In the digital age, consumers look up reviews online for everything from insurance providers to toothpaste. Even your local jail probably has online reviews! Employers are not exempt from this trend and websites like Glassdoor and Indeed provide opportunities for employees to write reviews about their places of employment. While positive reviews can be a boost for recruiting purposes, what if an employee writes a scathingly negative review about your company? Or perhaps they write a bad review on a website highly visible to your customers, such as Google? While an initial reaction may be to retaliate and fire the employee or to respond online directly for the world to see, take a step back and consider these tips first:

• If an employee includes complaints regarding working conditions, wages, harassment, or other problematic employment practices, the employer has an obligation to investigate these claims and take action if it is discovered the employee was correct. Speak with your FrankAdvice HR Consultant on the steps to take in conducting such an investigation.
• If the suspected review-writer is a current or former employee, avoid confronting them. While you should investigate accusations included in these reviews, which may include asking employees for additional information, you don’t want the approach to be hostile or to appear retaliatory, which could lead to legal action against the company. You may also want to refrain from requiring the employee to remove the review as information in the review could be considered protected speech.
• If the information in the review is defamatory, libelous, or discloses information that violates legally enforceable confidentiality rules, many websites will have a process where you can flag the review or request it be removed. However, unless the employee is disclosing trade secrets or making obviously and provably false statements, it can be an uphill battle to have such reviews removed.
• Some employers choose to respond publicly to negative reviews, but be cautious in what you say. Taking an overly aggressive tone or threatening to take legal action against the reviewer can make readers view your company in a negative light due to the unprofessionalism, and lead them to believe there is truth to the review due to your defensiveness, causing more damage. A response that is respectful, acknowledges the concerns of the reviewer, and presents a plan to look into the matter shows that your company is open to feedback and willing to improve. While you may not win over the posting employee with this response, you could win over the public readers that would otherwise view your company in a negative light.
• While it may be a good idea to reply to reviews, you should refrain from writing fake, positive reviews to drown out negative reviews. A review that says, “I love my bosses so much, they’re the best. People that don’t like them just don’t want to work,” is a painfully obvious attempt to counter negative reviews, and both employees and customers will see right through this tactic. Instead, ask current employees to write honest reviews and, if the negative review was from a lone, disgruntled employee, then the positive reviews will make this apparent.
• Keep an eye on reviews about your company. You can set alerts to be notified when reviews are posted online or even utilize a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or marketing firm to monitor your company’s online presence. This way, you can quickly take action in light of a negative review, whether it’s conducting an investigation or flagging the review for removal.
• Instead of seeing negative reviews as a hindrance, consider them free feedback! Use the information to improve areas that maybe you were unaware needed improving. If an employee is complaining about a lack of training or lagging wages, take the opportunity to develop a training program or assess the wages in your area to see if your wages are competitive.