Reviews are obviously a major factor in driving customers toward businesses but they also massively impact upon job seekers’ choices when selecting companies to work for. A study released last year in the US by indeed.com found that over 95% of potential employees actively seek out a business’ reputation online before considering application.
“While a number of companies are still stuck in the analogue age, going through outmoded and outdated processes to attempt to attract top employees, and likely failing, businesses that accept and promote reviews as a cornerstone of their brand will do far, far better.”
Just as consumers rely on online reviews before considering purchasing goods or acquiring services, job seekers choose to locate insider knowledge via online reviews to assess whether or not they want to work for companies.
” . . . assessing a company’s reputation has become an expectation for the overwhelming majority of job seekers.”
“Not long ago you had to know somebody at a company if you wanted the inside scoop on what it was like to work there. But now that workers can crowdsource this information through online reviews, we are all in the know, and assessing a company’s reputation has become an expectation for the overwhelming majority of job seekers.
“In fact, 95% of respondents said that if they were considering a new job opportunity, insight into the company’s employer reputation would be somewhat (33%) or extremely (62%) important—the majority regarding it as extremely important.” (Source: “An Inadequate Online Presence Provokes ‘Automatic’ Distrust in 70% of Job Seekers—Here’s What to Do About It”, indeed blog, May 2018).
The study revealed what information about a company was most prized by those looking for employment and not surprisingly, stability was the leading factor, with “(47%), followed by insights around benefits and perks, flexibility and salary ranges for relevant roles (45%). Next up was information about growth opportunities (41%), company management (34%) and the company’s mission and vision (31%).” (Source: indeed blog, May 2018).
“The report found that no reviews was a huge turn off for potential employees and led to automatic distrust.”
For businesses looking to attract talented employees, the fix is as simple as it is for businesses looking to gain new customers and thrive – make reviews as easy as possible to find and encourage them. The report found that no reviews was a huge turn off for potential employees and led to automatic distrust.
“Expectations surrounding transparency have become so ingrained that an absence of online information is a major red flag for the majority of job seekers, with 70% of job seekers strongly (38.3%) or somewhat agreeing (31.4%) that this would cause them to automatically distrust the company.
“More than two thirds (69%) agree that they would actually doubt that the job opportunity was even real, with almost 2 in 5 (37%) strongly agreeing with this sentiment.” (Source: indeed blog, May 2018).
“”Expectations surrounding transparency have become so ingrained that an absence of online information is a major red flag for the majority of job seekers . . .”
Tellingly, employers who did not reply to negative reviews also figured as a significant hindrance to potential hiring. 70% of respondents said that they would change their minds about a negative review if it had been responded to and this is exactly in line with consumer expectations about negative reviews. It is hardly surprising that employees would actively seek the information they were looking for before committing to a job or a career and HR departments can utilise this desire by ensuring that transparency is an active and easily found aspect of their company.
Making sure that company pages on websites reflect the opinions of staff as well as telling stories about the work environment and benefits also helps. While a number of companies are still stuck in the analogue age, going through outmoded and outdated processes to attempt to attract top employees, and likely failing, businesses that accept and promote reviews as a cornerstone of their brand will do far, far better.
