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Recruiting Goes Green

Green Recruiting

In honor of Earth Day, I spent some time looking for ideas and information about how the increasingly popular “green” movement can/should/will impact corporate recruiting. And I found some interesting items:

  • John Sullivan, who often leads the way on HR topics, called attention to the impact of environmentalism back in 2007. In Green Recruiting: Building Your Employer Brand, Sullivan explains persuasively that many of the best candidates (young, well-educated, responsible) will place a high value on corporate responsibility in general, and a commitment to sustainability/green values in particular. And he follows up with a detailed list of ways for companies to promote their green credentials—including (for example) providing interviewers with a fact sheet highlighting environmental values and initiatives; using recyclable paper for recruiting materials; and (very important!) showcasing green on your Careers website.
  • Sullivan’s green recruiting article sparked what could be described as a “feisty debate” among commenters. (Other descriptions might be donnybrook, free-for-all, or brouhaha.) Worth reading—not only for the entertainment value, but a a reminder that passions can run high when it comes to the topic of environmental action, even in this relatively tame context.
  • Taleo touts its greenness, focusing on “electronic recruiting saves paper.” That’s a valid point, but since erecruiting is Taleo’s business anyway, they might need to look for ways to go a little further. The article does discuss energy savings through software-as-a-service, based on the advantages of server-pooling. Interesting—but there’s a long way to go before SaaS makes a big environmental impact.
  • The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University implemented a “no goodies” policy for its campus recruiting events. Noting that “Duke MBA students accrue a significant inventory of giveaways” from the 150+ companies that visit Fuqua annually–and citing the energy costs of shipping, plus the amount of waste created by packaging and discarded items–the school no longer allows companies to bring piles of stuff to recruiting events. Again, interesting. But will other schools follow suit?
  • The February 2009 Update newsletter from CareerXRoads contains a short but very thoughtful piece called “Staffing’s Carbon Footprint=1.25 tons of CO2 emissions per hire and why you should care.” They suggest that staffing professionals honestly assess their company’s commitment to sustainability, determine the level of commitment, and analyze the environmental impact of their own departmental activities. They also offer a definition of “green recruiting” that is definitely worth reading (or possibly memorizing).

One point that occurred to me often while exploring resources for this topic: How much of the greenness claimed by companies (whether for recruiting, for public relations, for advertising, or otherwise) reflects real commitment, and how much is mere expediency? Another post, perhaps . . .

Thanks to Luz A. Villa for the image “Living Earth.”

Footnotes and Follow-ups: Trends, Metrics, Talent Wars (and Jack)

jack

First, a return to the ongoing question of “what’s up” in recruiting. Standout Jobs surveyed corporate recruiters and HR professionals at 450 companies (mostly small to mid-sized) about recruiting trends for 2009:

  • Predictably, 43% of respondents will cut spending on job boards. The top three areas expected to receive greater emphasis are referrals, company Career website, and internal transfers. Respondents see social networks and candidate relationship management as the top tools to improve recruiting efforts in 2009.
  • Surprisingly, almost half the respondents expect hiring to increase sometime in 2009. Also a surprise—“lack of qualified candidates” came in first among anticipated challenges, followed by “uncertainty in our industry.”
  • Somewhere in between . . . Twitter was dead last in the tools category.
  • Download Recruiting Trends 2009.

Also relating to the “what’s up” question: A recent Business Week article asserts “Yes, There’s Still a Talent War.” Columnist Liz Ryan says “Employers are starved for solutions. Candidates who bring a world view, focusing on problems and even evaluating possible solutions on the spot—sometimes before Day One on the job—will get hired, candidate surplus be damned.” Worth pondering whether (a) that is true at your own company, and if so, (b) whether your company’s Careers site gets that message across.

Next, another tidbit on recruiting ROI: Talent management hub Taleo (which offers ROI consulting services, among many other products) has some interesting white papers on the topic.

And—found while (still) looking for recruiting metrics—this provocative self-assessment tool from Lou Adler: “’Crazy Metrics’ for Progressive Recruiters.” Although Adler’s inventive measurements (such as the Maslow vs. Money Index, Gauge of Persistence, and Unsolicited Referral Rate) are intended to evaluate personal productivity, it’s interesting to see what happens if you apply the same tests to a Careers site.

Finally, because I can’t resist, an update on Jack. As you may know, Mr. Box has recovered from his brush with death and is back at the helm. But did you know that JITB created a standalone website—HangInThereJack.com—for the campaign? In addition to a series of (hilarious) webisodes that follow the dramatic events surrounding Jack’s coma, the site offers ringtones and badges for the true Jack Fanatic, plus social media links.

And as it turns out, the whole coma campaign was designed to set up a JITB image makeover. New logo, new website design, new media-enriched office for Jack, and a (hilarious) new Twitter stream in which Jack really does answer the question “What are you doing right now?” I’ll leave off with a sample:

jack-twitter

Recruiters: Ten-Hut!

army-poster-resized

Possibly the most mind-swirling statement I’ve seen lately:

“While on a tour of Google’s campus in Mountain View, California, Parsons [executive director of the Army Contractor Command] quickly saw that the company’s culture is quite different from the Defense Department’s.”

Different. Yes . . . that seems believable.

But beyond the fractured reality of this understatement is the matter of why the Army’s hirer-in-chief was at the Google campus, observing what is possibly the world’s most unmilitary workplace. According to the Defense Systems article “Recruiting technology goes cutting edge,” Parsons and some two-star generals who joined him on the tour marveled over Picasa and got acquainted with cloud computing—all as fact-finding for the Army’s new mission to update the way it goes about obtaining workers, from contractors to front-line soldiers.

The armed services in general are faced with significant recruiting challenges. In their case, “passive candidates” are not just the people who aren’t currently looking for a job, they are also people who wouldn’t typically consider enlisting in order to get one. And to woo these reluctants, it’s necessary to create a non-threatening presentation environment. So . . .

Enter the Army Experience Center, a 14,500-square-foot, arcade-like facility located in a Philadelphia mall, where:

Touch-screen applications, rows of video games, and helicopter and Humvee simulators let visitors learn about the Army without having to speak to a recruiter. Flat-screen monitors are mounted throughout the center, and a large screen at the entrance features an application built on Google Earth technology that visitors can use to learn about Army bases worldwide.

A key principle of the Experience Center is soft sell. In fact, almost no sell at all. Recruitment officers wear Army polo shirts instead of uniforms, and are cautioned not to talk about enlistment unless asked. Observes Major Larry Dillard, director of the Center: “We know from our research that young people don’t trust authority figures, and they’re used to informing themselves.”

In other words, candidates want to interact with plenty of information sources before interacting with an actual person—a person who is likely, after all, to have a somewhat biased viewpoint. So the Experience Center attracts visitors (many of whom return several times) with engaging activities. In order to play the games, visitors must register by providing contact information and school status.

In short, it seems the Army is taking a few pages from the civilian playbook. But many companies also have something to learn from the Army approach: Provide candidates with an information-rich, interactive environment, where they can educate themselves about the company. Then give them a way to contact real people once they are ready to find out more.

This is not news, but it’s also not a lesson that has been well-learned by corporate America.

Recruiting 2.0: The New Importance of Community

pg-cinncinati

This post is really about two different types of “community,” but they are closely connected in the evolving environment of Recruiting 2.0. One is the creation of an online community that attracts and nurtures candidates. The other is the use of location and lifestyle information to attract candidates and nurture new-hires.

I started this train of thought when an interesting tidbit about Proctor & Gamble’s new website focused on Cincinnati—about which more in a moment—came along at the same time I was reading some updates from the recent South by Southwest Interactive Festival. Better known as SXSWi, this gathering attracts both a lot of people and a lot of attention (get the flavor with a CNET roundup), and one of the hot topics this year was virtual/online communities, and the management thereof.

If anyone is thinking “What even is an online community?”, there’s a useful explanation/analysis at trusty old Wikipedia. And if anyone is asking “What does this have to do with recruiting?”, there’s an interesting discussion at EXCELER8ion, which explains that many candidates today have expectations of the recruitment experience based not on what has traditionally been provided by companies, but on the type of experience they have become accustomed to on the web.

Those expectations include a variety of factors (such as snappy design, quick performance, media enrichment, etc.) that have already been very influential in the development of Careers sites.  But an additional–and increasingly important–set of expectations has evolved from the connectivity created by social networks, blogs and articles that allow comments, and discussion forums. In short:  Many candidates are accustomed to virtual communities and want to find something similar when evaluating a prospective employer.

Creating a virtual community begins with putting the online part in place, but continues with the care and feeding of participants. The second part is called “community management,” and a new area of expertise has developed to meet emerging needs.  If you want to get under the hood of what a community manager is/does, check out a couple of community manager blogs: community spark and Kommein.

In terms of recruiting, the EXCELER8ion post suggests that a community manager can have several critical functions:

  • As a candidate community advocate, focused on listening, understanding candidate needs, and facilitating social media conversations
  • As an employer brand ambassador, spreading positive views of the company and highlighting opportunities through social media channels
  • As an analyst/evangelist, who can identify needs and issues, and communicate with both technical providers and business stakeholders to facilitate improvements

Now—what about Cincinnati? As reported in the Business Courier recently, mega-company Proctor & Gamble is building a website that will leverage in-depth information about living in Cincinnati to create interest among job candidates and support for onboarding recruits. It also provides an opportunity to showcase the eight P&G facilities in the area.

In addition to what’s on the current version of the site, P&G reportedly will add about 40% more content before a July launch, including features on company hires who have moved to Cincinnati.

Obviously, Proctor & Gamble is making a big investment in connecting candidates and employees with offline community (aka, the real world). So of course I was curious about their Careers site—and not surprisingly, it is feature rich. But not plugged into the 2.0 world! Apparently P&G is starting to develop a social media agenda, though. Read about their kick-off, and we’ll keep an eye on developments.

Test Question

Actually, it’s one strategic question with ten tactical sub-questions, and it was asked recently by recruiting guru Lou Adler: “Is Your Career Site Turning Off Top Candidates?” Adler breaks out his query into a scoring system for site assessment and discusses each item in some detail, so the article is well worth a read. Meantime, I’ll recap Adler’s questions here, and then add two more Qs for good measure.

I’ve put a brief explanation of each topic in parenthesis:

1.  Can candidates just look, or are they forced to “buy”? (Visitors should get plenty of information without having to apply.)

2. Are jobs easy to find? (Visitors should be able to locate relevant job listings efficiently.)

3.  Can your career site be found easily? (Visitors to the corporate site should be able to locate the Careers area quickly.)

4.  Are your job descriptions boring or compelling? (Descriptions should “wow” a top candidate.)

5. Is the application process simple or an endurance contest? (Application should take less than five minutes.)

6.  Is there a way to stay connected without applying? (Visitors should have options to submit a resume or sign up for something even if they do not apply for a job.)

7. Is there a CRM nurturing process? (Follow-up contact campaigns should be in place for “candidate relationship management.”)

8. Can your ads be found by those who are Googling for jobs or those not looking? (Jobs should appear on the first or second page of a reasonably targeted online search—and extra points if jobs appear on social media.)

9. Do you use SEO’d talent hubs for groups of similar jobs? (Adler uses the term “talent hub” in a specific way—best to read his explanation.)

10. Can your candidates find employees they know within your company? (This point is about the importance of an active employee referral program—not clear how it relates to the corporate website.)

Questions 1-6 make up a handy checklist for doing your own site review, and questions 7-10 provide food for thought about recruiting strategy in general and web presence in particular. But there are a couple of additional queries I think would make an excellent addition . . .

Adler begins the article with an assertion that “most career sites are designed to repel the best and attract the worst.” There’s definitely truth in that statement, though in most cases the effect is probably not due to design, but to lack of design. And lack of attention. So a very good question would be:  Is there a dedicated resource for coordinating and maintaining the design and functionality of the Careers site? And if so—does that person have the requisite skills to do the job, and enough time to do it?

The other question I’d suggest (and I would make it the very first one) is:  Can you state the mission of your Careers site? Different companies have different recruiting needs and strategies. Sometimes these are well-defined, sometimes they are not. And even if there is a definition, sometimes it is intentionally and skillfully utilized to create a “just-right” Careers site, more often it is not.

And that sets up another post. In the meantime–let me know if you think there are other questions begging to be asked!

Recruiting in the Headlights

AIG Headlines

Few companies have received more negative notoriety in recent months than AIG. Yet on their Careers site, it looks as if nothing in the world has ever happened to disturb the company, or the happy futures of its prospective employees.

Since it’s been reported out loud in many places that AIG has four PR firms at work, in addition to their in-house resources, it seems obvious they are concerned with making the right impression.  And the corporate home page strikes just the right note, with a simple but effective acknowledgement that problems exist and efforts are at work:

AIG home pageThe look is clean and friendly, and the large “Moving Forward” link takes the visitor to a well-spun news page that focuses attention on restructuring.

But click on over to Careers, and it’s like landing in an Oz of flashy graphics and enthusiastic copy:

AIG Careers
The lead line is: “Wherever you are looking for opportunity, AIG is there.” And in view of the recent publicity about AIG (and financial institutions in general), it is difficult not to regard this statement with a certain irony.

Of course it is absolutely right to continue recruiting, even if a company is experiencing difficulties. And it might even be reasonable to try and keep the Careers section in a bubble, if that were possible. But such could only be accomplished with careful attention—which doesn’t appear to have been paid at AIG. If a natural curiosity were to lead the job-seeker to click on the “Our Organization” tab, and then choose “News,” here’s what they would find:

AIG Careers News
The lead line is: “We celebrate the accomplishments of our employees around the globe. Check back frequently to read updated reports of achievements in the office and in the community.”

But the corporate news feed inserted beneath this caption creates a bit of a disconnect, since it’s generally a stream of financial and legal items that are certainly not celebratory, and bear no relationship to employee accomplishments. On the date I checked (3-12-09), the first item was “AIG Issues Series C Preferred to Trust for the Sole Benefit of the U.S. Treasury.”

It’s hard to say what a company should do in AIG’s circumstances.  But I thought it might be worthwhile to look at another approach, so I traveled over to Citigroup, which has been similarly in the headlights.  They may have been in a better position fundamentally, since their Careers site is much more serious (one would even say sober) in design and execution.

Citigroup Careers

Very little copy on the landing page–and nothing that moves! The presentation remains restrained throughout the site, which has considerable depth, and includes a lengthy, realistic-yet-encouraging message from Citi CEO Vikram Pandit. If visitors access “News” from the Careers site, they are taken to the Press Room, where stories are presented completely, and in context—which plays much better than the bad-news headline scroll at AIG.

It’s understandable that revamping the Careers site may not be a top priority at AIG. But some small changes could have made the presentation seem more appropriate. Here again, perception means a lot . . .

And attention is important. A footer on the Careers landing page announces: “Last Updated Date 10/30/2008 9:58:53 AM.” And that just seems too long under the circumstances.