One reason is that a disgruntled employee rarely has good things to say about the company and with the immediate connection with the world through the Internet, that employee’s anger as a result of the termination now reaches a wide audience. When a lay off is handled in a compassionate manner and supports the employee in the process, there is a likelihood that the employee will temper her comments about the company that she is leaving. In addition, to the arena to vent, the Internet provides venues to search for new opportunities and to find more “inside” information about companies who are hiring. These sites can be very helpful to job seekers, but can be helpful to companies as well because they can find out what their employees, both current and past, may have to say about them.
Vault.com conducts surveys of employees in various companies and comes up with ratings. On the home page, there are top-ranked companies from many business sectors. There are also listings about internships and student opportunities. While registering is free, a monthly subscription is needed for full access.
Company rankings are based on the survey information that Vault.com receives. So, while the actual reviews are available for the monthly fee, there is still information about the company in sections like the “Why work here”.
Being aware of sites like Vault.com can help to protect the brand of a company since the content comes from the employees and can be heartfelt and believable. Perception can be the reality in the world today and so if the perception is that a company has performed a merge or a restructure of some sort without much thought of the employees being caught in the middle of it, then that can signal future trouble for the health of that company. Employees need to be looked after when they are working at a company, but as they leave, there should be the same care shown towards them so that they can be less damaging to a company’s brand. Assisting an employee with resources, such as Vault.com, and others can help that person feel empowered to take the next step in their career. While the name of this site implies some security, the truth is that the way to become more secure that your brand will be protected is to manage the employees well, even in their exit from the company.
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Learn more about Greg Weiss here.