While many companies are well aware of the importance of customer reviews in building their reputation, few are leveraging reviews for boosting their employer reputation, as well. In reality, just as much as customers want real-life examples of how people perceive you and how useful your products or services are, candidates, too, need to know if you’re worth their application. Too many companies still believe that it’s more than enough to set up the job ad and wait for CVs to start flowing in.
The simple truth is: modern-day workers have options. They are willing to wait for a better opportunity to come by when your ad doesn’t seem to resonate with their needs and professional preferences. It’s enough for your job posting to be vague, and they’ll move on to the next best thing. This is where reviews can help your brand build up its reputation in the role of the employer. Let’s break it down into the most essential steps on how you can benefit from review to do just that, and what you can expect to achieve with the proper use of company reviews.
Provide insights into your workplace
Reviews don’t strictly have to come in the shape of those few carefully-worded sentences you’ll quote on your website and other platforms. Reviews can come in the form of videos from your workplace, live-stream videos on social media, and employee-written pieces published on your site and shared across social media.
Just like you’d collaborate with influencers on Instagram, your employees are your brand ambassadors whose experience and satisfaction can be represented in many different formats. This level of creativity and versatility will help more people relate to your business, and provide different ways for people to experience your brand from that unique perspective. If an employee posts a team-building impression and tags your business – that might not be an official review, but it will sure feel like one to those talented people looking for a job in your industry.
Build targeted surveys
From determining what kind of incentives appeal to your employees, all the way to discovering potential hurdles in your workplace, surveys can reveal so much about your brand. The feedback loop should be a carefully cared for process in any business, but few companies know how to use this loop to extract and leverage information to build their employer brand.
Before you do anything, however, ask your employees for permission to quote them or publish one of their survey responses, be it on social media, as part of a case study, or within your website’s testimonials section. With their approval, you can then select a few of the most beneficial statements from your surveys. In addition to being learning opportunities, surveys can be an organic source of reviews and testimonials that you can integrate into your content strategy.
Create FOMO around your brand
The fear of missing out is another psychological and social phenomenon used in marketing to boost brand reputation. FOMO can be created with a number of different tools and strategies, but perhaps the simplest allows your company to show just how much interest your company inspires in your industry and your community as an employer. Simply put, it means presenting “social proof” that other candidates are interested in your brand and that others are signing up for your educational newsletter.
To do that on your website, you can use a customizable social proof tool that will generate short and sweet notifications whenever someone interacts with your website. For example, you can create pop-ups when someone signs up for your newsletter or applies for an open position. This will demonstrate existing interest in your brand and create more relevance around your business from that unique perspective.
Respond to the good and the bad
Reviews are not just passive bits of content on your site or social media. They serve as an opportunity to engage with your candidates, or start relevant discussions with your employees internally. After all, the fact that someone already works for you doesn’t mean that they won’t leave if a better opportunity arises, unless you invest time and effort into creating a rewarding, engaging workplace.
To do that, you should take the time to respond to reviews, both positive and negative. The positive reviews are great for reiterating the perks of your brand as an employer, all the while personalizing your response. The negative reviews are excellent for reclaiming your authority, offering your apology and owning up to your mistakes, and learning how you can boost your workplace over time. The best possible way to respond to a negative review is to state what kind of steps you’ve taken to resolve the issue.
Don’t forget to go social
Some companies will cling to influencers in order to build traction with their followers, while others will stay devoted to crafting a social media posting strategy to get more engagement over time. Both efforts make perfect sense, but keep in mind that social channels are more than just platforms for disseminating content and customer interactions.
In fact, social networks are becoming increasingly popular means for individuals to recognize the value a company brings to a community, or to an industry. Enable reviews on your social media pages, so that you can leverage even more community relevance, and invite people to share their experiences with the world. By actively commenting on their reviews, you will become more than a brand – you’ll become a relatable figure in your industry that engages customers for all to see.
In addition to the review feature social platforms enable, you can also go the extra mile on your own end. Create employee campaigns to portray your brand from your team’s perspective. Publish their quotes, stories, videos, and other content to showcase what kind of a workplace your business truly is. This is a brilliant strategy to build overall brand awareness, but also to become a more appealing employer in your industry.
Provide advice for job interviews
Some of the best candidates might never apply for a position with your business because they feel intimidated by your image. Then again, perhaps they’ve already had a confusing experience and they’re not sure how to go about it at all. Both first-time applicants and those who have already tried their luck with your business can greatly benefit from insiders’ experiences – those that come directly from your employees.
Company reviews written by your employees can indicate the best methods to approach the selection process. They can help new candidates navigate your onboarding as well as selection, and provide actionable tips on what’s best to do in different situations. This is not a one-way street by any means, it will benefit both you and the potential employee. By making your business more approachable and letting people know how to go about the application, you will gain more interest, and you’ll be able to hand-pick even more candidates with all the proper qualifications.
Actively seek out reviews
Although creating profiles on all relevant web platforms for rating employers such as Glassdoor and Indeed is often enough to generate buzz around your business, you can take your efforts a step further. Employers can set up regular reminders for their HR staff to ask for feedback when they interview candidates, during the onboarding process, and well into someone’s employment with your business.
Based on what kind of positions you need to fill at any given moment, you can talk to those specific teams and ask for their feedback, as well as their permission to publish their reviews with your job ads and on your website. Their comments are the best representation of your company culture and a chance for you, as the leader, to improve every process related to your employment practices.
Their voices will resonate much more with any potential candidate, and you’ll be able to give your teams the chance to show you how to further make the selection process more seamless for all those involved.
Reviews are exceptionally potent tools for business growth, especially when you add appropriate responses, and engage your employees and candidates alike. By refining your review generation and management strategy, you get the opportunity to boost your brand’s presence in the role of the employer, and attract top talent in your industry. Above all, reviews are a perfect way to protect your reputation and stand up for your business when you need it most.
