How should companies react to assessments on Kununu?

by Michael Hatemo, Alpha & Omega PR

Nowadays portals for employers are an important research tool for jobseekers.
Platforms like Kununu store field reports of (ex-)employees which differ from the ideal world image of the company homepages. Of course there are positive things. But one can also read that there is an atmosphere of fear in department XY or that corporation ABC holds onto incrusted hierarchical structures. How should employers react to these assessments?

On the leading platform companies can establish an account and charge it with a self-portrayal. Photos support the image, videos deliver insight into various departments and staff members have their say. A short text further describes the company.
This structure is classical. However, mostly only larger companies have an account (Perhaps it is too expensive). The bigger part only has assessments. And these are the centerpiece on employer portals. On Kununu the ratings are divided in: employer-, application- and training assessment. Various aspects like the boss, colleagues and the atmosphere can be rated by giving stars (1=bad, 5=great). The company can release a statement about every evaluation.

The majority does not comment on evaluations
By trend it is to say, that mostly companies with a poor rating (below an average of 3 stars) answer. Perhaps they want to put themselves back in perspective or they want to communicate transparence and modern feedback-culture.
In general, answers by a company are an exception. These turn out differently: A majority reacts demure and clinical and offers the possibility of a personal dialogue to resolve differences. Some become emotional and justify themselves for certain aspects or they cannot reenact the critique at all. Others kind of dissect the assessment and go into every aspect.

There is no panacea
However one is going to react, there is no silver bullet and every company has to decide for itself how to proceed. Kununu advises to be responsive to the assessments, to stay clinical and to provide conversations. Nevertheless, one might wonder which interest an ex-employee has in such an opportunity. And the one who is still engaged in the corporation wants to see changes in basic aspects like the layout of workspace or improvement in ways of communication. Therefore, the people in power should insert their resources here. A reaction to the assessments still has positive effects: It signals the willingness to change something and to be aware of the problems. Furthermore, the company shows that every (critical) voice is heard and taken seriously. And this is what every contributor wants.