Learning how to use Glassdoor in the context of knowing how to respond to negative reviews is a must for every company because it can severely impact reputation. Specifically, Glassdoor data revealed 7 out of 10 people changed their opinion about a brand after a company replied to a review, and 75% of job seekers will apply to a company if it actively manages its brand online.
When done correctly, Glassdoor employer responses solve the main issue of the review and do it in a way that saves or even elevates the company’s overall reputation. Responding to negative employee reviews also puts you in a better light. Specifically, 62% of Glassdoor users have a better perception of the company when the employer responds to reviews.
On Glassdoor: How to Respond to Negative Reviews
- Respond on time and with the right tone.
- Say, “thank you.”
- Address the reviewer’s issue, provide solutions, and take the conversation offline (if necessary).
Respond on Time and with the Right Tone
An important part of knowing how to responding to negative reviews on Glassdoor is having a calm, collected, and professional tone. The words you use in the response need to convey that you genuinely care about and respect the reviewer’s feedback.
Not everyone can write in a professional tone on Glassdoor, which is why you could assign the role of reviews responses to a select few in your H.R. or social teams. With employer brand monitoring from ReviewTrackers, which allows for an unlimited number of users, you can easily coordinate every review action by quickly assigning responses to specific people on your team when a negative review comes up.
Once you have the right response tone, work on submitting an on-time response. Taking too long to address a reviewer’s feedback and concerns, especially if they are currently an employee, can show that you don’t care about their thoughts.
For a perfect example of how to respond professionally and on time, take a look at the response below from DialogTech’s vice president of H.R.
Even though the negative review didn’t provide many details, DialogTech’s vice president of H.R. wrote a response that was professional and straight to the point. They apologized for the former employee’s experience and stated their desire to know more about their issues. The response was also submitted only a week after the review appeared.
It’s worth noting, however, that you shouldn’t always wait a whole week to submit a review response. ReviewTrackers’ daily alerts for employer brand monitoring let you know when a new review arrives on the company’s Glassdoor profile so that you can respond to your Glassdoor reviews in days or even hours.
Say, “Thank You”
Every review response should include the words, “thank you.” Despite the negative sentiment in some employee reviews, use the response to thank them for taking time out of their day to write out their thoughts. Here’s a perfect example from Trunk Club’s H.R. team.
Before addressing the reviewer’s issues and providing updates on the company plans to improve the workplace, the responder made sure to write a quick sentence to thank the former employee for their feedback. Writing out a single “thank you” sentence doesn’t take much effort, and it tells both the reviewer and future employees that you genuinely care about all forms of feedback.
In some cases, these negative reviews will reveal insights into hidden issues and pain points in the company thanks to customer experience analytics technology. Thank employees for bringing these problems to your attention so that they are appropriately addressed.
Address Issues, Provide Solutions, and Take the Conversation Offline (If Necessary)
After apologizing in a professional tone, it’s time to get to the meat of your response. Don’t be afraid to address the issues mentioned because it shows that you are actively reading employee reviews. Furthermore, it puts you in a humbling position by showing that the company isn’t perfect but is continuously trying to improve based on employee feedback.
Take a look at the response below from a member of the Guaranteed Rate Customer Success team.
The professional response not only thanked the employee for the review but addressed their issue with the new pay structure. In addition, the response also help humanize the company because the writer apologized for the fact that the changes negatively affected the employee.
However, the response also went one step further. By encouraging the employee to discuss their thoughts with their manager or the H.R. department, the writer provides possible solutions for the employee. Also, it ensures that further actions by the reviewer are taken offline, which helps both employer and employee resolve the issue privately rather than discussing sensitive topics on a public forum like Glassdoor.
The Impact of Responding to Negative Reviews on Glassdoor
Learning how to respond to employee feedback on Glassdoor is crucial in acquiring and retaining employees. Genuine employee feedback is the type of social proof that job seekers need when finding a new place to work.
By responding to employee reviews in the right way, you tell prospects that you value your employees and continuously use their feedback to find ways to improve the work environment and culture.
