Why I respond to Glassdoor reviews within 24 hours. (Every. Single. One.)

3 min read

There are many ways to tell that your workforce is engaged. We distribute surveys, we randomly chat with employees that have been here for five years, and with ones that have been here for five days. We roll out a new benefits and rewards program and see the initial feedback, or we capture excitement for the coming year on our YouTube channel.

But as the CEO, there was one place I wasn’t paying enough attention to: Our Glassdoor profile.

You’re likely familiar with Glassdoor - it’s a jobs and recruiting website featuring employee reviews of their current or former company. We have loads of reviews, but as a “recruitment tool” I figured it was the job of our Global Director of Talent Chris Gannon to maintain and respond to them.

I was wrong. Glassdoor is so much more than a recruitment tool - I’ve now learned that it is a communications channel between a company’s leader and its people.

So it was time for me to step up. And that’s why I committed to responding to Glassdoor reviews (positive or negative) within 24 hours. 

I’ve made all right on my commitment - there have been a few crazy days, but I’ve begun to prioritize responding to these reviews as a part of our employee engagement tactics. (Read more about how we're engaging employees on Glassdoor in my new eBook "The Ultimate C-Suite Guide to Engaging Employees with Glassdoor.) I’ve even set an alarm on my Apple Watch to notify me when new ones come in.

For me, it’s not about rebutting negative reviews. I’d rather understand what drove the employee to think that way, to take the time to sign on to Glassdoor and point out what very well could be wrong with my company.  It’s a hard pill to swallow, but admitting, as leaders, that maybe we haven’t been listening as much as we should is vital to creating and retaining a truly engaged workforce.

So if you haven’t printed this out and brought it to your CEO yet, I encourage you to. Here’s what to do next:

1. Talk to your CEO. Having a point person for Glassdoor reviews is important, but really, this should fall on the CEO’s shoulders. The responder should be someone who can take action in his or her company to drive change.
   
   
2. Be thorough. If you’re not already having this Glassdoor conversation, you need to start it today. With every review that goes unanswered, it’s a lost opportunity to engage your current workforce with lessons learned from that review. I recently responded to a review that was over two years old. Leave no stone unturned.
   
   
3. Imagine you’re replying to each review in person. What I mean by this, is that you need to treat each reviewer as they are - a real person, a human being that someone in your company selected and hired, that you have or have had on your payroll. Because the reviews are anonymous, it can feel like there’s no real person behind them. I encourage you to think of these reviews as if an email was being sent to you. Would you ignore it, or give a canned response?

Well, what are you waiting for?

Plus: Glenn's webinar is live!

Glenn shared more ways to engage your employees on Glassdoor during a recent webinar with Glassdoor. Check out the video, below.