Glassdoor is one of the most popular and widely used workplace review platforms in the world. According to Glassdoor itself, Glassdoor has 67 million monthly users, of which more than 80 percent are seeking employment or new opportunities and just over 40 percent are millennials.
Glassdoor is also host to 2.5 million company profiles. Of those company profiles, roughly 380,000 or only 15% are active, meaning not many employers are monitoring analytics and responding to reviews. Glassdoor recently launched a new feature, designed to create more opportunities for both employers and employees to engage in real-time conversation. In short, Glassdoor is now far more than just a company review site, it’s a platform where companies can boost employee engagement and note early warning sites for employee dissatisfaction, when leveraged effectively.
What are Glassdoor Bowls?
Glassdoor “Bowls” is a new feature designed to give users the opportunity to connect and discuss topics across the industries, interests, and companies that matter most to them. Specifically, the latter—aptly named “Company Bowls”—helps users engage in “real talk” with their organization. Although users must be verified employees before joining a Company Bowl, they can choose to be completely anonymous, identify themselves by their job title, or share their full name.
From an employee’s perspective, the feature allows them to ask company leads and colleagues anonymous, work-related questions – which, according to a survey by The Harris Poll, two-thirds of U.S. employees would like the chance to do.
From an employer’s perspective, it gives organizations an excellent opportunity to engage with employees in a more candid way, which more employers are looking to do as the complex and dynamic workforce can sometimes make it difficult to gather feedback in a traditional manner. Employees may be more apt to share their thoughts anonymously online rather than speak up during meetings or performance reviews.
Specifically, capitalizing on the power of Company Bowls gives employers an incredible opportunity to boost and strengthen their employee engagement by allowing them to:
- Embrace an engaging and user-friendly technology
- Encourage collaboration and share with peers across their organization
- Create a sense of community
- Encourage feedback to leadership to build trust
Enhancing Your Digital Strategy
Despite mastering engagement with external audiences on social media, many organizations continue to ignore their own internal audiences, even though that’s often where most relevant work-related conversations take place. If used widely, Company Bowls could be a hot-spot for employee engagement and connection. Adding digital media intelligence to your digital strategy is an excellent way to stay ahead of issues important to your employees as they raise them on your Company Bowl, and give you the insights necessary to help build a more engaged workforce.
People Results can provide a tailored digital media intelligence solution, or provide guidance to your internal team doing the same. We recommend having a dedicated digital communications team member(s) regularly check your company-specific Bowl to:
- Make note of any reoccurring themes or topics employees are discussing
- Address any employee concerns to the extent that leadership is able
- Respond to comments and questions, when appropriate
Remember – this feature is a two-way street and will only be as effective as you allow it to be. So, embrace change, set a solid strategy, and enjoy all the new benefits this feature is designed to provide.
At People Results, we help organizations develop effective strategies to engage their workforce and develop employee advocates. We believe every business is different, and each requires its own holistic and customized approach to communications. Whether you need an internal communications assessment, guidance in developing your internal communications strategy or social media strategy, digital media intelligence, crisis communications services, media relations, or media training, we have expert communications consultants who can quickly provide a specialized solution. Contact us today to discuss the next steps, give us a call at (313) 965-0350.
