings very true in my experience—and it also accounts in part for why the two types are not always clearly differentiated by Myer-Briggs and other personality tests.  McClure goes on to offer some connecting/networking tips for self-defined introverts, aided by a delightful slideshow for the “shy connector,” created by Sacha Chua.

Although McClure herself is a recruiter and an introvert, the great majority of people in sales/recruiting/HR are extroverts themselves, and so may take that state of mind as the norm.  Therefore!  Anyone attempting to develop and implement a social networking strategy would do well to read McClure’s post and give some thought to creating an integrated approach that will appeal to quieter types as well as go-getters.

PS:  Attitudes toward extroversion and introversion have a definite cultural aspect.  In the U.S., for example, extroversion is generally considered “normal” and introversion is viewed by many as falling short of the personality ideal.  That’s not true everywhere, and may actually be reversed in some cultures.  But there may still be lurking bias—especially in interview situations—toward more outgoing candidates or prospects.


(Thanks to kevindooley for the illustration of bokeh–a photographer’s term for the diffused light that appears in an image when the light source is unfocused.)

Explaining Corporate Culture: How Well Are Websites Doing?

Culture

Here’s a smart, useful summary of the components that make up what we call “corporate culture”:

Culture includes a wide range of social qualities such as beliefs, sense of mission, values, norms, traditions, how victories are celebrated, physical layout (e.g., open plan vs. closed offices), how conflicts get resolved (e.g., consensus vs. command-and-control), leadership style (e.g., team-based vs. “Lone Ranger”), communication style (e.g., candor vs. diplomacy; speed vs. deliberation), and interpersonal practices (e.g., formality/informality).

The description is from a blog post by Robert Bruner, Dean of the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, and the rest of his commentary is well worth reading.  The main theme is how transactional and relational business cultures differ—and why understanding the difference is important.  “A failure to read correctly a firm’s culture,” Darden asserts, “can have catastrophic consequences for one’s career.”

The reverse is also true.  Failure to present a firm’s culture correctly can have catastrophic consequences when it comes to attracting the best potential employees.

Since the corporate Careers site is a key tool in communicating the company culture, it’s worth a careful review to determine whether the site is doing a good job.  Now here’s the tricky bit:  In order to measure the website’s success on this point, it will be necessary to have a solid definition of what the message actually ought to be.

Looking back at Bruner’s list of factors, it won’t take long to notice that few of them are actually addressed or even implied on most sites.  There may be a statement of corporate philosophy that hints at “beliefs, sense of mission, values, norms”; there may be something about rewards/recognition that suggests “how victories are celebrated.”  There might be some facility photos or even a video tour that depicts “physical layout.”  But I’ve seldom seen anything about “traditions.”

And it’s extremely rare to find any of Darden’s other factors (conflict resolution, leadership style, communication style, and interpersonal practices) explicitly described on a corporate site.  At best, there are implications embedded in the design and conveyed in the tone of the content.

That implicit messaging might or might not accurately reflect the corporate culture.  Does a bright-and-breezy site promise an open, informal atmosphere?  Does a button-down pinstripe site forebode a restrictive environment?  It would be an interesting project to determine whether there really are any correlations in most cases.

As to overt statements—a quick check of five major company sites produced even less than I expected.  Most delivered the culture message via employee testimonials, ranging from anonymous text snippets (“my co-workers are fun and friendly”) to fully produced videos that include scenic footage and background music.  One site had twenty videos, adding up to an hour of people talking directly into the camera about all the jobs they have had and how much they like Company X.

I’ll end by just wondering what it would be like if every company site had to provide a short, clear statement about each category in Dean Bruner’s post.  Or if they had to define their culture in terms of the Denison Model.

That would be . . . cool.