Addressing and Responding to Employee Reviews

An organization’s ability to attract and retain talent plays a vital role in the success and growth of a business. Organization leadership and HR should be open to online reviews and employee feedback on sites like Glassdoor and Indeed.

A few statistics show that employee reviews have a similar level of impact on business success as consumer reviews. Eight out of ten candidates will check a company’s employee reviews before deciding on where to apply for a job.

Furthermore, the reputation of a company plays a deciding factor in choosing a prospective employer for 84 percent of job seekers.

Seize the opportunity and show current as well as prospective employees that your company appreciates feedback, values their employees and is open to making improvements for a better work environment.

By responding to employee reviews, you can generate positive engagement from employees as well as support ideas to improve the overall employee experience.

Crafting the Right Employee Review Response

Timely and Organized

Firstly, you should have a structured system in place for responding to reviews. In order to provide responses in a timely manner, you need to have a schedule for checking and analysing reviews — whether it’s weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.

Show Appreciation

When responding to employee feedback, always start off by thanking the reviewer for their effort, regardless of whether they’re mentioning the positives or highlighting areas for improvement.

Professional, but Authentic Response

Keep your response professional, but at the same time provide an authentic tone and voice. Your responses are part of the company’s online presence and influence the readers’ perception of the brand.

Take Action

One of the most important steps, but one that does not have a visible impact right away is taking action. Correct any organizational issues that appear in online reviews posted by your employees. This is a great feedback source for you to build a better work environment and establish a strong employer reputation.

Ask for More Feedback

Since reviews are anonymous on sites like Glassdoor and Indeed, it is complicated to ask for details. A better approach is to encourage the reviewer to provide additional feedback privately to the HR team.

An employee may not feel comfortable offering negative feedback about their boss in person, but is more comfortable sharing them anonymously. Furthermore, by providing a private channel for feedback within the company, will limit any negative feedback other staff might otherwise share online.