You no doubt know that positive online reviews are a vital part of growing your practice’s patient base. But do you know that potential patients aren’t the only ones scoping you out online? Employees and job-seekers are, too. And when candidates want to know more about a potential employer—or when existing employees want to express their opinion—they turn to employee ratings sites like Glassdoor.
“Can’t we just get a break from all this online reputation stuff?”
We get it. But unfortunately, no, you can’t. Now more than ever, employee review sites like Glassdoor have become the most sought-after places to post and search for reviews. Ignoring or overlooking the influence of Glassdoor can hurt your practice reputation in more ways than one, warns Suzanne Rupert, director of recruiting at Talent Acquisition Innovation. A low Glassdoor rating with negative reviews could…
Hamper your efforts to attract and hire the best staff for your practice.
“We run into issues where candidates look at the Glassdoor profile and say “I don’t want to work for this company,” says Rupert. “We have definitely lost candidates because of the Glassdoor reviews.” In a market where it’s already tough to find and hire the number of qualified candidates you need, you can’t afford a sub-par Glassdoor presence.
Sabotage your ability to attract physician associates and potential partners.
The market for new ophthalmologists is also tight. Only 450 residents go into practice every year to replace the estimated 550 doctors who are retiring. Poor reviews create negative impressions that can hurt your succession planning.
Limit your merger or acquisition prospects.
Mergers and acquisitions are one way for your practice to remain competitive in a healthcare market that’s consolidating. You can’t let negative reviews take that option off the table. “We’ve found that companies that are looking to potentially acquire are very concerned when they see bad reviews about a prospect,” Rupert notes. “Because why would they want to partner with companies that have the staffing problems that led employees to post in the first place?”
Affect a patient’s decision to visit your practice.
Glassdoor’s primary audience is job-seekers, but there’s a good chance your patients are reading those reviews as well. Most of the time, patients aren’t searching for your practice on sites like Yelp or a Healthgrades. They’re searching on Google and reading whatever reviews show up, including those from Glassdoor. So “if there’s a whole bunch of horrible things listed, that might change a patient’s mind about going there,” says Rupert.
“When candidates interview for a company the first places they go is Glassdoor to see what other users say.”—Suzanne Rupert, director of recruiting, Talent Acquisition Innovation
Knock, Knock. Who’s There? Glassdoor, who?
If you think your practice’s rating on Glassdoor does not matter, think again. Glassdoor is the brainchild of three Expedia veterans. It’s also one of the fastest-growing employee ratings sites and the second-largest job site in the U.S. With nearly 33 million reviews for almost 700,000 companies and 45 million unique visitors each month, the site has successfully established itself as the go-to resource for job seekers looking for insider insights into a company’s work culture.
What Yelp does for restaurants, Glassdoor does for potential candidates and employees. It allows existing and potential employees to post reviews about an organization, letting visitors know what to expect if they choose to work there. And those employer ratings and reviews consistently appear at the top of Google search results. As a result, employers that want to attract great talent have started paying attention to Glassdoor reviews. Not convinced? Check out these stats:
- An estimated 48 percent of U.S. job seekers use Glassdoor at some point in their job search.
- The average user reads at least 7 reviews before forming an opinion of a company.
- 89 percent of users are actively looking for a job or would consider better opportunities.
- 74 percent of users are more likely to apply to a job if the employer actively manages its brand. That means doing things like responding to reviews and keeping an updated profile.
Source: 50 HR and Recruiting Stats, Glassdoor Inc., 2017 (www.glassdoor.com)
Next Up: How to improve your practice’s Glassdoor rating in five easy steps.
