Whirlpool Corporation today announced it has been recognized by Electronic Recruiting Exchange for its recruiting efforts. The company received honorable mentions at the first annual ER Excellence Awards in the categories of Best Corporate Careers Web site and Most Innovative Recruiting Process or Departmental Structure.

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The ER Excellence Awards, which celebrate excellence in the field of corporate recruiting, are given to a select group of leading corporations and individuals in recognition of their recruiting accomplishments over the past year.

"At Whirlpool, our goal is to create and maintain loyal customers for life. Attracting and retaining top talent is critical to accomplishing this goal," said Kristen Weirick, manager, Employer Brand for Whirlpool Corp. "We are pleased to have our recruiting efforts recognized by Electronic Recruiting Exchange."

Whirlpool's career web site was designed to make it as easy as possible for potential employees to find information about the company, its culture and career opportunities. The site (http://www.whirlpoolcareers.com/ ) offers employee testimonials, detailed information on many career paths, and interactive components covering global locations, company history and benefits. In addition, the site includes a campus section that provides information on undergraduate and graduate opportunities, tips for interviewing with Whirlpool, and a video featuring celebrity Ben Stein that demonstrates the company's global, innovative and industry-leading position. The site also makes it easy for candidates to apply, allowing them to sign up for email updates for openings in their field of interest, and create a profile that is password protected and easily updated.

Whirlpool's Exceptional Candidate Experience is a candidate management process that focuses on customer loyalty -- an important element of the company's overall culture and corporate strategy. The Experience includes three components -- initial touch points, candidate engagement and candidate closings. During every interaction with potential employees, Whirlpool strives to convey a consistent, positive message about the company as an employer. The company also conducts interviews with a customer loyalty focus, working to ensure candidates are treated like valued customers throughout the interview process. Lastly, whether the candidate is offered a position or not, Whirlpool maintains a positive experience with the person as a customer through thoughtful and conscientious communications with the candidate.

"We know that our recruiting efforts play a key role in how customers feel about the company and its products," added Weirick. "Therefore, it's crucial that our candidates have a exceptional experience whether or not they become Whirlpool employees."

Applications for the Excellence awards were reviewed by a panel of recruiting industry experts and practitioners, including Dr. John Sullivan, Gerry Crispin, Lou Adler, Kevin Wheeler, as well as top staffing executives from T-Mobile and Starbucks. The judging panel recognized excellence in nine specific categories pertaining to corporate recruiting, including best employer brand, best career web site, most effective use of staffing metrics, most effective use of recruiting technology, best employee referral program, most innovative recruiting process or departmental structure, best college recruiting program, and recruiter of the year.

About Whirlpool Corporation

Whirlpool Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, with annual sales of over $13 billion, 68,000 employees, and nearly 50 manufacturing and technology research centers around the globe. The company markets Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Brastemp, Bauknecht, Consul and other major brand names to consumers in more than 170 countries. Additional information about the company can be found on the Internet at http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com/ .

About Electronic Recruiting Exchange and the ER Excellence Awards

The Electronic Recruiting Exchange (http://www.erexchange.com/ ) is a network of more than 40,000 human resources and recruiting professionals and the foremost experts in recruiting. The New York-based organization provides best practices and research to industry professionals.

The ER Excellence Awards is an annual awards program recognizing excellence in corporate recruitment practices throughout the world. The awards are judged by a leading panel of recruiting industry experts and practitioners. A list of 2005 ER Excellence Awards can be found at http://www.erexchange.com/ereawards/ . For more information about how to apply for the 2006 ER Excellence Awards, visit http://www.erexchange.com/ereawards/2006 . Next year's ER Excellence Awards will be presented in San Diego, March 14, 2006, at the ER Expo 2006 Spring conference.

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SOURCE: Whirlpool Corporation