Don’t let the glass door hit you in the backside!

Do you believe you work at the best company on the planet? You may be a CEO or part of a leadership team that are of the mindset that anyone should feel privileged to work at such an outstanding establishment. Well, it might be time to take your beer goggles off! Many companies are completely off the mark when it comes to what their employees really think about your work place. And, this is not something you should take lightly.

Let me illustrate an example of the reason why:

After three months searching for the right sales candidate, a particular client was both thrilled and relieved to finally extend an offer. They were confident that this sales representative was going to make a great addition to their team. The candidate left the final interview incredibly excited about the opportunity and expressed that if given an offer, it would be accepted. All was perfect until……. The next day we received a call from the candidate explaining that after doing some research on line, some unfavorable information was uncovered about the company. This cast some major doubts about joining the organization. As a result, the candidate’s decision was to decline the offer and continue their job search. Needless to say both parties were disappointed and very frustrated.

So what exactly was the information and where was it found? It’s no secret that today you can find almost anything on the internet. In this case, the candidate ran a LinkedIn company search on previous employed sales reps and found that quite a few had come and gone in a relatively short period of time. Naturally, this raised a red flag in regards to retention. But the real nail in the coffin lends to the company review on Glassdoor.com. If you are not familiar with Glassdoor, it is a site that allows people to anonymously post employer reviews, good or bad. If you have not been to this site, I suggest you take a gander.

So, what do you do if there are negative reviews posted about your company? First, don’t hide from it! Swallow your pride and kick your ego to the curb. Second, take the reviews to the team and allow them to openly and honestly give you feedback. You may find existing challenges that need to be addressed which could be negatively affecting your employees and your business. Third, encourage employees to write favorable reviews about your company. Lastly, regularly monitor your reputation both internally and externally.