Prospective hires may notice something new when clicking around a Cleveland company’s Web site.
In an effort to draw qualified professionals to the area, many organizations are promoting Northeast Ohio. According to the 2010 ERC/Smart Business Workplace Practices Survey, 27 percent of companies use their Web site to promote living and working in Northeast Ohio.
Tina Pringpuangkeo, human resources generalist for Wingspan Care Group, says her company began linking a Web site called www.neoisgreat.com to Bellefaire JCB’s, one of its subsidiaries, career site.
“Even when they are looking for jobs, we have the site right up front so it’s there,” Pringpuangkeo says. “Because it’s linked from our career site, we feel it encourages applicants to know that we care about their lives here outside of work and want them to enjoy living here as much as we do.”
For years, Northeast Ohio organizations struggled to draw qualified employees to the area. Tools like that Web site eliminate some of the common concerns people have while relocating for work and highlight the benefits of living and working in Cleveland.
“It’s nice for people who are kind of on the fence about moving because of a job,” Pringpuangkeo says. “It kind of helps them leap over that fence,”
Promoting Northeast Ohio should not stop with a company’s Web site. Pringpuangkeo and her team follow up with people through the entire hiring process. They remind people about the benefits of living in Cleveland during the face-to-face interview and again at orientation. This new approach is getting results.
“Based on our feedback, people have used that site before deciding to take the job offer from us,” she says.
Highlighting Northeast Ohio is also having a positive impact with longtime residents.
“It started out as, ‘Are you new to the area? [Then] check out this site,’ but people who have lived here for years have been looking at the site,” Pringpuangkeo says.
How to Reach: Wingspan Care Group, (216) 932-2800 or www.wingspancg.org
