Just as tourism sites are designed to attract travelers, the goal of your employment site should be to attract and retain the best workers, says Joe Rotella, chief technical officer of Delphia Consulting in Columbus, Ohio — and the former can provide HR with a rich source of ideas.
His presentation at SHRM’s annual conference was fast-paced and filled with practical advice and great examples from the tourism boards of Chicago, Portland and myriad other places. Here were a few of my favorite suggestions:
- Get rid of your FAQ. “It’s the junk drawer” of the Web, he said. You should be incorporating that information into your regular content.
- Make sure your site achieves your business goals, as well as those of your users. To make sure you’re on track, create a written business case for the project before you begin and examine the ROI, which can be financial, cultural or process improvement.
- Know what type of content appeals to your users. And be particularly cautious about using glitzy flash applications. People usually skip them, he said. “Why do you want to pay me to build you one?”
- Keep the important stuff above the scroll line. People shouldn’t have to go hunting for key links, he said.
- Avoid using generic addresses for submitting questions or resumes. “People want to talk to people, not ‘hr@’.”
- Incorporate self-service features. “If you do it well you can save money while providing great service,” he said.