David DrummondWhen job seekers research companies they might want to work for, they head to Glassdoor. Thanks to the anonymous reviews from employees, it’s great for painting a picture of what it’s actually like in the office.
And it’s for this reason that you should be using it as a key part of your recruitment marketing campaign – as an employer you need to take an active hand in marketing your company, rather than letting the reviews speak for themselves. You can start with these five steps.
Include fresh and exciting original content
For job seekers, the most useful thing on a company’s page is undoubtedly the reviews. A direct look into the psyche of the staff currently working in an office you are thinking about joining is incredibly useful. But that’s not the only thing that sits on your page.
As an employer, you create your profile page. This means you can include an overview of your company, video, images and your latest job openings. You should be taking the time to include the most up-to-date and exciting content.
The best content explains your business and what sets it apart from its competitors (essentially your EVP), but more than that it shows job seekers what it’s going to be like to work for you. Include authentic and genuine images of real employees and real offices. See if you can get your employees to take pictures of their workspaces – the more authentic and real, the better picture it will paint of your company. And it works two-fold: it not only shows your company from candidates’ potential peers, it shows that as an employer you care about being genuine and authentic.
Respond to reviews and comments
It’s not enough to open a page and allow staff to submit reviews, you have to be active in responding and addressing these. But this doesn’t mean you should cut and paste a standard response to all reviews. Although this is better than no response at all, it suggests laziness on your part.
Instead take time to read and to respond to as many reviews as you can. If a staff member has a legitimate concern then do what you can to address it and write a response. A well thought out and genuine answer to some concerns is better than a generic one to every single review, and miles better than no response at all.
Don’t be afraid to request staff to leave reviews
So you’ve set your page up, but you’re struggling to fill it? Don’t worry, and don’t be afraid to ask your staff if they’d be happy to leave a review. You can do this a number of ways – in a team meeting, an email newsletter – it doesn’t matter as long as your request is straightforward and open.
Let your staff know that you want them to be honest with their reviews so that you can create an accurate picture of what it’s like to work there. It’s no crime in telling them that you want their reviews. It is a huge no-no, however, to attempt to bribe them in return for a good review. You need to be able to stand back and let the page manage itself.
Like the name suggests, the best Glassdoor profiles are transparent. If you’re sticking your grubby paws over everything, all job seekers are going to see are your muddy fingerprints.
Get support from up on high
It speaks volumes if you have interaction from the top execs at your company – notably the CEO. There’s an option for employees to review the CEO as well as your company. For many, this rating can be the first thing to come up when Googling them – that’s the sort of power Glassdoor holds.
So, if your CEO can spare the time (and granted, in some cases it’s not possible), then responding to reviews is an excellent way of showing you’re down to earth as a company from the top down.
One of the great things about Glassdoor is that it gives everyone a voice. But to truly get the most out of the site you have to listen and act on that voice.
Don’t forget about it
You’ve set up your page with authentic images, snappy copy, your social media channels connected up, your latest job openings – great. You need to be able to let your page manage itself to an extent, but don’t forget about it entirely.
You’ve taken the first step, but now you have to monitor it. Review your content, images, videos and job boards often. You’ll need to be looking at the site regularly so that you can track your reviews and reply to them anyway. Take the time to read through your content and make sure it’s still relevant and telling the story of your company in the most appealing way.
These steps are the guidelines – you’ll have to stay on top of them if you want to make sure you’re using Glassdoor to achieve the best recruitment results. But what’s a certainty is that if you’re doing your recruitment marketing online and you’re not using Glassdoor, you’re missing a trick.
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