By: Adam Vortherms

When most companies think of their brand, a few things may come to mind, such as a logo, website, social media presence, or advertisements. However, as vital as those things are to a company's image, they only make up half the picture. The other half, the one that is more vital than ever in today's fierce recruiting marketplace, is the employer reputation.

Why Is Employer Reputation So Important?

Evidence shows that a bad reputation is costly to employers and makes it difficult to attract top talent. Too many bad reviews not only damage company morale, but they also repel top talent. In fact, it may take 40 positive reviews to undo the damage of a single negative review.

A company's ability to attract and retain top talent, which affects the bottom line, is inseparably linked to employer reputation. Before quality hires consider a company, they are perusing anonymous employer review sites such as Glassdoor and Indeed.

In other words, your employer reputation is the first impression your company makes in an increasingly candidate-driven market. Whether you are aware of it or not, your employer reputation precedes you.

How to Protect Your Employer Reputation

It is more important than ever to be proactive in protecting your employer reputation. Here are some strategies to help protect yours:

• Closely monitor your company's pages on LinkedIn and Facebook to see what others are saying about your business. Also, keep up-to-date with how people interact with your pages and adjust your strategies accordingly; for example, in an effort to cut down on fake reviews, Facebook is now having users choose between a yes/no binary to indicate if they would recommend a business. This means that you may need to engage more with reviewers on your business page to get the full details of their experience.
  
  
• If you haven't already, sign up for an employer account on employer review sites, such as Glassdoor and Indeed. Although reviews are posted anonymously, your account will shed light on many details on who is commenting on your company.
  
  
• Make it someone's (or a department's) task to set up the account with up-to-date information, such as mission statement, company size, and awards or recognition your company has received, and to monitor reviews as soon as they are posted.
  
  
• Develop a procedure for responding to reviews, to not only take the guesswork out of figuring out which reviews need to be addressed right away, and which to let simmer, but to also develop a standard of how your company will interact with posted reviews. However, don't try to respond to every review; not only could that quickly become overwhelming, but not every review will warrant a response.
  
  
• When responding, focus on adding information from your perspective as an employer, and be sure to thank employees for taking the time to provide feedback. Engagement is an effective way to improve the impression your company makes on potential hires and to improve the morale of current employees.

While some companies out there aren't a fan of anonymous employer review sites, the fact is that these forums provide everyone, from the CEO on down, with a voice. Take these sites as an opportunity to make your brand exactly what you need it to be to attract and retain top talent. Your success in hiring, and, ultimately, with your bottom line depends on you joining the conversation and making the voice of your company heard.

No matter the size of your company, take steps today to ensure that your employer reputation is in harmony with the impression you want to make to the top talent that can help your business grow. Visit us at www.brixrecruiting.com