One of my clients forwarded me an email from a company purporting to be able to “fix” negative Glassdoor reviews. I sent her an explanation in response and wanted to share what I told her as you may also receive a similar solicitation with false promises to quickly enhance your Glassdoor reviews.

Here’s the thing – there is no way to magically erase negative reviews of your company just like there is no quick fix to enhance your Google search results. Those companies that purport to be able to do this for a price are not worth paying a cent to.

Social media has given employees a stronger online voice to air their frustrations with an employer, and employers can’t afford to ignore what is said about their companies on Glassdoor.

Why is Glassdoor so important? Think of it as a Yelp for employees. Job candidates of all levels turn to Glassdoor to get a better sense of your company culture and salary ranges. Glassdoor is a public forum encouraging honesty and participation because its reviews are anonymous (reviews can be left by current and former employees). It can be hard for employers to attract high-caliber candidates if it has a low average score due to poor or critical Glassdoor reviews.

In general, people tend to write negative reviews at a much higher frequency than positive ones. Angry employees want to vent their frustrations online, and that should be of concern to employers.

The true key to improving your Glassdoor reviews is to be an exemplary employer that provides ample professional development opportunities for its people and a strong supportive culture, especially right now when so many layoffs, salary cuts and furloughs are occurring. If you have to do layoffs or salary reductions, do them right – meaning with compassion and empathy – and be as transparent as you can.

The other thing you can do is to start a concerted effort for your superstar employees and alumni to write positive Glassdoor reviews to counter balance the negative ones. Don’t put any pressure on them to leave a review, but encourage them to do so. I recommend creating a review schedule to spread out the reviews and ensure you have no more than one posted per week. Make the process as easy as possible for your employees, while also ensuring that they understand why it matters and how their anonymity will be protected.

In order to manage your company page on Glassdoor, you’ll need to create a free employer account. You can do that here.

A free employer account enables you to update basic company information, view analytics on profile visits and join the conversation by responding to reviews. If you don’t already have a company page, you’ll be able to create one once you create your free account.

There is also a paid version which allows you to further build out your page, feature a review of your choosing, and advertise your company and jobs on open competitor profiles. However, you don’t need a paid account to improve your Glassdoor rating.

I hope this helps to clear up the confusion on Glassdoor reviews. The bottom line is that treating your employees with care should guide everything you do because in our interconnected online world, what others say about you is incredibly powerful and can affect your reputation and talent pipeline. No amount of online reputation management is going to convince unhappy employees to sing the praises of your company online.

One of the biggest benefits of having an active Glassdoor page is that you receive consistent, honest feedback from your employees on what’s working and what’s not at your company. That kind of information can help you make necessary changes to address complaints and suggestions, and make you a better employer with a happier workforce.