Listed companies are not tapping into the potential that their websites offer as a channel for recruiting new employees.
Almost 40% of the companies surveyed in the FM's Best Corporate Websites Award 2006 offered little or no information or assistance for jobseekers who would be interested in working for their organisations.
Most companies (about 80%), including three placed in the overall Top 10, did not bother to reply to e-mails sent by researchers posing as prospective employees seeking information about career opportunities.
The 2006 awards show some improvement over last year, when the websites of 54% of the Top 100 had nothing to offer the prospective employee, but most companies should be doing more to capture talent through their websites, says BlueRiverStone MD Ian Kruger.
Most companies have not realised the power of the corporate brand combined with the website as a tool for capturing a pool of candidates for the listed company and its perhaps less well-known subsidiaries, he adds.
"Of the three kinds of users we assessed, most companies are servicing the potential candidate the worst," says Kruger. "The picture has improved since last year, however, so perhaps we are starting to see companies take the potential their websites hold for recruitment more seriously."
BHP Billiton, the overall winner this year, was the best performer in this category with a score of 57,35 (out of a possible 100). Coronation Fund Managers, Alexander Forbes, Afrox, Allan Gray Property Trust and Mediclinic also scored comparatively well with scores within 10 points of BHP Billiton's.
Close on a third of the companies scored less than 10 points in total for the recruitment category. The average, 19,23, was the lowest out of the three user scenarios evaluated for the award.
BlueRiverStone has conducted other research that shows that companies with a sound e-recruitment place on their websites are more successful in attracting talent than those that neglect their sites as a channel for attracting new employees. This research indicated that the Web is a valuable channel for recruitment because it attracts high-calibre candidates, most armed with tertiary qualifications.
The process of tracking down a company's website and submitting a CV or e-mailed query is an effective test for Internet and computer literacy. The Web also attracts candidates that represent an even split of gender and a healthy spread of race, helpful to companies striving to meet employment equity targets.
Says Kruger: "A sound e-recruitment strategy can draw high-quality candidates at lower cost and higher efficiency.
"Though companies have shown significant improvements in catering for investors, most companies have not given any consideration to the link between the corporate brand and talent acquisition."
