Picture this: your company has a few bad apples pulling the rest of the team down. Maybe they have toxic personalities that are poisoning the team dynamic, or perhaps they are severely underperforming -- or not showing up at all! Whatever the issue, you’re way beyond the “three strikes and you’re out” rule. Eventually, you just say enough is enough, and you fire them.
Your disgruntled ex-employees rant about it to their friends and family, spinning the narrative however they please. You don’t care because you’re rid of them and won’t hear from them again. They eventually find new jobs and everyone moves on with their lives.
It’s a tale as old as time. The only problem today is that those ex-employees vent about their frustrations online too, leaving you to suffer the consequences.
Now picture this: your next round of job applicants look online to find out more about your company. They turn to Glassdoor to get a glimpse into your company culture and salary averages. Like a Yelp for employees, Glassdoor features anonymous company reviews by current and former employees to help applicants navigate the job market.
Unfortunately, when they scan your company’s Glassdoor page, all they find are scathing negative reviews from your unhappy former employees. With thousands of alternative career options just a click away, can you really blame them for passing on your opportunity?
Whether you decide to follow this process yourself or hire an online reputation management firm to do it for you, here is a six-step blueprint to improve your Glassdoor reviews and help you attract top talent.
Scope Out The Damage
If your Glassdoor page is in bad shape, you can take solace knowing that you’re not alone. Most companies can’t achieve a positive Glassdoor without a plan. In fact, the average company rating on Glassdoor is a 3.3 out of 5. (And that average includes all the companies with plans -- imagine how low that would be if you took those out!)
It all boils down to human nature. People tend to write negative reviews at a much higher frequency than positive ones. Angry employees look for justice by venting online while happy employees are content with the way things are. They have no reason to review.
To get a sense for how deep your Glassdoor troubles go, first, locate your average rating and the current number of reviews. If the number of negative reviews only amounts to a small percentage of your total employees, then it’s probably not representative of the average employee opinion.
On the other hand, if it looks like everyone in your company has already complained online, you may have bigger fish to fry. Excellent Glassdoor reviews start with being an excellent employer, and I can’t stress that enough. No amount of online reputation management is going to convince unhappy employees to praise your company online.
Assuming you have the ‘great employer’ bit down, and the Glassdoor numbers are in your favor, then it’s time to start improving.
Claim And Optimize Your Profile
Chances are, you already have a Glassdoor page with negative reviews on it. As a general rule, I’ve found that most business owners tend not to care about Glassdoor until they notice an issue.
In order to manage your company page on Glassdoor, you’ll need to create a free employer account. You can go here go do that. All you need is access to a company email address so you can verify your account.
A free employer account allows you to update basic company information, view analytics on profile visits, and join the conversation by responding to reviews -- more on that later.
If you don’t already have a company page, you’ll be able to do so once you create your free account.
There is also a paid version which allows you to further build out your page, feature a review of your choosing, and advertise your company and jobs on open competitor profiles. However, you don’t need a paid account to improve your Glassdoor rating so we get too deep into that here.
Send Review Requests To Current Employees.
Getting happy employees to review is more an art than a science. Usually, you can motivate employees to write positive reviews if they:
- see how it helps the company
- understand the process and are ensured anonymity
- have guidance on what to write, and how to do it
- don’t feel pressured
- are asked at the right time and place
Some companies prefer to use an external agency to avoid directly asking colleagues to write positive reviews. This helps the goal seem more business-oriented and less like a personal favor.
Start by rounding up management, marketing, and some long-tenured employees to consolidate a list of current people at the company. The benefit of starting here is that you’ll begin to immediately counteract the existing negative reviews from disgruntled ex-employees with the other side of the spectrum: happy current employees.
You may be tempted to immediately ask all your employees to review so you can wash your hands of this issue. There are a couple main reasons why this is a bad idea:
- It looks suspicious if you have very few reviews, then a waterfall of positive reviews all at once, and then none again.
- Negative reviews are likely to trickle in at the same rate as they always have. So those positive reviews are going to get buried by more negatives at some point.
For these two reasons, it is better to put your happy, current employees on a review schedule to spread them out over time. Depending on the size of your company, you may want to ask a few people to review each week or several dozens.
When you ask, remember to keep in mind the motivation factors mentioned above. You’ll want to make the process as easy as possible for your employees, while also ensuring that they understand why it matters and how their anonymity will be protected.
With this review schedule running, you’ll have the ability to begin configuring your ‘key moments.’
Determine Your Key Moments
In every organization, there are key moments when employees are feeling particularly enthusiastic and are most likely to write positive reviews about the company.
Common examples include promotions, meetings where you recognize good work, and fun activities like happy hours and retreats.
Think about those moments in your company. Do you host a Bagels with the Bosses event that brings the team closer together? Is there a particularly fun team-building activity you do every year? What about that amazing onboarding process that you’ve developed for new hires?
Draft up review request language that’s tailored for each key moment. Then, make sure you put a process in place to collect the names and emails of employees once they have encountered those moments.
All that’s left to do is send out the requests and you’ll be well on your way to a higher score.
Personally Respond To Reviews
A positive Glassdoor rating can be instrumental to attracting top talent.
When business owners get a negative review online, many get scared to respond. I’ve heard things like, “I don’t want to legitimize it,” or “that guy is absolutely crazy, he won’t listen to reason” or “what if we bring more attention to it?”
Think of it this way: if you were researching a company, how would you feel if you saw these two variations of the same review:
- Employee: There’s too much pressure, and people don’t seem to care. They won’t listen to you, even when you’re suffering.
or
- Employee: There’s too much pressure, and people don’t seem to care. They won’t listen to you, even when you’re suffering.
- Company Response: Sorry to hear that you didn't get the level of support you expected. Thank you for taking the time to give us your honest feedback! We care deeply about our people and go above and beyond to provide the support that you need. If you are not getting that support from your manager, please contact your HR business partner so that we can help. —Your friends at Facebook
I borrowed and roughly edited this exchange from an employee review on Facebook’s Glassdoor page. If you’re anything like me, you feel much more positively about Facebook as a company when you read the second version.
In the first variation, Facebook’s lack of response seems to match the reviewer’s complaints, and the company comes across a bit like a cold-hearted software engineer sweatshop. But in the second variation, you get a personal response with a sincere apology and suggestions for how the employee can get help. That kind of response can mean a world of a difference, both for the employee who left the review and for all the potential job applicants who are researching the company online.
And don’t forget to respond to positive reviews too! Imagine how thrilled your employees will be to receive a personal thank you for taking the time to review. Just hearing that their input matters and is deeply appreciated may be enough to turn your happiest employees into brand ambassadors.
Actually Adapt Based On Feedback
One of the biggest benefits of having an active Glassdoor page is that you receive consistent, honest feedback from your employees on what’s working and what’s not. Armed with that kind of information, you’ll be well-equipped to make internal changes to accommodate the most common compliments, complaints, and suggestions.
If you notice a worrying trend in the feedback you receive, you have the unique opportunity to fix that problem before it gets out of hand. And if you see that most employees are thrilled by something small, perhaps it’s worth doubling down on that perk to show that you’re paying attention.
Remember, excellent Glassdoor reviews start with excellent employers. And you never know — if you keep up the good work, you may just end up on Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work list one day.
Originally published on Forbes.
Ryan Erskine is a Senior Brand Strategist at BrandYourself, where he helps people take control of their online presence. Visit his website, follow him on Twitter, and read his book here.