The tourism industry can teach employers a thing or two about jazzing up their Web sites aimed at employees, new recruits and potential hires, says Joseph Rotella, chief technical officer at Delphia Consulting, LLC, an Ohio-based company that specializes in HR technology.

Rotella explains that the fundamental purpose of a tourism Web site is to attract, and hopefully keep, people coming back to a certain city or attraction. Employers are trying to do the same thing - attract and retain talent to their organization.

"People have distinct questions when traveling to a city for vacation. For instance: What does the city [have] to offer in terms of good restaurants, nightlife and other entertainment? You will see that good online tourism sites address those issues through their Web sites," says Rotella.

On tourism Web sites, there is a clear understanding of what the user wants to know. "When you look at the sites, you could see that they have spent a great deal of time making sure they have data that people really want to know about," Rotella says.

Similarly, new recruits and prospective employees desire to know more than just the mission and vision of the company. They also are intensely curious about what workers do on a day-to-day basis, a company's facilities and benefits, and are seeking a sense of what their career trajectory might look like at the company.

Employers should take cues from the visual images presented on tourism sites, Rotella advises. "If you look at tourism Web sites promoting the state of Maine, you will see beautiful pictures of its coastline, lighthouses and lobsters. Likewise, look at tourism sites on Las Vegas, and you are going to see exciting photographs and graphics of the Vegas strip, live performance concerts, casinos and other entertaining events," he explains.

By contrast, many employers' recruiting Web sites display unimaginative photos - if any at all - featuring stock images of professional models sitting around a conference room table or standing in the lobby. The problem: Many companies are using the same pictures.

Rotella urges employers to take photos of their own workers and post those on their Web sites. Also, employers should not shy away from uploading a video tour of the company. He believes employers can remake the traditional office tour by shooting it on a digital video camera.

"Nowadays, you can purchase an inexpensive digital video camera and do a walking tour of your building and facilities. With so much competition right now in the workplace for top talent, you need to show how your organization is different from other companies," Rotella says.

Also, let users subscribe to Web site content via RRS, thus notifying individuals when a new opening is available. "It's about how can we steal those great ideas from tourism Web sites and apply them to our Web site domains," he adds.

'Junk drawer of the Web'

Often, recruiting Web sites are basically a list of job openings where "you click the apply button, and maybe you e-mail your resume to someone. This, however, does not engage folks," Rotella says.

Further, employers should think twice before posting a "Frequently asked questions" page on their Web site, Rotella says. "I don't like FAQ pages. To me, they are the junk drawer of the Web."

"In my kitchen, there is a junk drawer where I put everything that I don't know where else to put it. Over time, the junk drawer has become the first place I go to when I am looking for something. I don't pay attention to the other drawers in the kitchen," he explains, adding the same thing can hold true with a Web site.

Some employers don't provide good content upfront. As a result, users are asking the same questions over and over again. Instead of tightening up the original Web content by adding valuable information, some companies simply create a Web page where they post anything and everything about the company.

However, Rotella warns, when employers provide important answers about the company on one page, they run the risk of the Web visitor not reading the site's main content.

"If your content is well-written to begin with, those answers are going to be there and people are going to find them. In addition, some FAQ pages don't actually represent the questions that users may have, but instead the questions reflect what employers hope the user would ask," Rotella says.

Self-service stumbles

The biggest mistake employers make with their employee self-service Web site, says Rotella, is that they fail to treat the site with the same level of respect as their external marketing Web site. Employers allocate a ton of resources in time, money and people to build a phenomenal external Web site, but don't take the same approach toward their internal Web sites.

Employers have to recognize through design, implementation and launch that an intranet still is a marketing and branding tool, as well as a mechanism to conduct business online. Thus, the site has to be visually appealing and reflect the company's brand.

Some employers buy off-the-shelf solutions for their service-self Web sites, failing to spend any effort to customize or stylize the site so that it conveys a visual and emotional sense of the organization.

Keep in mind, a company's intranet is an excellent vehicle to present an internal marketing message.

"If you have a great self-service Web site where employees go online to update their mailing address, obtain paystub information, change income tax withholdings and conduct other employee-relations activities, then why not use that online real estate space to market the company and its employee program?" says Rotella.

Employers with a good intranet site routinely post news about awards the company earned, positive media reports about the company, notices for important company events, and upcoming professional development and training classes.

"All of that can really boost the value of a service-self Web site both to the employees and to the organization," says Rotella.

•  Envision the end state. Have a vision of what you are trying to achieve; don't let today's limitations impact the picture of what you want in the future. Be on the lookout for ideas you can apply to your domain.

•  Raise awareness to help others understand your vision.

•  Define what is important by understanding the needs of your users.

•  Follow a process; document the steps to reach your vision.

•  Build a community through blogs, live chats, resource sharing, events calendar, bulletin boards and other social networking media tools.

Source: Delphia Consulting, LLC