Desi cos blog on to lure job-seekers

The EconomicTimes Network
www.economictimes.com
September 14,2006

Even as employer branding catches on, India Inc has hit upon an exciting medium to do just that. Blogs are fast catching up as a medium among companies that seek to brand themselves as ‘great employers’.

Following in the footsteps of global biggies like Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Honeywell, T-Mobile, the Indian subsidiaries of JWT, Frito-Lay, Motorola and a few others are planning blogs that talk about career options and employee experiences in the organisations. These blogs are also a platform for exchange of ideas.

Infosys has its own blog, www.infosysblogs.com. Options Executives Search, a Hyderabad based HR consultancy, has also embarked on a similar initiative. These companies want to attract the young and tech-savvy crowd, which could possibly be on their payroll in future.

JWT is planning a blog in the next one month, which would essentially be a feedback platform for existing employees. It will discuss career-related issues, and be an experience-sharing forum for employees and ex-employees.

“We didn’t want to be left behind and miss out on this highly interactive medium, which can get us in touch with an extremely active talent pool,” says Sapna Srivastava, HR head, JWT India. “So, while our employees can talk about their experiences in training workshops and similar activities, others could give their feedback on what they think about the various issues that are being discussed on the blog or even share their own ideas.”

Analysts say, most people log on to company websites and forget about it; however, blogs that discuss topics relevant to aspiring professionals and give an insight into the corporate world may be able engage individuals for a longer time.

Fritolay India will have a similar blog in two months. A brainchild of the company’s HR head, Abhijit Bhaduri, it will seek to attract job seekers, among other things.

“It’s a very effective medium to reach out to those in their 20s and 30s and can also help create a prospective talent pool for the future. Such blogs will help attract a diverse pool of talent for future hiring,” says Gautam Ghosh, an ex-Deloitte advising Fritolay India on the project. Citing an example, he says, the blog could possibly start with an interaction on a career-related topic. And the company could well proceed to offer a job if the blogger is interested.

The idea of a blog has also clicked with Motorola India’s HR head Raghuram Reddum, who is planning a blog on similar lines. “We do have an internal blog, but we plan to take it far beyond that and involve people in general through the blog,” he says.

Globally, Microsoft’s blogs like Jobsblog and Heather aimed at employer branding, have been hugely successful. In fact, Jobsblog hired close to 60 software engineers after a year of operation and the employees cited the blog as their reason for getting interested in the company.