Our world is turning virtual, with the newer generations having grown up with technology, the COVID shutdown forcing virtual life on communities as a whole, and social media playing a heavy influence on reputations of both people and companies alike. This brings us to the question: how influential are your Glassdoor reviews when people consider working for, or partnering with, your organization? You might be asking questions like, “How can a website like Glassdoor play a part in your hiring?” And “What actions you should take if you need to address a bad review?” Let us help answer these!
1. Encourage Reviews – Both Good and Bad
Encourage bad reviews?! It sounds crazy, right? But it’s good practice to encourage your employees, and even former employees, to use Glassdoor. Being open and transparent about the virtual anonymous platform for reviewing your organization shows that a company encourages feedback because it takes it seriously. Encouraging its use shows that you want your organization to have a great reputation based on actual experiences and not rumors. Even if a company has a negative review, being transparent and even acknowledging the review can show that your company is honest and transparent with their employees. After all, most of us were told growing up that apologizing for something that happened is better practice than pretending it didn’t happen in the first place! Simple golden rules to follow such as this are how you can build a culture where employees feel valued because their opinions are acknowledged.
2. Address All Reviews – Both Negative and Positive Ones
Acknowledge, apologize, strategize. Here are some ideas.
Address all reviews. That way it doesn’t seem like you are only addressing the negative ones. This isn’t always doable, so it can be beneficial to make it a habit of monitoring Glassdoor weekly, or even monthly, and be sure to acknowledge a handful of reviews in addition to any negative ones. (In partnering with TalentRemedy, we can go through your reviews for you!). It can be a forgotten PR piece, but Glassdoor CAN have a huge impact on your company’s reputation. According to Glassdoor for Employers, 62% of job seekers say their perception of a company improves after seeing an employer respond to a review. It is a completely free way to market and promote your company, so you can choose how much time to dedicate to it.
Apologize in a warm way. It is very important to not get defensive. You want the person to know that you take their feedback seriously and are concerned about their experience. You also want them to know that while you cannot go back in time to make their experience better, you can at least acknowledge their poor experience and apologize. Make the person feel heard and valued.
Let the person know that you are taking action to address the concern internally and are strategizing ways to streamline the process or make sure the next person has a different experience in the future. This helps cool them down.
3. Profile Maintenance is Key
Glassdoor is a way you can showcase your company! In the end, it Is a tool on the internet to help someone know what to expect when they want to be considered as a candidate for your company. But it is also a tool to showcase your organization in an honest way: the good, the bad, the perfect, the ugly. Make sure it is up to date and being utilized by your employees. Prompt responses show a culture that takes its employee experience seriously and can set you apart from an organization that may be able to pay a candidate more. Time and time again, we find that workplace culture is more important to many candidates. Yes, it often ranks higher than salary! You can use Glassdoor as a tool to be transparent surrounding salary. Did you know you can also showcase photos of your employee meetings or company work perks, add awards presented, new products launched, or new teams being built? People spend a lot of their time throughout their life “at” work. They want to work somewhere that the culture is healthy.
Questions?
TalentRemedy has a team of experts to perform consultative services. We can help address employee culture and negative Glassdoor reviews. Call us at 703-362-0175 or fill out an information request to set up your partnership with us.
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