Forget about jobs and recruiting for a minute. Think about booking hotels, making restaurant reservations, or purchasing products.
What is one thing that almost all of us (well, 99.9% according to PowerReviews) look at when making a purchase online?
Customer reviews!
So, what does this have to do with your recruitment marketing?
Let’s look at something that’s changed on Indeed recently:
The one change that has become incredibly apparent on Indeed is that number next to the company name. We all know what it means. We all know who is rating the company. We all know the effect it’s having on a candidate’s perception.
(To be transparent: it’s not there for everyone. It appears to be a test from Indeed, but it’s an important one. Sometimes it’s next to a company name, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes there is a star icon next to the number.)
Jumping back up to that image above – the bottom job for Quinable, Inc. has no chance. A 2.0 star rating compared to a 3.5 star rating is a big problem. (the real problem is WHY that company has a 2.0 star rating but that’s a different conversation.).
The company with the 2.0 star rating will then complain about one of two things:
- No candidates are applying to our jobs!
- Only bad candidates are applying to our jobs!
With Glassdoor saying 86% of candidates looking at reviews during their job search, this company has no chance compared to its competitors.
Alright, enough of the background, what can you do?
Here’s a gameplan for improving that star rating:
- Treat Your Employees Well! It doesn’t matter if you follow the tips below perfectly, if you aren’t treating your employees well, you are setting yourself up to fail in the long term. You can only cover up poor candidate experience and poor employee experience for so long, especially when we are inclined to post negative reviews more than positive reviews.
- Proactively Ask for Reviews – In the hotel industry, BrightLocal found that 78% of travelers won’t post unsolicited reviews. Our behavior in one area carries over to other areas, so your company must proactively ask candidates and employees for reviews. Leverage reputation management software to send out requests for reviews to recently placed candidates, employees who achieve milestones, or team members who get promoted.
- Understand Why They’re Important – If you don’t believe in the importance of star ratings yet, then let’s share a few more statistics:
- The minimum acceptable star rating is 3.3 out of 5 stars (Podium)
- 49% of consumers trust reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family members (BrightLocal)
- 43% of consumer think items shold have 100+ reviews (Power Reviews)
When the top job site in the world makes a change, even if it’s a small change, we have to take notice and understand its impact. Knowing the importance of reviews in the eyes of jobseekers (because of the the importance of reviews in the consumer space) means talent acquisition professionals can’t ignore their online rating – on Indeed, but also on Facebook on Google!
If you need help managing that online reputation, Haley Marketing is here to help. Contact our team today, and we can help analyze your employer branding as well as all aspects of your recruitment marketing.
