Review websites are not just for people seeking a good restaurant. Prospective employees looking for their next place of gainful employment often look to business review sites like GlassDoor, Indeed and Vault to get an idea of the working environment from people who've been there. Conversely, from the business' viewpoint, acquiring the best employees is key and unfair reviews can keep companies from hiring new talent that might improve the company. Our client was a mortgage firm who'd had a single employee post many negative reviews on GlassDoor posing as different people. But the reviews were not flagged as they didn't seem to violate the community guidelines.
Previous attempts at removal failed
Our client had made attempts with Glass Door to have certain reviews removed. They had pointed out that the reviewers were almost certainly the same person. The attempt did not gain traction.
Day one: 2.4 stars
Reviews by current employees
The environment was considered very good by the people who actually worked there. But happy people are less motivated to post online than angry ones. Happy employees are the best brand ambassadors out there. So the first step was to ask our client to have their managers ask satisfied employees one-on-one to consider going to GlassDoor.com and writing honest reviews.
We made certain our client did not send out a mass e-mail to employees to do so as the approach may have come across as cold. We've found a personal approach tends to work best.
Initial results and a setback
The first attempt was received well. Employees trickled onto GlassDoor and left reviews, all of which were to a greater or lesser degree positive. But the number of reviews was not sufficient to improve the star-rating to the clients satisfaction. Efforts were set back by the former employee (posing as different people anonymously) who claimed the new reviews were all penned by the CEO of the mortgage company (they definitely were not).
Reviews by contractors and interns
Our client used contractors for various duties who were often brought in temporarily. Interns were also used. Again, our approach was to provide the highest number of positive reviews possible so satisfied current contractors and interns were asked to consider posting reviews on Glass Door by the person they had the best rapport with in the company.
FAQs
Why are online reviews important?
Online reviews are important because they give people an idea of the quality of service or products that you provide. Prospective customers, employees, and business partners all use online reviews to judge your company.
How do you encourage positive reviews from employees?
Take a personal approach when encouraging positive reviews from employees. Do not send out a mass email to employees, which may come across as cold.
What do you do if your company has negative reviews?
Ask satisfied customers, clients, or employees to write positive reviews about their experience with your company.
