In contemporary society, decisions are simply not made without visiting a review site. From Yelp to Trivago to iSelect, there is an app or a website to help you make any decision you might possibly want to make. This has now extended into the job search market, with the review website glassdoor.com becoming quite a force to reckon with. This billion dollar company not only gives an anonymous platform for employees to review the salaries they make at certain companies, it also gives opportunities for review of the work environment including culture, favorability towards the CEO and professional development options. This platform not only speak to the need for transparency by employers, it also highlights the importance of investment in culture rather than just providing the bare minimum in terms of employee benefits. Love it or hate it, this style of review website is here to stay, so it is wiser to get ahead of the curve and invest in culture for a great review, rather than ignoring it or becoming frustrated about it’s presence.
Glassdoor.com is now rating higher for internet traffic than any career site, including those who actually offer jobs. For many employers this spells disaster, as transparency is something that makes them incredibly uncomfortable. The aspect which allows a stranger to rate a CEO publicly is particularly stressful for those in these positions of power. But having access to this kind of information, i.e. what people say about you behind your back could really help you to understand your brand and actually improve this based on real time advice.
What has glassdoor.com taught us?
Essentially, through this website we have found that culture is key. Those companies to rate highly overall overwhelmingly also rate highly in terms of culture according to the website. Even factors such as location and cost of living are not such highly impacting factors as company culture when considering motivation of potential employees to choose one company over another. Feedback received by the website from employees finding their dream job using this service shows that this kind of transparency about culture actually enhances the ability of employers to find the “right fit” for their company. Having a strong culture and Company values will help your future employees to self-select themselves for appropriateness of the role. Reducing “bad fit” of employees can be extremely powerful, as it inevitably reduces employee turnover, which if high, can be exorbitantly expensive in terms of cost of hiring and training.
So what can you do?
The important thing to do is to address the root cause of any problems. Human resources should not be seen as an entity simply to do the hiring and firing. HR Professionals are worth their weight in gold, if they can effectively mobilize social media and respond tactfully to bad reviews. Whatever you do, don’t fake good reviews. Target groups of employees have responded to these fake reviews stating that they are obvious and do not make them more likely to choose one job over another. In fact they make it more likely for them to steer away from this company, as the fake reviews damage the trust that employees feel they can have for this organisation.