Reply calmly to employer reviews, without arguing or discussing anyone's employment, and make your careers page specific and honest. Many experienced candidates read employer reviews before applying, so they shape who applies far more than who buys.

The other set of reviews

Most businesses watch their customer reviews closely. Fewer know what former staff have written about them on employer review sites such as Glassdoor and Indeed.

Those reviews describe pay, hours, managers, training and why people left. Many are a few years old, and the business has often never read them.

The people reading them are job seekers, often the experienced ones with a choice of employers.

A company that struggles to fill a position may be losing candidates before any of them sends a resume.

Why it matters more for hiring than sales

A customer choosing a contractor reads customer reviews. Few think to look up what it is like to work there.

A tradesperson choosing an employer does the opposite. They are committing years, not an afternoon, and reviews from people who did the same job are the nearest thing to inside information.

The effect is uneven. Candidates with options read the reviews and quietly go elsewhere; candidates without options apply anyway.

So poor employer reviews do not just shrink the pile of applications. They change who is in it.

What candidates look for

The last is the one a business controls completely. A careful reply to a fair complaint tells a candidate more about the workplace than the complaint did.

Replying without making it worse

Most employer review sites let a business claim its page and reply publicly. Reply as the owner or manager, in a calm and plain voice.

Thank the reviewer, acknowledge what is fair, and say what has changed, if something has: we now post schedules two weeks ahead.

Never discuss the person. Their performance, their reasons for leaving and anything from their file are private, and airing them in public raises real privacy problems as well as looking petty.

And never argue facts in public. Even when you are right, the reader sees an owner arguing with a former employee, which is the very thing they were worried about.

Employment complaints on your Google listing

Sometimes a former employee leaves the complaint on your Google listing instead, where customers see it.

Google's review guidelines, updated late last year, treat negative content about a current or former employment experience as a conflict of interest. A review like that can be flagged for removal.

Flag it once, through the listing, and reply briefly in the meantime. Removal is not guaranteed, and a calm reply reads well to customers either way.

A worked example

A breakfast and lunch restaurant with two locations had been trying to hire experienced line cooks for most of a year.

Its employer page had eleven reviews. Six praised the food and the owners. Five, spread over three years, complained that schedules went up the night before and shifts were cut at short notice.

None had a reply. The careers page promised a fun family atmosphere and said nothing about hours.

The complaints were fair. Each week's schedule had been written by whichever manager had time.

The owners began posting schedules two weeks ahead, with a clear rule on cutting shifts, and replied to each review saying so, plainly, without discussing anyone.

The careers page was rewritten to describe the actual job: early starts, finishing by mid-afternoon, the pay range, how tips are shared, and the staff meal.

Cooks who came to interview had read the replies, and several asked about the schedule by name, which was exactly the conversation the owners wanted.

A careers page that matches the reviews

Candidates read the careers page alongside the reviews, and they notice when the two describe different companies.

Fun, fast-paced and family-oriented means nothing next to five reviews about unpaid overtime. Specifics do: the shifts, the pay range, the busy season, who they would work alongside.

Say the hard parts plainly. Early starts, physical work and summer weekends are fine to mention, and the people who apply knowing them are the ones likely to stay.

Use photographs of your actual team at work, and list each open position with what it involves rather than one paragraph inviting resumes.

Making it easy to apply

A careers page that ends with email your resume loses tradespeople who do not have one ready and are reading on a phone.

A short form asking for name, phone, experience and the position, with an option to attach a file, is easier to finish on a phone.

Then reply to every applicant, even briefly. Silence after applying has a way of turning into a review of its own.

Asking staff for reviews

It is reasonable to tell current staff that these sites exist and that honest reviews are welcome.

Rewards for reviews, pressure to write them, or a sudden burst of five-star praise all backfire. The sites watch for them, and candidates recognise a campaign when they see one.

A handful of honest, mixed reviews from people still working there is more convincing than a page of perfect scores.

The counter-case

Some businesses have few or no employer reviews, and a very small team may never have any.

There, the careers page carries all the weight. Check the review sites once or twice a year in case something appears.

A single bitter review among many fair ones needs a brief reply and nothing more. Chasing it does more harm than leaving it.

But where hiring is hard and reviews exist, reply to them calmly, fix what is fair, and make the careers page describe the job honestly.

This month

  1. Search for your business on employer review sites.
  2. Claim each page where you can.
  3. Read every review, oldest first.
  4. Fix what is fair before replying.
  5. Reply calmly without discussing anyone.
  6. Rewrite the careers page with specifics.
  7. Answer every applicant within a week.

Step four is what gives the replies their weight. A reply that says what changed is evidence; a reply that only apologises is another promise.

Why a page of flawless reviews persuades less than it should is covered in a competitor with too many perfect reviews.

Frequently asked questions

Do job seekers really read employer reviews?

Many do, particularly experienced candidates with a choice of employers. They are committing years, and reviews from people who did the job are the nearest thing to inside information.

Why does this matter more for hiring?

Customers seldom check what it is like to work for you. Candidates do, and the ones with options quietly go elsewhere, which changes who applies.

How should I reply to a negative review?

As the owner, calmly and in plain words. Thank them, acknowledge what is fair, say what has changed, and never discuss the person or argue facts.

What about employment complaints on my Google listing?

Google's review guidelines treat negative content about an employment experience as a conflict of interest, so flag it once. Reply briefly meanwhile, since removal is not guaranteed.

Can I ask staff to write reviews?

You can tell them the sites exist and that honest reviews are welcome. Rewards, pressure or a sudden burst of praise backfire with the sites and with candidates.

What should the careers page say?

The specifics: shifts, pay range, busy seasons, training and who they would work with. Mention the hard parts plainly, use real photographs, and make applying easy on a phone.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Positions open for months and reviews unanswered?

Send us your careers page and the review sites you appear on. We will help you rewrite the page honestly.

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