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Companies Manipulate Glassdoor by Inflating Rankings and Pressuring Employees

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Re: Companies Manipulate Glassdoor by Inflating Rankings and Pressuring Employees

#51
post #12

Is there any service that actually is fair? When Ubisoft makes Forbe's "Best Places to Work" I don't feel like I can trust anything to make an objective measure other than organic word of mouth and simply experiencing it for myself.

I have friends who say working for Ubisoft isn't as bad. Especially in the gaming industry. But obviously its not as good as working for a real tech company.

I believe that Ubisoft may not be that bad, but it's still in an industry that succeeds on the backs of it's employees, I can't see how it would stack up against industries that don't make it a habit of brutal overtime and low pay.

Re: Companies Manipulate Glassdoor by Inflating Rankings and Pressuring Employees

#52
And that's why there is Blind https://www.teamblind.com/articles/Topics

I highly recommend everyone signs up their company and gives honest feedback there. Closing the Asymmetric Information gap will only help workers (the vast majority of us) make better choices about where to work, how much to charge employers and what really goes on (not the propaganda campaigns that are online resources and interviews)

Re: Companies Manipulate Glassdoor by Inflating Rankings and Pressuring Employees

#53
post #28
post #4

This happened at my previous company when they had bad glassdoor reviews. Every new person through the door, was sort of forced to write a glassdoor review. They would be given a nice welcome, some schwag, sell them on the company. People inevitably wrote good reviews, alas once the honeymoon period ended, they were in for a rude shock.

But when the people left they changed their review to something awful no? I mean, in the long run such behavior should not work.

Consider that if they know when you wrote your review, they know which your review is, if you then change your review, that's a pretty blatant way of telling them exactly who you are, which might not go over well if they have any sway at all (or if they know someone who might be able to block your progress later).

Re: Companies Manipulate Glassdoor by Inflating Rankings and Pressuring Employees

#54

I've had negative reviews flat out removed by a company that was paying glass door for some sort of premium service. I extensively reviewed the rules and reworded my comments and they were removed yet again. My points were fully factually true and were not anything too untoward (pay raises were promised to members of a new team, they never materialized, most team members left). For what it's worth, Path Forward IT is…

I've had this happen as well! Basically I think they use the removal option as their revenue model....until people figure out that their reviews are not accurate.

Re: Companies Manipulate Glassdoor by Inflating Rankings and Pressuring Employees

#55
Glassdoor is paid by companies, not by employees, so nobody should trust it. Our HR department is frequently asking everyone to leave good reviews on Glassdoor. 0 credibility.

It's like that scummy business magazines who give awards are in. I worked at a place where I heard our VP of marketing say because we paid this really well-known travel magazine tons of money for ad placement that we should win a spa award. The only review site I trust is Consumer Reports, there should be a Consumer Reports alternative for Glassdoor.

Re: Companies Manipulate Glassdoor by Inflating Rankings and Pressuring Employees

#56

You don't say! I used to work as an engineer at a truly awful little company, the worst I've been at, and when I left I gave them a scathing review. Not long after, several new reviews popped up. Here are some choice excerpts, get a load of this: > Pros: > For anyone reading these reviews, take it from someone who has been at this company for over 10 years, some people just like to use these review sites as a soundin…

Run from any prospective employer who tells you, "we're like a family." They mean it an all the worst ways. Feuding, dysfunction, racist uncles, getting kicked out of the house.

Re: Companies Manipulate Glassdoor by Inflating Rankings and Pressuring Employees

#57

Is there any service that actually is fair? When Ubisoft makes Forbe's "Best Places to Work" I don't feel like I can trust anything to make an objective measure other than organic word of mouth and simply experiencing it for myself.

It's the natural cycle of the internet. 1. Be a nobody company 2. Utilize generous user content to build up an important knowledge-base/economy 3. People begin to trust the information in the system and come to rely on it 4. Sell-out entirely and make a lot of money letting people buy influence 5. People abandon the site realizing it has no signal anymore (Digg, Reddit, Amazon, Glassdoor, experts-exchange, facebook,…

You're missing step 3.5, where as a company gains trust and notoriety, more and more 3rd parties will attempt to game the system to their favor. That's where most trust can end up lost. The moment it becomes worthwhile to "buy upvotes" there will be trouble.

Re: Companies Manipulate Glassdoor by Inflating Rankings and Pressuring Employees

#58

Glassdoor was acquired by Indeed which was acquired by Japan's Recruit Co. Ltd. So keep that in mind.

I just searched "Glassdoor acquired" and the results say that Glassdoor was acquired by Recruit, not by Indeed. As a former Indeed employee, I hope they don't mix the Glassdoor review slime with Indeed.

Re: Companies Manipulate Glassdoor by Inflating Rankings and Pressuring Employees

#59

This article kind of misses the entire point; Glassdoor and the rest of these "professional review" sites sell reputation management services to the company. They use the negative reviews to push other high margin services to the companies. The only one who should care about Glassdoor being gamed is Glassdoor executives; anyone looking for a honest and balanced review of a company workplace on Glassdoor is already ge…

It's the same business model as the Better Business Bureau and Yelp. It's a manufactured perspective. As a devil's advocate, how can a company expect to be viewed impartially if the only folks who review them have tempers raged enough to motivate them to leave a poor review in the first place? How can I, a potential employee, trust said-reviewer wasn't let go due to Silo'd mismanagement, personal issues or a company…

You need to leave a review if you want to access the data in the site. This motivates people to leave a (neutral) review.

So it is not all ranting, and I'd say most companies have good (realistic) scores and reviews

Re: Companies Manipulate Glassdoor by Inflating Rankings and Pressuring Employees

#60

You don't say! I used to work as an engineer at a truly awful little company, the worst I've been at, and when I left I gave them a scathing review. Not long after, several new reviews popped up. Here are some choice excerpts, get a load of this: > Pros: > For anyone reading these reviews, take it from someone who has been at this company for over 10 years, some people just like to use these review sites as a soundin…

Former employees that sit in dark rooms and write negative reviews in between shifts at the local convenience store.

Wow - that sounds amazingly petty and vindictive. These people must have been a pure mindfuck to work for.

Thank you for posting that, so that people looking for information about this company (Snowbound Software) can be adequately informed about what to expect in engaging in dealings of any kind with this shop.

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