Reviews Gone Wrong

On January 5, 2018

Back in the day the keys to success as a business were mainly providing a superior product and offering good value and service. Fast forward to today and it’s easy to see that this is no longer the case. For a business to be successful in this day and age, customer experience is going to rank the highest.

We all know the importance of online reviews and how platforms like social media can be used to rank a customer’s experience with your business. The internet is an arena for interactive feedback and while the success of your business can be based off this type of interaction, it can also be harmed.

When it comes to reviewing a business online or engaging in interactive feedback, online discussions, or comments about a company or a service, oftentimes customers or those visiting your website will base their comments on things that may be out of your control as a business owner. When reviews are posted that have nothing to do with an actual customer experience it can easily spiral out of control.

Don’t Get Personal

Reviews are meant to based on actual customer experience and not on anything else. However, we often come across those who will write negative reviews or provide not-so-flattering commentary based on personal beliefs or on the activities or personal behaviour of employees.

Such reviews are unfair, and while business owners usually seek to hire people whose values align with those of their company, the truth is that business owners cannot control what their employees do while they are not at work.

Our personal lives are hardly personal anymore with everything being shared on social media, and customers can easily see what your employees are up to when they’re not at work. If this behaviour is deemed offensive by anyone it could unfortunately adversely impact your business in the form of negative reviews or harsh commentary.

This type of review is unfair for everyone mainly because it does not reflect an actual customer experience with your business. And while a customer may be offended by the behaviour of an employee, if that behaviour did not occur while the employee was at work, and it did not affect the customer’s experience, then it really has no bearing on your business and your company should be left out of it.

Think Before You Post

The challenge comes from the blurring of personal and public and where to draw the line. Employers should make it clear that if an employee is going to engage in any questionable behaviour that it may have a negative impact on the image of the company that they work for. And while employers can’t control what their staff does on their own free time, they can encourage them to think about what they share with the public online.

Customer Experience Wins Every Time

Customer experience should still be the main benchmark of success as a business in this age of over-sharing and instant feedback. Remember to consider this before leaving a negative review about a business based on anything else. While you may not agree with something that someone does in their personal time, is it really fair to involve the company they work for?

How Company Reviews Affect Potential Employees

By Eve Mendelovitch

On October 29, 2017

In Blog

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You’ve spent all this time gathering reviews and thinking about how they’re going to affect your bottom line, but what about how they affect your potential employees?

The way your company is spoken about online isn’t only going to help you to gain or lose business, it can influence who’s interested in working for you as well.

Most business owners assume that in the job market their word is law, but in a workforce that’s slowly being overtaken by Millennials, peer opinion matters a lot, and can cost you valuable employees.

Company Review Websites

I’m sure many of us remember the days of rate my teacher and rate my professor websites. Students don’t have much of a choice when it comes to choosing who teaches them what, so while serious complaints could have some affect, these acted mainly as open gossip sites—a place for frustrated students to get their emotions out.

This is not the case with company review and rating websites.

Glassdoor

Glassdoor displays ratings and reviews for more than 600,000 companies worldwide. When you need to get the inside scoop and find out what it’s really like from the people who work there, this is how you do it.

Offering articles on the factors that play a role in salary negotiations, the types of companies you should never work for, and of course the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards, this website is the largest and most crucial site on which you as an employer will want to rank well.

Indeed

Most commonly known as a networking website, Indeed also offers an anonymous review section of their website. While it’s not quite as personal as Glassdoor, ratings still hold a lot of weight on this well-known industry leader.

And Beyond

The website FairyGodBoss is an employer site strictly for women. RateMyEmployer features more than 45,000 candidate and employee reviews, and of course websites such as Google, Yelp and Facebook offer general reviews from employees and customers alike that can give future employers a pretty good idea about what a prospective employer is all about.

What it Comes Down To

While larger companies such as McDonald’s and Best Buy are going to have thousands of reviews that muddy the waters—and let’s face it, people looking for jobs at huge chains like this aren’t going to put as much weight into reviews—it’s imperative that a small business keeps up workplace morale.

When you’re looking to hire a talented new employee to head that new department, you’re going to want the best. While your ad may draw them in, any tech-savvy potential employee is going to check out your ratings right away.

If they pull up your Glassdoor page and find a post stating “Worst Job I’ve Ever Had”, they’re going to think twice.

So, what can you do about it?

Treat your employees well, but don’t sacrifice your professional atmosphere. There are great ways to build morale and keep a smile on peoples’ faces throughout the day without your office turning into a madhouse. And, get on these websites yourself!

Glassdoor offers you the ability to respond to all negative reviews. Like with any other review, the way you respond can set the tone for your business no matter what that reviewer said.

3 Benefits of Using Glass Door for Your Company

By Eve Mendelovitch

On August 25, 2016

In Blog

Glassdoor is a website where current or former employees can submit reviews anonymously about their company. It is often described as the TripAdvisor for HR, and is rapidly changing how we look at workplace culture. Typically, Glassdoor provides the following information:

Basic company information (size, location, industry, etc.)
Company values
Salary, compensation, and benefits
Workplace culture
Recruitment/interview process
Employee and former employee reviews (pros, cons, and advice to management)

Glassdoor is up there with other business-oriented platforms, like LinkedIn, and offers similar advantages for companies. Here are the big 3:

Strengthens Your Brand

Your company’s brand plays a significant role in who is going to submit a resume for hire. Likewise, your brand dramatically effects employee retention. If your employees are reluctant to recommend your company to a friend in real life, chances are they won’t on Glassdoor either. Complaints about management, upward mobility, and salary can really hurt you because the way your company appears online shapes how people perceive you. On the other hand, comments about a fun and positive work culture will strengthen your brand identity.

Attracts Job Seekers

Glassdoor is also a great way to find and keep top talent and discover new and qualified applicants.

When you receive a resume from a potential employee, you most likely look at their social media pages and check out their employment history, education history, and skill set to get a better idea of who they are. In the same way, when someone is looking for employment, they are scoping out a prospective business anyway they can: a company’s website, Facebook page, LinkedIn company page, and Glassdoor profile. Beyond wage and benefits, they are looking to see if they are a good fit. Company photos and employee reviews can be a deal breaker in whether or not they’ll apply.

Improves Employee Morale

Your business is only as strong as your employees. Rewarding your employees, either through recognition or compensation, is a surefire way to boost morale. Encourage your employees to write reviews about their experience. Sometimes all it takes is one happy worker to write a good review, for the rest to follow suit.

Keep in mind, you’re bound to get negative reviews from time to time. Job candidates will see that, so it’s important that you respond to them. In doing so, you are not only having a conversation with a former employee, but a prospective one. Ultimately, the types of employees that you want working for you, are ones who will not agree with unjust criticisms.

Closing

It’s not a good idea to strong arm your employees into writing positive reviews as an attempt to counter balance the negativity. People are more intuitive than you may think when it comes to online reviews. You’ll be losing out on top talent as well as your reputation. Stay candid and honest and remember communication is key!

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