Is Glassdoor.com a Clear View?
I continue to be intrigued by Glassdoor.com. If you’re unfamiliar with this website, it allows employees (current and former) to submit anonymous reviews of the company for which they work or have worked. The reviews are rated on a 5-star system with specific fields such as “pros,” “cons,” and “advice for management.” One other key metric that catches my eye is the statistic of what percentage of raters would recommend their employer to a friend.
Is Glassdoor.com a true lens into what It’s like to work for a company, or, are things really better or worse than the ratings indicate? Furthermore, do job seekers and investors take these ratings seriously when they consider which company to work for and for which companies to invest? My guess is “yes” and the ratings are probably not too far off of reality.
In hopes of clearing things up (pun intended), I chose ten random companies that were featured in the day-old WSJ on my desk and did a little research. The companies ranged across industries (manufacturing, transportation, SAAS, and retail). First, I checked their overall Glassdoor.com ratings and the percentage of raters that would recommend the company to a friend for employment. Next, I combed over each company’s career page on their websites to see what they offered.
I looked at all of this information from the viewpoint of a job seeker, sorted it, and placed the results into a high-level dashboard. Of the ten companies (most of which you’d recognize, but I’m not going there), the average Glassdoor.com rating was 3.6 out of 5 stars. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s a 72%, a soft C or solid C- depending on your grading scale preference. The highest score was 88% B+, and the lowest was 52% E. Is working for some form of A too much to ask?
As for recommending to a friend, the average score across the ten companies was an underwhelming 65%...we can all agree that’s a D on the ole’ report card. The high was 88% and the low was 28%...I’m not joking. Either they don’t want to work with their friends, or they go to work unhappy most days.
Next, I turned my attention to their career pages. There was one company that really stood out as most of the information was focused on you (the job seeker). The others were kind of like a bad date where the person sitting at the other end of the table just talks about themselves. Here is what I mean:
· “We’ve been in business for more than 75 years.”
· “We have a comprehensive benefits package.”
· “We’re the largest in our industry.”
I could go on, but you get my point about “we.” The more I see “we,’ the more I saw the C grades. It’s simple sales 101. I’d like to see companies talk more “you” and less “we.” One company went so far as to post a plethora of short videos featuring employees across functional areas. I watched them and what I was searching for was the message that said something to the effect “At company X, my supervisor supports my growth and development” or “senior leadership is second to none, they’re relentless in their pursuit of being a destination for top talent and care about each and every one of us.” Maybe I’m expecting too much? In reality, most of the videos had a similar message, which centered around the protagonists liking their co-workers. My co-workers are cool, if not for them, I might choose to work elsewhere.
So what’s a company who wants to attract and retain the best talent do and why does this matter? Leaders and managers, this one’s for you, don’t assume that those under your watch are as happy as you. Be sure to take the time to ask, listen, and take action to improve your workplace culture and conditions. Do care about loyalty. Studies show that an engaged and loyal workforce yields higher profits. Salaries aside, unless you’re paying well under market, most employees simply want to know that you care. Not asking equals not caring, not caring equals C, or worse.
Note: The Glassdoor.com rating itself as of Sept. 20, 2018, is 4-stars and 79% of reviewers recommend employment to a friend. I have yet to review their career page.