Why Online Reviews of Your Workplace Are Hurting Your Ability to Hire (and 4 Tips to Get Better)
Potential employees are scoping out your reputation before they even apply. And this is wonderful for them — they get a glimpse into what it’s like to work for you. But it is always accurate? And are you putting your best foot forward as an employer?
Reviews Matter
Your business’ reputation with customers is vital. And online reviews are a reflection of how your clients and customers have felt about working with your business. In fact, you probably have looked at online reviews for help with choosing a restaurant, finding a doctor, or maybe selecting a gym to sign up for.
This same concept applies in the job search world.
With low unemployment rates, workers have options. They want to find the best place to work that they can and they want to avoid the toxic bosses, over work, and lack of growth opportunities that are fodder for TikTok videos about horrible workplaces.
Workplace reviews can be incredibly helpful or hurtful to your ability to hire. Some reviews include scathing commentary on your managers, your pay — even your office snacks. Reviews rarely hold back because these reviews are totally anonymous. And just like customers jump at the chance to write a bad review, your former employees (or current ones) will hop onto a website to blast your workplace so they can get their emotions off their chest. While the happy workers often quietly have nothing to say.
The end result? If you don’t take action, your reviews will usually hurt more than they help.
Do you want to retain more employees and spend less time hiring? Get an instant download of our Guide to Retention here.
The Major Players for Workplace Reviews
You have a great place to work, right? But can your ideal employees find you? Can they see that your business has a strong reputation?
This is where Glassdoor and Indeed enter the chat.
This example from Indeed shows that your company’s rating is right there on every job listing. BTW - Who knew that Rust-Oleum had HR? I guess every company needs to grease the wheels of HR and culture, right? #dadjokes
Imagine that the most popular website for employees to find jobs (Indeed) also has your employer reputation pasted right next to every job that you post. This is the reality on Indeed’s website.
Glassdoor is another website that follows this same model - jobs posted and reputations on display for all to see.
This is wonderful for employees — they get a glimpse into what it’s like to work for you. But is it always accurate? And are you putting your best foot forward as an employer?
Tips for Improving Your Ratings
If you want to improve your ratings on Glassdoor and Indeed, what can you do? Here are a few tips:
Ask current employees for reviews
If you believe your workplace has a strong culture, then ask employees to go to Indeed and Glassdoor to write reviews. This can be a very effective way to change your online rating. Not everyone will be willing to write a review and you need to be VERY easygoing about making this request or else you’ll look pushy and it’ll have the opposite effect.
Asking new hires for reviews can be a good time because they are energized and usually they feel good about the company after a positive onboarding process.
Um…Improve your culture?
The most powerful way to respond to a low rating is to make real improvements to your workplace culture. Fire that terrible leader. Address the workplace gossip problem. Do a compensation research study and raise pay rates if needed.
This work takes time and it’s not a quick fix, but it’s the only way to create sustainable results in retention and employee sentiment — and that’s how you garner authentic and strong reviews. Contact Seasoned Advice to talk about how we can help analyze and solve employee culture issues.
Monitor and respond to reviews
You should sign up for an employer account on Glassdoor and Indeed, claim your company pages, and start responding to ALL reviews that come in. This helps you show that you care about employee reviews, especially the bad ones.
Ensure leadership is aware
Make sure all leaders in your company are aware that reviews matter and that their behavior today can become a topic of a social media review tomorrow. Emphasize the importance of a strong workplace and hold them accountable for being great leaders. It also helps if you hire great leaders, train them to be effective, and provide coaching. Seasoned Advice can help with that, as well.
Conclusion
Online reviews can help or hurt your business when it comes to hiring. Having someone on your team who monitors your culture and the online reviews is essential to staying on top of this issue.
