6 Ways to Avoid Negative Company Reviews

We live in a ‘review society.’ From Yelp to CNET, nowadays you can read about someone’s experience with just about anything. People will tell you how vibrant the colors were on a rug they bought from Amazon.com, or how long a hand lotion’s moisture lasted that was purchased from Walmart. Products, places and even people (or how to search for them) have reviews. Everyone has opinion about something, so why should the workplace be any different? Well…it isn’t.

Sites like Glassdoor.com, Companynamesucks.com and CareerBliss allow workers to share their salaries, workloads/duties and overall experiences with various companies. Even leading job board Indeed asks you to rate your previous employers. Although this information may help job seekers, it doesn’t always do the same for employers, especially if the reviews are bad. Sure, you cannot completely go off one person’s experience—we are all different— but if multiple reviews mention the same negative things, this can send a red flag to potential employees. It can also cause new hires to question the company they just joined and make current employees consider jumping ship. Like high school, no one wants or wants to be around someone with a bad reputation.

So, exactly how can employers avoid receiving negative online reviews? Below are six ways:

Inquire about company during interviews

As a potential employer, it’s your job to see whether or not a candidate has done his/her homework. When you’re asking the applicant what he/she knows about the company, be sure to ask what they’ve heard about working there. Inform the individual that review sites, such as Glassdoor.com, exist and many job seekers check sites before applying to companies. Ask if the candidate has heard any negative reviews or comments about the company, and, if so, offer to address them. This shows job seekers that the company is transparent and committed to preserving its reputation by inquiring into all negative accusations.

Follow up

A common complaint from job seekers is that companies do not follow up after an interview even though they assured candidates they would. To reduce the risk of a bad review, do what you say you’re going to do. If you’ve told a candidate you’d follow up in two weeks, follow up in two weeks. Many bad reviews simply stem from a lack of employers keeping their word.

Continually collect feedback

If you allow job seekers, current and former employees to continually provide feedback, this can help your company spot negative practices that can be resolved before someone decides to write a bad review. Ask applicants to rate the application process, then ask candidates what they liked or disliked about interviews and the hiring process (for new hires). Conduct stay interviews for current employees and exit interviews for those on their way out so you’re constantly gaining information on what is and is not working. This helps with continuous improvement and also shows workers you’re committed to the quality of the work environment.

Setup Google alerts

Google alerts, Twitter mentions and Facebook alerts, likes and dislikes will help to track and monitor what is being said about your company. If you see that a positive practice keeps arising, you’ll know it is working. Likewise, negative talk about certain practices, policies or people within your company can show you where you need to improve. Directly responding to negative comments (in a positive manner, of course) will also show others you value worker-and-client satisfaction.

Hire someone to monitor negative reviews

If you can work it into your budget, hiring someone or creating a new role in the company to track your company’s online reputation can be worthwhile.

Plan, plan, plan

Most important, your company must be prepared to handle negative reviews, especially any that can escalate into legal matters. No company wants anyone slandering its name all over the internet, so how will you respond? What policies are in place for company disputes? How will you handle an internal negative review e.g. from a current employee? If you have a plan in place you’ll be able to handle bad online reviews quickly and efficiently.

The truth is that the internet is an open forum and there a limited amount of things we can do to keep someone from saying bad things about us. Also, sometimes once it’s out there, even if it’s untrue, the damage can already be done. Ensuring you understand how to handle any negative reviews your company may receive will help keep your reputation afloat.