If you’re thinking about revamping your career site at the moment – as you may well be, if you’re going all out for next summer’s graduates – you can’t do better than look at the Macy’s job site.
It used to be called Retailology, but they’ve redesigned it, and although I was disappointed when I first saw the redesign (and still am, a bit – it no longer entices me to change career!), the great features that they have are almost all still there, just relocated.
One of the things that appeals to me the most about this site is the coverage of career development. All too often, this is limited to a paragraph or two saying bland things about how great your career development will be and how seriously the company takes this.
Examples from Brambles and ICI:
Brambles works with employees to develop opportunities that will enable them to maximise their contribution to the company, achieve job satisfaction and reach their full potential.
Where you go and how you develop is ultimately up to you. At ICI we expect you to take a significant role in driving your own career forward. We will support you in this effort by tailoring training solutions and development activities to help you.
Compare this with the Macy-style explanation of the possible, using:
- career paths – which roles naturally follow on from others
- career profiles – what the career histories of current employees have actually been
Combined with interviews and videos of current employees at various stages of their careers, and in various roles, this helps potential recruits understand what their future careers might be – and that they aren’t necessarily tied to one role for the rest of their lives, but can move sideways as well as up.
Demonstrating what the most senior people in the organisation have done throughout their careers – with explanations of the various roles – shows that even the CEO started at the bottom and worked his way up. This makes it clear that Macy’s can be a match for the ambitious, as well as that the senior staff do understand the roles of those below them.
These career profiles used to be linked to the job descriptions, and to a ‘week at a glance’ feature, which showed what the diary of a person doing that job might look like. This was a great feature, but seems to have been lost in the redesign (the pages no longer exist). Nevertheless, Macy’s do a good job of explaining what a career in retail might involve, and this is available in both the graduate and the non-graduate sections of the site (not always true).
And I think this helps to communicate that Macy’s care about the career development of their people – much more if they had simply said that they do. Corporate culture and corporate brand are communicated very clearly by the corporate website, so care must be taken to ensure that the right messages are being portrayed throughout.
Lucy is Editor at Corporate Eye
Wow! That is really impressive. I mean, even to take the time and effort to do what they have done, is impressive. If they can achieve even 50% of what is outlined, I would say that it puts Macy’s centuries ahead of almost every other company! Great post!