Employee reviews companies: The 10 best companies to work for in 2020

The 10 best companies to work for in 2020

Job seekers looking for a new gig in 2020 might want to apply to some of the best places to work.

Glassdoor recently compiled its annual 100 Best Places to Work ranking, based on more than 55 million employee reviews for more than 1 million companies on the jobs site.

Glassdoor reports that 75% of employees say they are OK or satisfied with their current jobs, and the average company rating on the site is 3.5 on a 5-point scale. But some employers go above and beyond in terms of offering career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, effective leadership within senior management and work-life balance.

High marks in these categories from employees helped HubSpot secure the No. 1 spot for the first time. The marketing and growth platform holds a company rating of 4.6 and has been on Glassdoor’s top-companies list five times previously. While some employees cite rapid growth and difficulty establishing work-life balance as some of the downsides to working for HubSpot, others praise the company’s unlimited vacation time, paid family leave (16 weeks for a primary caregiver and six weeks for a secondary caregiver) and ample health insurance options as benefits that help them prioritize family and flexibility while working. Additionally, employees who hit their five-year anniversary are given a four-week paid sabbatical with the equivalent of a $5,000 bonus.

Management consulting firm Bain & Company comes in at No. 2 and is one of only three companies to appear on Glassdoor’s annual ranking every year since its inception 12 years ago. (The other two are Google and Apple, though the two tech giants don’t make it to the top 10 this year.) With a 97% employee approval rating, Bain & Company CEO Manny Maceda is one of the top-rated chief executives in the country, according to Glassdoor’s reviews.

Rounding out the top three is DocuSign, an electronic signature company based in San Francisco. Reviewers recognize the company’s ability to emphasize cultural values and set the tone from the top, a challenging feat given DocuSign’s global workforce of over 4,000 employees.

The best places to work span industries including technology, health care, travel, retail, education, research and more.

Take a look at the top 10 best companies to work for in the new year, and learn more about the full 100 ranking here.

10. Southwest Airlines

A Boeing 737 of Southwest Airlines approaching Lindbergh Field in San Diego.

Dünzl | ullstein bild | Getty Images

Headquarters: Dallas, Texas

CEO: Gary C. Kelly

Company rating: 4.5

Industry: Airlines

Most common job review and average pay: Ramp agent, $13 per hour

Number of open jobs: 34

What people are saying: “Great flexibility, great benefits, fabulous co-hearts who work together to make our jobs fun and our customers happy!” — Southwest Airlines flight attendant (Oakland, California)

9. VIPKid

Headquarters: San Francisco, California

CEO: Cindy Mi

Company rating: 4.5

Industry: K-12 Education

Most common job review and average pay: Teacher, $20 per hour

Number of open jobs: 2,300

What people are saying: “I’ve worked for VipKid for 2 years, and I love how flexible it is. As an independent contractor I am able to take time off as needed, and I make my own schedule.” — VIPKid teacher (Dallas, Texas)

8. Ultimate Software

Headquarters: Weston, Florida

CEO: Scott Scherr and Adam Rogers

Company rating: 4.5

Industry: Enterprise software and network solutions

Most common job review and average pay: Software engineer, $99,603 per year

Number of open jobs: 111

What people are saying: “The unlimited PTO, amazing benefits, and feeling like part of a big family are my favorite parts about Ultimate.” — Ultimate software social media business analyst (Weston, Florida)

7. Intuitive Surgical

Headquarters: Sunnyvale, California

CEO: Gary S. Guthart

Company rating: 4.5

Industry: Health-care products manufacturing

Most common job review and average pay: Mechanical engineer, $117,412 per year

Number of open jobs: 300

What people are saying: “In addition to getting to engage in a dynamic work environment, I am also able to spend my evenings and weekends with my family on most days. ” — Intuitive surgical senior human factors engineer (Sunnyvale, California)

6. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Jeff Wisoff in front of the world’s largest laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Heesun Wee | CNBC

Headquarters: Livermore, California

CEO: Bill Goldstein

Company rating: 4.5

Industry: Federal agencies

Most common job review and average pay: Computer scientist, $157,353 per year

Number of open jobs: 384

What people are saying: “They work with your schedule with their Alternative Work Schedule option. They have a work life balance program with lots to offer including health assessment.” — Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory graphic designer (Livermore, California)

5. Sammons Financial Group

Headquarters: West Des Moines, Iowa

CEO: Esfand Dinshaw

Company rating: 4. 5

Industry: Insurance carrier

Most common job review and average pay: Business director, $123,004 per year

Number of open jobs: 70

What people are saying: “Here at Sammons they encourage employee growth and development and have programs in place that help you aspire to be your best you possible.” — Sammons Financial Group internal wholesaler (Sioux Falls, South Dakota)

4. In-N-Out Burger

Headquarters: Irvine, California

CEO: Lynsi Snyder

Company rating: 4.6

Industry: Fast food and quick-service restaurants

Most common job review and average pay: Store associate, $13 per hour

Number of open jobs: 62

What people are saying: “Very flexible scheduling and understanding supervisors. They put forth a significant effort to advance your skills as an employee and help you climb the ladder. ” — In-N-Out Burger store associate (Orange, California)

3. DocuSign

Headquarters: San Francisco, California

CEO: Daniel Springer

Company rating: 4.6

Industry: Computer hardware and software

Most common job review and average pay: Market development representative, $65,079

Number of open jobs: 327

What people are saying: “They treat their employees fairly, are dedicated to the success of their employees, have great work life balance, and very responsive management.” — DocuSign sales (Seattle, Washington)

2. Bain & Company

Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts

CEO: Manny Maceda

Company rating: 4.6

Industry: Consulting

Most common job review and average pay: Consultant, $184,033 per year

Number of open jobs: 164

What people are saying: “The company truly pays attention to personal growth and development. The supportive atmosphere is unique.” — Bain & Company partner (Palo Alto, California)

1. HubSpot

MIT graduate Brad Coffey is the Director of Strategy and Corporate Development at HubSpot, photographed in Cambridge on Wednesday, September, 14 2011.

Wendy Maeda/The Boston Globe | Boston Globe | Getty Images

Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts

CEO: Brian Halligan

Company rating: 4.6

Industry: Computer hardware and software

Most common job review and average pay: Software engineer, $125,800 per year

Number of open jobs: 170

What people are saying: What people are saying: “HubSpot works hard to create a truly diverse and inclusive work environment where everyone can feel comfortable bringing their true selves to work.” — HubSpot renewals account manager (Cambridge, Massachusetts)

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Don’t miss: The highest-paying low-stress job in the US pays $208,000 a year

Should You Worry About Negative Employee Reviews Online?

Your business reputation can make or break your success. Employee reviews of companies could impact your recruiting efforts. They could influence consumer choices. They can also have trickle-down effects that affect employee retention.

People can research companies online anywhere from small-business social media channels to online negative reviews on Glassdoor. Brands like the Better Business Bureau (BBB) verify complaints to strengthen trust in companies.

Since your past and current employees have an inside look into your operations, you may be wondering how much employee reviews of companies matter. Here’s what to consider and how to handle negative employee reviews of your business.

Where can I find reviews of a company?

Company reviews are popular all over the internet these days. Some jobseeker sites, like Indeed, feature them. Others pop up when someone searches the company on a social media channel like Twitter. Employee reviews may even reside in the comments section of a company’s own website.

Many sites that host employee reviews enable anonymous posting. Glassdoor, for example, has a policy that it won’t share reviewer information with employers or anyone who takes legal action to get the identity of a reviewer. On social media sites, an angry former or current employee could create a fake or burner profile to post anonymously.

Other sites, like the Better Business Bureau, will only post complaints by those who submit them with a real name, address, and phone number. The BBB doesn’t post anonymous complaints, so complaint filers must be willing to share their personal information if they want to file one. The complaint filer’s real first name and last initial appear alongside their review.

If you’re curious about what employees might be saying about your company, some of the most common employee review sites are:

• Better Business Bureau
• CareerBliss
• Comparably
• Glassdoor
• Google Reviews
• Indeed
• Yelp
• Zippia

Some of the sites listed above, like Yelp and Google Reviews, primarily feature customer reviews of a business. But often, they include some employee reviews mixed in, which adds to the importance of checking all reviews of your business regularly.

You can search your company on these sites to see anonymous and non-anonymous reviews. You can also do a search engine query for “employee reviews for [your company]” to see what people are saying online.

Also, it’s a good idea to set up Google Alerts for your company to monitor for news that mentions your brand. Some news pieces may feature quotes from employees, which make news articles an additional potential source of employee reviews about companies.

Why do employees post company reviews?

A 2020 survey of 1,096 American workers who left reviews of their companies found more than half gave their former employer 1 or 2 stars.

There are lots of reasons why past and current employees might leave company reviews. Some include:

• A current employee feels frustrated and wants to vent anonymously to get the company’s attention.
• The company receives media attention, which prompts a current or former employee to share their perspective on what it is/was like to work there.
• An employee who’s let go or fired seeks revenge and posts a truthful or dishonest review of the company.
• An employee’s leaving the company on “good” terms but wants to share their honest experience of the business once they’re leaving.

Most employees who leave reviews post negatively about the company. A 2020 survey of 1,096 American workers who left reviews of their companies found more than half gave their former employer 1 or 2 stars. Nearly 40% left a 1-star review, while only 22% gave an ex-employer 4 or 5 stars. More than 88% of respondents said their review was completely truthful.

The research tells us:

• Ex-employees are more likely to leave a negative review of a company than give one at all.
• The vast majority of your company reviews feature reviewers’ honest perspectives.

It’s important that companies don’t turn a blind eye to reviews or assume they’re untruthful. Employee reviews can help your company improve its culture and retention by making the workplace more equitable and inclusive to all. The truth hurts sometimes, but it can also reveal insights that help you grow.

Why do employee reviews matter?

First off, employee reviews matter because they’re generally rooted in fact. You may not be aware of how your business affects its employees. Reviews can illuminate things you may be missing as an employer or small business. Enlist your HR team or community manager to monitor reviews regularly and prepare reports on notable insights for your leadership team to address.

Employee reviews can also affect your recruiting and hiring efforts. According to a 2021 report by Glassdoor, 86% of employees and job seekers research employee reviews of companies when they’re deciding where to apply for jobs. For top talent that’s in high demand, a single negative review could eliminate your business from that candidate’s consideration.

Beyond employees, consumers may also check out your business reputation online before purchasing from you. An April 2022 report by Google Cloud found that 82% of shoppers prefer that a company’s brand values align with their own. If there’s no match, they don’t purchase from the company. If a consumer is searching for your brand online and they see negative reviews, they might choose your competitor instead.

What about current employees? If one of your workers today reads negative employee reviews that reinforce their own feelings, they may accelerate their job search in preparation to leave your company.

Negative employee reviews can affect everything from recruitment to retention to revenue. Even false reviews could give a bad impression, so it’s important to monitor what’s being said online.

What’s your biggest 2022 HR challenge that you’d like to resolve

Answer to see the results

Simplify benefits administration

Automate payroll

Improve our virtual onboarding experience

Streamline HR processes

Automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks

Any of the above

How do you respond to a negative employee review?

How you respond to negative employee reviews will depend on the review site. Your review management team should familiarize itself with how each employee review site works and the terms and conditions for employer responses. Start with the common sites mentioned above.

Some sites, like Yelp, the BBB, and Google Reviews, will enable employer responses to reviews right on the site. According to 2022 data from ReviewTrackers, 45% of consumers are more likely to visit a business if it responds to negative reviews. Responding to reviews shows you:

• Listen to what reviewers have to say
• Are willing to engage in a conversation to make things right

The research shows review responses can improve customer sentiment. For a current employee who’s considering quitting your company, seeing a response could motivate them to talk to a manager about their issues since you’re open to responding.

When you’re responding to a negative review, keep the response short and sweet. A good formula follows this template:

• Acknowledge the reviewer for their thoughts and opinions.
• Reinforce that you want to make the situation right.
• Ask the reviewer to contact you outside of the review channel for a more detailed discussion. Provide an email address and/or phone number so they can contact you directly.

Resist the urge to defend yourself or accuse the review of lying, even if they are. Your response represents your brand, so keep the tone professional and friendly.

If the review is completely false, research how to contact the website to potentially get it removed. In the meantime, work on attracting more positive employee reviews for your business.

 45% of consumers are more likely to visit a business if it responds to negative reviews.

Negative employer reviews can impact your business

Even when your business does most things right, negative employee reviews of your business are bound to pop up. Some people will get angry and post bad reviews, even if they left your company on good terms.

You can minimize the impact of bad reviews by working to create a positive culture that attracts more positive ones. When you see negative reviews of your company:

• Recognize they may be truthful.
• Respond to the review professionally. Ask to take the conversation off the review site channel to discuss the problem further.
• Contact review sites when the reviewer has lied. Enquire about steps to get it removed.

By being visible on review sites and representing your business positively, you show employees and consumers you’re listening and care about people’s opinions so you can do better. In some cases, a friendly response may be enough to motivate angry reviewers to remove their reviews altogether.

Treat those online like you would in person at your business. A positive, proactive approach can help you improve your online reputation.

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How to recall an employee from vacation

In any company, it may be necessary to recall one of the employees from vacation. The SuperJob lawyer tells how to do it right.

Can an employee be recalled from paid annual leave?
Yes, but only with the employee’s consent. If the employee is already on annual paid leave, then the employer can recall him, but subject to the mandatory consent of the employee (Article 125 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the vacation is interrupted and the employee goes to work on the date agreed with the employer.

How should an employer obtain an employee’s consent?
The Labor Code of the Russian Federation does not establish a procedure for how such consent must be obtained. As a rule, the following algorithm of actions is applied:
1. The employer sends the employee a proposal to withdraw from vacation (in writing by courier, Russian post or, for example, by e-mail) and asks him to agree.
2. The worker receives the offer and either agrees or does not agree to the recall. If the employee does not agree, then the vacation is not interrupted and the employee is on vacation until it ends. If he agrees, he must express his consent in the form of, for example, an electronic message (it is in the interests of the employer to ask the employee to issue consent on paper so that the company can confirm that the entire procedure has been completed correctly).
3. Based on the employee’s consent, the employer will usually issue an order to recall the employee from vacation. The order indicates the date when the employee must start work.

Who cannot be recalled from vacation?
The following may not be recalled from vacation even with their consent:
• pregnant women;
• minor workers;
• workers who work in hazardous or hazardous conditions.

What happens to unused vacation days?
The days not used in connection with the recall of the employee from vacation must be provided at the choice of the employee at a time convenient for him during the current working year or added to the vacation for the next working year. If the employee decides to take off unused vacation days at another time, it is enough for him to submit a corresponding application to the employer. If the employee does not make such an application, then the unused vacation balance will be included in the vacation schedule for the next year.

What happens to the payment for unused vacation days?
There is no direct answer to this question in the law. If the employee leaves the vacation ahead of schedule, then from the first day of work he should be paid wages. But at the same time, the employee has already been paid for those days of vacation that he did not have time to take off (vacation pay was paid). It turns out that the employer will overpay the employee the amount of vacation pay? There are several ways to resolve the issue:
1. Take into account the amount of the overpayment on account of the employee’s salary (it is better to get an application / consent to this from the employee).
2. The employee can voluntarily return the “excess” money to the employer.
3. The amount of the overpayment can be taken into account for future vacation. There are certain risks in this option, since this is not directly provided for by law, and, according to some Rostrud specialists, this cannot be done. However, in practice this option is used. In this case, when the employee leaves for the next vacation, it will be necessary to recalculate the amount of vacation pay, since his average earnings could change. It is possible that the employer will need to pay extra if the amount of vacation pay is more than the “employee’s debt”.

In any case, since this issue is controversial, it is better for the employer to agree on a solution with the employee.

Can an employee voluntarily interrupt a vacation?
An employee cannot interrupt his annual paid leave at his own discretion. This possibility is not provided by law.

The employee has the right to interrupt:
• parental leave – at any time upon application;
• leave without pay – at the request of the employee with the consent of the employer.

Unpaid leave is granted for a period agreed between the employee and the employer. If one vacation duration was initially agreed, and then the employee wanted to change it (extend or interrupt), then this issue must also be agreed with the employer.

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“They took another.” IT specialists tell how companies withdrew their offers – Career on vc.ru

QA engineer wrote an angry post on LinkedIn: the company withdrew the offer that it made to him a week ago, and he already managed to quit his previous job.

20,884
views

Material of the publication dev.by.

dev.by asked his readers if this happened to them and collected 4 cases. Everyone’s story ended well – they found a job. And one even “revenged” the offender – he refused their offer after 4 years.

Case 1: “After a week and a half I started a new job”

In February 2020, I decided to change my job and actively attended interviews. After 10 interviews, I received 6 offers – and accepted the offer from iTechArt.

I was supposed to go to work on April 1, but suddenly 4 days later the manager called and said: “We are withdrawing the offer.” He didn’t give a specific reason, he said something about the coronavirus pandemic, the risks … The situation was extremely unpleasant for me, because I had already quit my previous job. Plus, we just moved into an apartment that we bought on credit, and all our reserves went to the arrangement of new housing.

As a result, I called other companies that put me offers, but somewhere the position was already closed, and somewhere it was irrelevant – also because of the pandemic. And I started all over again – I began to go to interviews, and after a week and a half I got a new job at the IBA. True, with a lower offer at the start – somewhere around 300 USD. e. (I was then middle).

Case 2: “The offer was rejected. This was not a planned revenge on my part. ”

— In 2014, I was interviewing at EPAM for the position of a junior .Net developer — and right during the interview I received a job offer. Eichar then said: we will send you an offer by mail, but this is a formality.

At that time I was living in another city and started looking for an apartment in Minsk. I almost found it, there was a week left before the agreed release date – but there was still no letter. Then I called the HR, and heard in response that they took another candidate – with knowledge of English. It was very embarrassing!

I did not give up, I gathered myself and began to search. And as a result, I received as many as two offers: first from a government agency that was developing its product, a little later – from a small outsourcing company, whose name I don’t even remember. In terms of price, the proposals were almost equivalent – $ 600 on average, in a state-owned company a little more, I chose this option. Why – followed the advice of relatives: I was 19and I already “burned myself” with an offer from one company, and they said that the state office is at least some kind of “security” and blah blah blah in the same vein.

After 4 years, I again interviewed at EPAM – for the position of senior. Offer rejected. It was not a planned revenge on my part – there were simply more proposals, more interesting ones. But the story is instructive: an HR brand is not merchandise and corporate events, but, above all, the work of the HRs themselves.

Case 3: “It turned out that because of ***** (“special operation” – vc.ru), the company hires only Lithuanians”

In February I was looking for a job as a product owner in Vilnius. I found a good vacancy at Telia, passed a screening with an HR manager and an interview with a hiring manager – and in April I received an offer, which I accepted. At the old job, she announced her resignation – and they were ready to let me go almost a week later.

Meanwhile, Telia initiated a background check, and a few days later I found out that I had not passed it. After lengthy proceedings, it turned out that under the new circumstances (that is, because of ***** ( “special operations” – vc. ru ) Telia hires only Lithuanians. My offer was withdrawn.

I didn’t want to return to my old job. I began to look for something else – and found a job in a Belarusian company that moved to Lithuania. I didn’t lose money, on the contrary, I even began to receive more, but the withdrawal of the offer cost me nerves and career prospects, since I wanted to work as a product owner, but eventually found a job as a business analyst.

Case 4: “I was lucky that I was treated with understanding, and the vacancy itself was not closed”

I was planning to move to Poland and was looking for a job as a tech lead in this country, at the beginning of the summer I received several offers. As a result, I chose a small outsourcing company – they really wanted me to opt for them: they promised mountains of gold – super-duper conditions, baited with everything they could.

And now two weeks have passed, during this time I initiated a dismissal, refused other offers, planned a move to Poland, and then suddenly on Sunday evening I got a call.