Evaluating Potential Employers
Employee Gripe Sites and the Real Way to Find the Best Companies to Work For
In January of this year, George and I received a post submission about sites that allow anonymous employee evaluations of their employers.
Rather than publish that post (which was essentially a sales piece for the sites) we decided to take a look at the sites themselves to give you an honest review.
Our conclusion: While these or other employee gripe sites may give you a feeling for companies you might want to avoid, there are far more accurate tools out there to help you find the best companies to work for.
Employees Do the Evaluations — PingMyCompany and JobVent
PingMyCompany.com
PingMyCompany.com, still in beta, allow employees to anonymously “ping” about current and previous employers. Currently, the site has a lot of “pinging” going on about companies in Pakistan, with Microsoft being the one major American company I found covered during a 15 minute search of the site.
And what were people saying about Microsoft when I visited?
The hatred that many people feel toward Microsoft’s products and market domination is certainly well-represented in the nine Pings against the company, while those who like or at least accept the software were represented in a few of the Pings in favor.
In other words, there was more discussion about Microsoft’s products and business model than their employment practices. It was also clear that few of the people doing the Pinging were current or previous MicroSoft employees.
Granted, the site is still in beta. And they do invite employers to register and respond to Pings. Even with those qualifiers, though, I can’t recommend this site to job-seekers, as the signal-to-noise ratio is just too low.
JobVent.com
Especially at first glance, JobVent.com seems like an excellent place to get the real scoop on top employers (or not). The site covers a large number of companies, which are rated using criteria including pay, respect(for employees), and work/life balance.
So what’s the catch?
For one thing, many of the rated companies (at least in my home state of Michigan) are rated using only one comment. And while the site claims that ratings without explanatory comments won’t be listed, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Aramark, for example, supposedly has 39 reviews. Click to the company’s rating page, however, and the company summary lists only 1 review.
Finally, out of 146 rated companies, only 20 have received a positive number of points. Granted it’s tough here in Michigan right now, but it’s hard to believe that only roughly one out of seven of our companies are decent places to work.
Venting is good. Venting online instead of constantly moaning to coworkers at least gives the coworkers a break. But is a site that seems to essentially function as an anonymous group gripe session really where you want to go to find the best companies to work for?
Want to Find the Best Companies to Work For? Use the Best Tools
Instead of relying on a statistically questionable set of anonymous comments from people who may have an axe to grind, the following organizations use objective standards to see which companies truly measure up as top employers.
Fortune Magazine
Fortune Magazine’s Best 100 Companies to Work For is still the best place to find the top employers in the for-profit market.
Fortune evaluates companies using anonymous surveys, but they also rate employee satisfaction by the numbers: percentage of voluntary turnover. Anyone can complain about their job — Fortune will tell you how many people were sufficiently dissatisfied to vote with their feet.
In addition, the Fortune rankings will tell you important facts like the the diversity of a company’s workforce and whether or not they offer domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples.
Great Places to Work Institute
Or, you can go to the source — the Great Places to Work Institute, Inc. The Institute does the legwork for the Fortune 100 list.
Here you can also search through lists including the best small and medium sized companies to work for. They also offer services to help companies join the ranks of the top employers.
Best for Working Moms
Working Mother Magazine was still taking readers’ submissions for their 2009 100 Best Companies list, but you can take a look at the 2008 Working Mother 100 Best Companies winners here..
As to their rating criteria, this is what Working Mother had to say about their 2008 choices (emphasis ours):
Our winners are strong believers in paid sick leave for all employees, full-time and part-time (89 percent), as well as phase-back programs for new moms (88 percent) and paid time off to volunteer (80 percent).
These stellar employers know it’s not just about offering great programs but about making sure they have a culture that promotes these programs. That’s why 54 of our winning companies tie managers’ pay to women’s advancement rates — and five even penalize managers whose staffers don’t take their vacations.
From adoption assistance (93 percent) and fertility treatment reimbursements (82 percent) to telecommuting and flextime (both 100 percent), these progressive companies are working hard to help working mothers — and their families — succeed.
Top Employers for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Employees
The Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, publishes a yearly Corporate Equality Index which rates employers on anti-discrimination policies, domestic partner benefits, and whether companies contribute to organizations that support or oppose full civil and employment rights for LGBT people.
Other resources include ComputerWorld’s Best 100 Places to Work in IT, Best Places to Work in Academia as rated by The Scientist.com, and a multitude of online lists that will tell you the best companies to work for in your local community.
The bottom line is this: Yes, employee gripe sites will give you at least a sampling of opinions from current employees. But why waste time on what some people say are the worst companies, when you can jump straight to searching for the top employers?
Photo credit: judgmentalist via flickr
