We have been working with several government contractors to create a successful Glassdoor profile and employee engagement program.

According to the latest research, about 50 percent of all employees look at your company’s Glassdoor profile before contacting you. That’s enough reason to take Glassdoor seriously.

Companies that engage on Glassdoor have a tremendous opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competition since over 80 percent of companies do NOT reply to reviews; not even a “thank you” for a nice review! That’s a missed opportunity to brand your company as a great employer.

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To make your Glassdoor efforts successful and time-efficient, follow these helpful recommendations to build your recruitment brand as an employer-of-choice!

Now for our top tips:

  1. Add a LOT of photos. This is the perfect place for photos of people at parties, accepting awards, in meetings and from every office location.
  2. First Impressions. Do a nice collage of the photos for your home page. Include a photo of your company signage, coffee cups, t-shirts, etc.
  3. Respond to Old Reviews. Go back and reply to reviews posted within the past four months. Also, sort the reviews by popularity, date and rating. If there are some older than four months that appear on the first two pages of “Popular” or “Rating” results, respond to those, too.
  4. Plan Ahead. Save time and draft sample responses to commonly-received reviews.
  5. Respond Promptly. Speed and consistency are very important to your brand. For new reviews, reply within one week. One person should be in charge of replying. Set up alerts from Glassdoor so you know when new posts appear. Responses typically come from marketing or HR. Make sure that SOMEONE is responsible and accountable.
  6. Encourage Employee Reviews. Have the CEO email employees and ask for Glassdoor reviews, to kick off your Glassdoor efforts. Invite employees to submit a review after 30 days of work, on their work anniversaries, or following a performance evaluation or award. Note: Glassdoor permits only one review annually for any one employee.
  7. Invite Recruits to Participate. Your HR team may invite candidates to post a review about their interview experiences. Let them know that you are always looking to improve your hiring process and it’s helpful to know how you are doing.
  8. Make it Easy. Add a link to Glassdoor from your company newsletter and company intranet, to make it easy for employees to provide feedback. Include a note about your company mission, commitment to employees and goal of reviewing feedback regularly to make sure the company stays on track.
  9. Review and Report. At least quarterly, share results with your executives to track results and develop new ideas. If appropriate, share the results with employees in a company meeting, newsletter article or blog.
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Bonus Tip: How to Respond to Negative Reviews

  • Respond promptly. It shows you’re paying attention.
  • Respond with “Thank you.” It shows you respect the reviewer and appreciate the effort to write the review.
  • Be authentic.
  • Be specific, not generic.
  • Acknowledge challenges and disappointments (the employee’s or the company’s), when appropriate.
  • Address specific issues. Online, mention that the issue is being presented to the appropriate leader. Offline, follow through is vital.
  • Avoid being defensive.
  • Invite further contact if the employee (and company) could benefit from a conversation on the issue.

Very much like other social media sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn, you have to give to receive. If you follow someone on Twitter, they are likely to return the favor. If you recommend someone on LinkedIn, they are likely to do the same for you.

Like all social media, protect your brand and be authentic.

Please share with me what you’re doing to help your company on Glassdoor.