“I’m still shocked when I speak at conferences and ask how
many HR people visit Glassdoor to see what people are saying
about their organizations,” said Parkin. “I’d say it’s less than one
third. All those people are missing out on valuable insight into
their own organizations and what the market actually thinks
about them.”
Parkin said, “If there are problems spelled out on sites like
Glassdoor, really you just have to be receptive to the feedback.”
The same is true for customer complaints on social media or other
review sites. Whether the concerns are from customers or employ-ees,
those issues, and more importantly how an organization deals
with them publicly, demonstrate the company culture, values and
responsiveness. Complaints and problems are inevitable and deal-ing
with them is simply good business. The Glassdoor survey
found 62 per cent of respondents had an improved perception of
an organization after seeing them respond to a review.
With social media, there’s no escaping transparency. “When
I started my career, I worked for a large company and we hired
actors to be in a video depicting what we thought our corporate
culture should be,” said Parkin. “That would never fly, today. Now
it has to be authentic and realistic.” That could take any number of
forms and might include unscripted video testimonials from cur-rent
employees posted to the company site, tweets and photos from
sponsored charity events or Facebook posts of employee awards
and recognition – nearly anything goes as long as its genuine.
“Everyone who works for an organization is an ambassador,”
said Parkin. “These days, with LinkedIn and Facebook, chances are
cover feature
IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE A
STRONG IDENTITY ONLINE
BECAUSE CANDIDATES WILL
DO THEIR HOMEWORK.
everyone knows someone who knows someone who works at the
organization. So that employee is going to say what it’s really like
working there and it’s going to be authentic.”
THE TOTAL REWARDS PACKAGE
A recent survey by Canadian site CareerBuilder looked into some
of the details candidates want to find out when they see a job post-ing.
Well over half (61 per cent) wanted to know details of the
company’s total rewards package.
“A lot of Millennial and Gen Z candidates are really focused on
mental and physical health and wellness, and we’re seeing a lot of
employers taking that message to heart and integrating it into the
A Clear Business Case for Hiring
Aspiring Workers:
Findings from a research project that looked at the costs and
benefits of recruiting and retaining people living with mental illness.
Read the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s report to learn
how you can make a difference.
HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ AUGUST 2018 ❚ 17
/HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA
/mentalhealth.html