Chances are, in any company that employs two people, one of them is disgruntled.
So, take that and extrapolate it to a company with hundreds or thousands of workers, then throw in the Internet and what do you get?
The answer is JobVent.com, a site on which thousands of people have vented all of those feelings they used to share with families and neighbors, often while sitting in lawn chairs with an iced tea or a beer.
Who hasn't heard complaints like these?
"While I love what I do, I hate the people I work with and the environment I work in." And that was from a company that got overall good reviews.
"Worst place I have ever worked in 30 years."
Or this gem: "I cannot begin to tell you how far you must run from any positions at this company ... you don't even want to temp here ... SERIOUSLY."
John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a global outplacement firm in Chicago, said there are productive and unproductive ways to address corporate problems.
A productive way would be to have an event or even a Web site that includes a moderator. But just to go rant on an anonymous Internet page is sort of like the difference between journalism and blogs: One is expected to check facts and emphasize accuracy; the other is a blog.
Anonymous Web sites such as JobVent (there are others, but JobVent has really taken off) could be seen as giving job candidates a picture of an employer, warts and all, Challenger said. But, he added, "It can be tough to really know if an organization is bad news."
That, he said, is because "the most angry drive your discussion."
On the flip side, a company could be planting positive reviews.
Rare on the site is the CEO who addresses the complaints. That is what Chris Burkhard did. Burkhard is the founder of CBI Group, a corporate recruiting firm in Newark, Del.
He found the mention of CBI Group when he was using Google's search engine to check how his company blog was showing up. When he scrolled down, he found a rant about the firm. In a total of six reviews of the company, half gave it negative scores with the most positive review sent in from someone who went to work elsewhere.
Burkhard posted a reply:
"I have always heard the best way to address feedback is head-on. This is the founder speaking. I want to thank everyone for their honest and forthright feedback. No excuses here. If this is how you feel, I like knowing it. As I always said to each of you, feel free to share what you think."
Right now, he said, his company is facing the toughest economy it has dealt with in the eight years he has been in business. With that in mind, he said, it's good to know what his employees think. At least three disgruntled employees, anyway.
Ann Belser can be contacted at abelser(at)post-gazette.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com
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