It’s exceedingly common for people to check out reviews before booking a vacation, deciding where to go for dinner, or purchasing the latest electronic gadget.
Most brands are well aware of this and will work hard to earn positive review scores from customers. They also track reviews closely to better understand how their customer service efforts are working.
All of this is a smart business practice, but other reviews are often ignored. While brands focus heavily on customer sentiment reviews, they pay very little attention to employee satisfaction reviews. By doing this, they risk undermining their branding efforts on many levels.
Employee Review Scores and Hiring
Choosing one’s next employer is a big decision. It’s certainly more important than making a purchase at an electronics store or going out to eat. It only makes sense that job candidates will conduct research into a prospective employer’s reputation and company culture.
In fact, most job seekers say they wouldn’t work for a company with negative online reviews.
That’s the negative side of things. The positive side is that if your brand earns good reviews from employees and job-seekers, that can do powerful things for your employer branding.
These reviews also provide concrete data to back up your employer value proposition (EVP). Just as job candidates avoid a company with bad reviews, they’ll pursue one with good reviews.
What Information Is Important in Employee Reviews?
Prospective employees read reviews to see if the company they are considering:
- Treats applicants well during the hiring process
- Offers fair compensation and benefits
- Embraces diversity
- Engages in ethical practices
- Provides proper training and opportunities for advancement
- Ensures that workers have what they need to do their jobs well
All of these things combined contribute to a company’s overall work culture, which employees often address in the content of their reviews.
Employee Reviews and the Competitive Hiring Process
Why should brands care about these reviews now? Truthfully, employee reviews have always been important. Now, they are critical.
Today, the hiring process is more competitive than ever. The difference is that it’s the companies competing with one another to attract the most talented professionals.
If your business is earning great reviews from current employees, applicants, and former employees, that’s a real bonus. Great reviews could truly make your brand stand out from others.
Steps to Earn Positive Employee Reviews
Reviews are important, but how do you ensure that you are earning positive feedback? Take the following steps to ensure that you impress your employees in all key areas of concern:
Create a Positive Hiring Experience
Remember two things. First, job candidates will review your company online, whether you hire them or not. Also, the hiring experience is your new employee’s first experience with your company. They are going to remember that for quite a while.
Know the common complaints that job seekers have, such as lack of follow-up, bad interview experiences, and application forms that are lengthy and intrusive. If you’ve taken the hiring process online, you’ll need to design a great virtual candidate experience.
Describe Positions Accurately
Many negative employee reviews focus on the frustration workers feel when they are misled about the details of a position. Don’t focus so much on “selling” a job to new prospects that you don’t provide an accurate description of the work.
Most people can accept that many jobs include duties that aren’t so enjoyable. However, they’ll feel frustrated and betrayed if the dream job you described isn’t what they received. Be upfront and honest by giving a clear picture of all aspects of the position.
Develop Great Leaders
That saying is true. People don’t quit jobs; they quit managers. Develop a management team that can motivate people, deal with conflict effectively, provide great feedback, and help workers reach their goals.
That’s going to lead to positive online reviews. More importantly, you may be able to get ahead of things by turning employees into your social media advocates.
Encourage Honest Feedback
Employees often turn to external review sites to leave negative reviews when they feel as though they have nowhere else to express their frustrations. They either believe they will be subjected to negative consequences for their honesty or that nothing will improve when they provide their feedback internally.
Encourage workers to provide honest and direct feedback and train managers on receiving that feedback without becoming defensive. However, remember that some employees will still feel uncomfortable communicating their dissatisfaction. Consider providing ways for workers to provide feedback anonymously.
Provide Multiple Options for Career Growth
One of the most common ways to reward good workers is to promote them into management. Unfortunately, many people who are talented at their jobs aren’t cut out for leadership.
They end up in management positions that are a poor fit, and the people under them suffer as well. Create other paths for career growth and recognition that don’t necessarily involve managing other people.
Help Employees Understand the Company Mission
Employees may become frustrated with their duties or management decisions if they don’t understand the reasons behind these decisions. Additionally, miscommunications can occur when teams and departments function as silos and don’t share information.
Encourage workers to cross-train and provide other opportunities for them to learn more about the organization as a whole.
Prioritize Communication
Without good communication, management decisions can seem arbitrary. This opacity can lead to frustration among workers who feel blindsided by new policies or organizational changes. Keep employees in the loop with honest communications about the good and bad.
Know Employee Sentiment
You should never be surprised by your reputation as an employer. Use tools available to you to collect and analyze information on employee sentiment. Pay attention to those external review websites too. This approach will allow you to refine your employer branding to boost your reputation among potential candidates.
