Turning Glassdoor into a friend, not an enemy

Given the news of Glassdoor being acquired for $1.2 billion, it's again worth looking at the site and what it means for CHROs and other C-suite executives responsible for talent (which, honestly, should be anyone whose title starts with that letter). Over the last decade, I've had countless conversations with people in corporations who wish the site would go away, dismiss it as a place where people just go to complain, or are panicked because an especially caustic review has been posted and the company is paralyzed in how to respond.

The recent acquisition of Glassdoor will hopefully put all this to rest: The site is here to stay and clearly its acquirer, Recruit, saw the value that many companies also do in embracing Glassdoor, rather than running from it. Increasingly, smart companies are using Glassdoor not only as a way to attract new talent, but also to engage current employees, especially those who might be hard to reach with regular company channels. It's a great example of the divide between internal and external communications falling, which is something I talk about to anyone who will listen. This old divide is gone and not coming back -- the challenge is how to make this new reality work to your advantage, and including sites like Glassdoor in your employee engagement strategy is one way to do it.