Exploring Culture and Diversity for Hispanics in Restaurant Online Recruitment Efforts

Abstract

ABSTRACT All business firms are now competing in the global marketplace for the best employee talent available. One stratagem in this effort for suitable employees is utilization of the World Wide Web. Restaurant firms have followed suit and are attempting to attract the best possible employment candidates worldwide. In as much as web site interactions are multidimensional, these companies attempt to demonstrate their inclusive character and varied cultural perspectives as the employer of choice. Restaurant firms identify themselves as equal opportunity employers; however, the lack of multicultural development, as depicted on their web sites, does not reflect this commitment. To study this issue, a content analysis was conducted on the 100 most prominent restaurant firms in the nation. The bounds of this group are based on corporate sales; hence, they are the largest restaurant firms in the nation. Although diversity is broadly constructed to include all minorities, this study will be investigating Hispanics as the population in question. This analysis identified indicators of the firm's diversity culture. The indicators were both pictorial and verbal representations and other general portrayals of the greater Hispanic population. This analysis found that most of the firms' web sites provided little or no concrete evidence of the firms' active commitment to diversity. Further, the study revealed “disconnects” between the intended message of being an equal opportunity employer and the actual message.