Managing your Glassdoor reputation

Glassdoor is an amazing tool for employers and employees alike as Glassdoor reviews and ratings have become integral to the hiring process. A 2016 Glassdoor US survey reported that 70% of people check Glassdoor reviews for a prospective company before applying, and the site garners over 57 million unique visitors each month.

Candidates are looking for information that will help sway their decision of whether to apply/work at a company, with a host of information from employee experiences, interview experiences, salaries and more, readily available on Glassdoor. Candidates are on the hunt for a feel of the company from past and current employees, information on their new potential employer that they would not receive from the company itself.

Therefore, your Glassdoor reputation is becoming increasingly more important when you are looking to hire. Reports have shown that at least 60% of people would not apply to a business with a 1 star review, and that 84% of people trust online customer reviews as much as a friend’s recommendation. SO, how can you manage your Glassdoor reputation to ensure that potential candidates are interested and excited to work with you.

Monitoring your reputation

The first step in managing your reputation, is monitoring your reputation. Chances are, even if you have not signed up to an account yet, there may be some reviews on your business. There are multiple kinds of employer accounts on Glassdoor, but even signing up to a free employer account will allow you to access basic employer branding tools and analytics on areas like brand awareness, brand reputation, competitive analysis and audience. A free employer account also lets you respond to reviews – an invaluable tool we will discuss in further detail.

Now scope out your score, don’t be worried if you haven’t received a perfect 5 rating, as the average company rating on Glassdoor is actually 3.3 out of 5, and this is for companies that have employer accounts.

Managing your reputation

Responding to negative reviews

It can be incredibly disheartening to see a negative review on your Glassdoor profile, especially if you do not feel the review is justified. A couple of bad reviews are not the be all and end all of your Glassdoor reputation, you cannot remove bad reviews, but they can easily be rectified with a personal response.

By taking the time to reply to negative reviews, you are showing candidates that your company is willing to find a solution to a problem, rather than ignoring any potential issues. Research has shown that 62% of people report their perception of a company improves if they respond to negative Glassdoor reviews.

So how do your respond to negative reviews? The first thing we recommend is that you reply in a timely fashion, but not immediately, so that you have time to plan your response and make sure you do not respond out of emotion.

Firstly, thank the reviewer for sharing their feedback. This puts the rest of your review in a friendlier light. Then, make sure to apologise and offer up a solution or a statement about how you wish the issue had been handled. This kind of helpful response can make a word of difference to a potential candidate reading any bad reviews.

Requesting employee reviews

The best thing you can proactively do to improve your reputation on Glassdoor, is to receive some positive reviews. So, send review requests to current employees! Let your employees know that the process is anonymous, and that they should not feel pressured, but discuss with them the potential benefits for the company.

If you feel uncomfortable requesting reviews, you could also use an external agency to do so – this makes the offer seem more formal and less like a favour. Top tip – make sure that all of your positive reviews from current employees don’t come in at once, as this may be misconstrued as suspicious if you were trying to tackle any previous negative reviews. Spread the review requests out over time to curate a better Glassdoor reputation.

Requesting reviews can also be an invaluable exercise for you as an employer, as it means investing time connecting with employees and asking their opinions on the business, giving you a chance to implement any suggested changes.

Make sure you respond to your positive reviews too! Thanking any happy employees for their positive feedback will greatly increase your Glassdoor reputation and show potential candidates that you interact with staff. Additionally, this will show your employees that their input matters and is appreciated – potentially turning a happy employee into a brand ambassador.

Adapting your business

Monitoring and managing your Glassdoor reputation is extremely important for hiring, but more than that, your Glassdoor page is an amazing tool to show you how employees and potential candidates are viewing your business and using this feedback to adapt your business. The anonymous insights you can receive from Glassdoor can allow you to really put a magnifying glass to your business and see areas you may need to improve or change moving forward.

If you notice any trends in feedback, this is a unique opportunity to fix the problem before it gets out of hand, or if you notice that employees have reacted positively to something, this is an opportunity to amplify those perks and show you’re paying attention.

We hope you’ve found all of these tips helpful, and you monitor and manage your Glassdoor reputation to attract some high calibre talent! If you would like to improve your in-house recruitment process further, get in touch to find out how we can help you post your roles onto all of the UK’s top 10 job boards.