Employer Review & Rating That We See In Rating Platforms Fair Enough Indication To Taking Decisions?

The quick way to taking decisions normally is to look at empirical & data based evidences. Jobs & review platforms such as Glassdoor, Indeed & Career Bliss encourage employees to rate their current & ex-employers.

But how much of these evidences can we trust? A quick poll I have started last week in LinkedIn (https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/dr-bindu-sivasankaran-nair-9a5a045_glassdoor-jobchange-hiring-activity-7041286599153717248-t0cN?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop) has this question asked whether you as an employee consider potential employer’s rating in Glassdoor while changing jobs.?The Poll results say that 38% employees certainly consider their potential employer’s rating & reviews while changing jobs. A clear 29% said they don’t look at the rating. The rest participated said they check ‘sometimes'.?Not sure whether these responses are specific to Glassdoor or can be generalised for all employer rating platforms.

A. Has The Reliability Of Rating Declined?

There are a handful of rating platforms that in general provide insights to help employees (and stake holders) understand their potential employer’s culture, values, climate & practises. The flip side however is the reliability of what we see as rating in these platforms. Out of a handful, here are a few reasons for low reliability of such ratings & reviews.

Forced Rating

Employees & employers are crucial part of any industry/employment eco-system. It’s important however to understand, respect and know the boundaries. Asking employees to rate ‘positively’ or ‘five star’ is not ethical and is against the rights of the employees. This is a form of harassment- especially when an employee is still anticipating the full & final settlement post resignation.

In yet another scenario where the overall employer rating shows declining trends, the employer panic leads to pushing existing employees to rating positively and ‘five star’. This is a quick fix strategy to cover up negative rating. Where do we expect honest review to happen while the employee is under the vigilant eyes of the employer?

Flighty & Flawed Rating

What happens when an employee is concerned that some of their issue/problem within the workplace has not been addressed and she/he/they didn’t get an opportunity to express/speak (out of lack of forum/don’t have the courage/no one is listening). The ‘retaliation’ is reflected as negative employer rating.

Further, people in general are biased. We are all slaves of our own everyday biases which are mostly unconscious in nature making it hard to even recognise they exist. For example, even after a smooth general journey of a couple of years, an unpleasant recent incident can fog the entire past in the mind of an employee where rating can be skewed into a negative direction.

Importantly, ?can a few ratings in Glassdoor or in any such platforms the right reflection of an organisation? How often do we rate after we dine, shop, ride & got food delivered? Some of the employees/ ex-employees do rate & review for sure. But they might not represent the entire organisation with such statistically insignificant number.

Fake Rating

There are evidences about rating of some companies shoot up quickly during certain periods/months. Studies on activities of anonymous accounts indicate unusual and unjustifiable skewness where everything rated is positive and five star. I’m sure most of us have learned how to separate right reviews from fake ones in Amazon. 'Verified user's & regular good ratings ( instead of skewed five star ratings during certain months/ period) are good indicators.

In general we know that anonymous rating option is important for candid reviews. But the question is who wants to rate anonymously? Employees today are not intimidated and they are bold enough to review based on their experience & feeling.

Instances of some employers paying the employees for positive rating has also been a scenario. When there’s an understanding of this sort between the employer & employee, the right picture never comes out.

B. Where Should Be The Attention Of Employers

No harm requesting employees rate in rating platforms. This can be done when they exit the organisation/ as part of a hiring campaign/ to encourage ambassadors from employees to express their backing. But forced rating is a bad agenda.

·?????It’s important for employers to address issues at every level and to get the employee experience right. Higher levels of employee engagement happens as a result of a variety of factors. Build the organisation passionately with a culture that is open, engaging & inclusive. Have special focus on new employees and provide them a great new experience. The journey together begins with onboarding & induction. This can be a long term plan instead of a short one day or two days program.

·?????Besides good working environment find out what motivates the employees. Each employee is different and treat them like that. Work on their learning, development & growth. Ensure work life balance and facilitate pursuing their hobbies, leisure interests and passion even outside of work.

·?????Multi Generations of employees with different age, gender, experience groups can work together when the environment is inclusive. Recognising the changes and facilitating changes is crucial.

·?????Conduct Employee Experience & Engagement Survey. Be totally committed to achieving your Employee Engagement & Experience Goals.

·?????Employees are smart, well aware and informed. It’s important to treat everyone with respect.

The genuine rating anywhere outside the organisation is a reflection of their total & direct experience inside the organisation as an employee.

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Note:

* The sample size of my Linkedin Poll need not be statistically significant

* Glassdoor was mentioned ?in the Poll question being a popular rating platform

* Image used has been crafted by Womentor Team but some elements from internet