Founded in 2007, GlassDoor.com is an online review site that gives employees a chance to talk about their companies anonymously. In the past 9 years, millions of former and current employees have written reviews on thousands of businesses.
Sure, there are dozens of reputable online review sites. For example, Yelp is one of the most popular review sites for restaurants. However, all the reviews on Yelp come from restaurant patrons, with names attached. How would it be to talk to the employees of a restaurant and find out what’s going on behind the scenes?
That is the real advantage of Glass Door: The employees of companies write the reviews. They do so anonymously so that they can speak their mind without worrying if theur boss is going to get upset and fire them.
Think about it: If you want to really know a company, who should you talk to? Shouldn’t it be the people who keep it functioning every day? Glass Door is a great place to go to find out about an organization, especially if you are about to start a relationship with it (i.s. as a new employee, customer, or investor).
Most medium to large sized companies have profiles on Glass Door. The number of reviews depends on how big the company is. Reviewers get to rank their company and their CEO, lists the good things and the bad things about their organization, and, best of all, they get to offer advice to management. Let’s take a look at some samples
Barnes and Noble reviews
(3.5 stars; 64 percent recommend to a friend; 66 percent approve of CEO Leonard Riggio)
Some pros: “Awesome Assistant managers! Amazing atmosphere and great customers. They had the right mindset and focused on great customer service while treating their employees with respect.”
Some cons: “When the Nook came out, I feel the store lost focus for our book buying customers and only wanted to focus on digital.” “Very sales driven environment. All about bottom line.”
Some advice for management: “Make sure scheduling is done properly because one slip up can make for an extremely chaotic day.” “Pay your employees more. Minimum wage is not good enough for the hard working staff.”
Melaleuca reviews
(4.0 stars; 81 percent recommend to a friend; 83 percent approve of CEO Frank VanderSloot)
Some pros: “Good learning experience in brand management.” “The products that Melaleuca manufactures are amazing.”
Some cons: “Building a Melaleuca business takes perseverance and hard work.” “Talking on the phone with people is not always the funnest job. Also a customer service position is always hard to deal with anything potentially problematic.”
Some advice for management: “Follow up on what you say and provide more advancement and promotion opportunities to employee’s. Lessen the month end hours a bit.”
Radio Shack reviews
(2.6 stars; 27 percent recommend to a friend; 18 percent approve of CEO Dean Rogers)
Some pros: “There’s lots of opportunity for upward mobility.” “the environment is fun and the pace is well driven, i was under the management of Tim who was the previous manager, the new one seems to be offputting.”
Some cons: “Low pay, high stress, and if you get put in charge of Sprint, two jobs for the pay of one.”
Some advice for management: “Create a better strategic direction for store management and give your employees a voice.”