Portraying an Organization’s Culture through Properties of a Recruitment Website

Two specific website properties of organizational recruitment websites were examined to determine what effects these properties had on the accurate portrayal of an organization's culture. In addition, we confirmed the results of previous studies that person-organization fit leads applicants to be more attracted to a recruiting organization. Recruiting high quality applicants for vacant positions is of monumental importance to organizations. Successful recruiting procedures result in applicant attraction which impacts applicant job choices and attitudes, and ultimately increased organizational performance and decreased turnover Increasingly, the Internet is being relied upon for recruitment. However, little is currently known about the role of the Internet in the recruitment process. Specifically, little is known about how different aspects of an organization's recruitment website can affect viewer perceptions of organizational culture. In this study, we examined the effect of two website properties on viewers' perceptions of organizational culture. Additionally, several studies have shown that person-organization (P-O) fit, defined as the extent to which an individual is compatible with an organization (Kristof, 1996), results in higher levels of attraction to an organization (e. we also examined the extent to which perceptions of P-O fit related to attraction to the organization. P-O fit plays an important role in the attraction aspect of both the attraction-selection-attrition model (Schneider, 1987) and the similarity-attraction paradigm (Byrne, 1971), suggesting that people are attracted to organizations with values that are congruent with their own. One way that P-O fit can be enhanced is through effective recruiting methods that highlight organizational values and culture. Several prior studies have shown a connection between culture (i.e., an organization's shared set of beliefs and values) and P-O fit during the recruitment process (e. Specifically, the accurate portrayal of culture through recruitment material allows individuals to assess whether their personal characteristics and values match with those of the organization (O'Reilly et al., 1991). Thus, effective communication of organizational culture through recruitment materials should allow prospective applicants to evaluate their fit with the organization and decide not to apply if they perceive poor fit. Traditionally, recruitment media have included such things as brochures, word-of-mouth accounts, newspaper advertisements, and career fairs. A recent survey found that Internet recruitment is being used by over 90% of large U.S. companies (Cober, et al., 2000). In addition, use of the Internet for recruitment purposes is one of the most cost-reducing and time-reducing ways of attracting and hiring employees Recent statistics indicate that …