Paul Stafford, Managing Director of Stafford Long, considers the options
A few weeks ago, one of my clients ñ an HR Director of a major organisation ñ asked me how soon I thought he could move all his recruitment online. He was considering investing in a web-based recruitment system and was enthusiastic about the benefits it would bring to both recruiters and applicants.
At the same time, he was concerned. How would this impact on his organisationís drive towards diversity? In particular, would a high-tech approach work for those applying for low level roles? My advice in such a situation is unequivocal: maximise the number of ways by which people can apply for jobs in your organisation, donít restrict them. But I decided to take a look at how far away his ideal scenario might be. What kinds of people are using the web to find employment, and how many are able or willing only to use more traditional routes? What can we do to make online job-hunting accessible to all?
The Government has set targets to ensure that everyone who wants it has access to the internet by 2005. However it has a steep hill to climb. According to 2002 figures from the Office of the e-Envoy, there is currently gap of 69 percentage points between those online in the highest income band compared to those in the lowest band. Lack of education also proved a barrier in a recent report from the University of Warwick: less than one in ten of those with no formal qualifications used the internet. This study also showed that employers and managers were more likely to have access to the internet than junior non-manual and manual workers. There are also significant regional variations in usage. A survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) covering the period October 2001 to September 2002, showed that the proportion of households with access to the internet was around 30% in Northern Ireland, Wales and the West Midlands compared to around 50% in London, the South East and East of England.
In some cases, the internet is living up to its image as an open and democratic medium. Men make slightly more use of the internet than women, but the gap is decreasing, as is the difference between younger and older users. A study by ONS in October 2002 showed that 47% of those aged between 55 and 64 used the Internet compared to 52% of the total UK population. Usage among ethnic minority groups would seem to be driven more by factors such as income, occupation, education and location than by ethnicity. However, an area where employers should be particularly concerned about excluding talented workers is among people with disabilities. The ONS Omnibus Survey among this group in December 2000 showed that only 16% used the Internet.
The reasons for this low level of use are complex, but there is one thing all employers can do: make their corporate and recruitment websites accessible to disabled users. This is a far bigger issue than many realise. In a now famous case, the organising committee of the 2000 Sydney Olympics was fined for not making its website open to the user of a refreshable Braille display. The day canít be far way when a similar complaint is lodged against an employer.
The good news is that making web content accessible need not limit creativity. Itís all about giving people the option to use websites the way they want to use them. Ensure pages can be viewed even when newer technologies are not supported or are turned off. Provide text equivalents for images so that they can be read by speech synthesizers or Braille displays. Make sure than moving, blinking, scrolling or auto-updating items can be paused or stopped. These are just some of the things that responsible web designers should think about. Not only because they open your site up to people with disabilities but because they make your site more accessible to everyone. If youíre posting vacancies on a job board or other general recruitment site where you donít have control over the design, ask about their accessibility policy before giving them your business.
My advice to my client about how soon he can move all his recruitment online? Not until 2005 at the earliest. Because now, no matter how you look at the statistics, the bottom line is that only about half of the UK population regularly use the Internet. By all means take full advantage of the positive aspects of this exciting medium, but take professional advice on accessibility issues. Publicise your website offline to ensure everyone who might want to use it knows about it. And donít abandon traditional media such as press and print if you want to attract talent from right across the community.
Job advertising on the web. Diversity or discrimination?
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