#Blasphemers about the boss

On the outside hui, on the inside Pfui – if one looks at the entries on relevant employer rating portals such as Kununu, which belongs to Xing, one could get the impression that the mood in many German companies has reached its lowest point. There is with an exemplary company the speech of bitchy colleagues, arroganten bosses and bad payment , it prevails a frustrating atmosphere and would Mobbing at the agenda . It doesn’t help that a few entries for the same company give a completely different picture. Job seekers who come across such company profiles will think twice about an application. And thanks to the increasing number of users of the platforms, clever search engine optimization and links to social networks, the chance is quite high that the portals will appear at the top of the web search for jobs. Before “Web 2.0”, the world of human resources was still in order – now things look quite different.

The reasons for giving a bad rating for jobs, training and job interviews as well as for restaurants, doctors, hotels and products are manifold and often spontaneous. A kind Troll syndrome following, is evenly evenly then evaluated, if a enterprise is left – usually there the tendency is straight completely down. Revenge, disappointment and other feelings are puffed up. Much more rarely humans feel compelled to issue in the Internet also once a good testimony for experienced and proven. But exactly here enterprises must begin – because the grasp to the lawyer helps only in really slanderous cases. Quickly a spiral can develop, in which ever more critics air their alleged annoyance – there the Shitstorm is pre-programmed. It is therefore advisable to have a different strategy than “club” or even to stick your head in the sand – because sooner or later people are talking about your company on the net anyway, regardless of whether you are active in B2C or B2B.

In the meantime, more and more companies at Kununu, MeinChef, Jobvoting and Co. are turning the tables. They not only consistently monitor the relevant pages, but also use the portals strategically as an active recruiting instrument. They present themselves there with extensive profiles, name contact persons, report on advantages and – by far the most effective – react to negative entries with comments and suggestions for improvement. The example of Barmenia (www.barmenia.de/de/barmenia/karriere/arbeitgeberbewertung/uebersicht.xhtml) shows what such authenticity can look like and how it can be used for one’s own personnel marketing. It creates an image of an employer who openly and credibly deals with criticism – a positive side effect can also be an internal improvement in corporate culture. If one follows the criticism and tries to find out, how much truth is therein, perhaps also improvements are possible. After all, satisfied employees are also extremely important for the internal working climate.

After all, 29 percent of Internet users have already looked up companies on employer rating pages – and the trend is rising (Bitkom 2014). The fact that these figures are not yet comparable with hotel ratings or clinic ratings may be partly due to the fact that the job portals are primarily used by highly qualified people. This makes it all the more serious when companies miss out on this opportunity to make contact with rare specialists. It is even advisable to repeatedly point out the possibility of an evaluation in the afterfold to job interviews, at the mutual termination of the employment relationship and also during an existing job – this fills the account of positive evaluations and an authentic picture of the company can be better created. Positive statements can also potentiate themselves! There is only one thing you should not do: falsify valuations – this can quickly backfire, with unexpected consequences.

Today, more than ever, companies that engage their customers and employees are successful. Demographic change and a shortage of skilled workers make it essential to take care of employer branding or even to set it up in the first place. Employer evaluation portals should definitely not be neglected here, because the job search has long since shifted to the Internet.

Melanie Garmanzky is founder and managing director of Garmanzky WEBconsulting GmbH, a subsidiary of Engel & Zimmermann AG. With her team, she advises companies and brands such as Coppenrath & Wiese, Oettinger Brauerei or BHS tabletop in all questions of social media activities, online marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) as well as in the planning and implementation of all online communication.