Raw, real and powerful: User-generated content, ready to go.

‘Your brand name is only as good as your reputation.’ – Richard Branson

When it comes to attracting talent, reputation matters. 

At least 75 per cent of people will research your organisation online before they decide to apply for a job.

Employee reviews are an increasingly important aspect of your talent brand. An example of user-generated content (UGC), reviews are social proof of what it’s like to work with your organisation and can be a powerful element of your reputation.

There are 54,500 Australian employers listed on Glassdoor. Only 41 per cent are rated 4 stars or above. The average rating on SEEK reviews in Australia is 3.5 stars.

Only 51 per cent of NFP employers have online employee reviews.

Many of these reviews are not recent, only one in three organisations have reviews written in the last 12 months.

This is one of the key findings from our review of the state of talent attraction and employer branding in the Australian NFP sector.

Between November 2023 and March 2024, Heart Talent reviewed the employer brand presence of more than 200 not for profit organisations across Australia. We looked at all aspects of organisations’ external-facing talent brand including careers page, job advertising, employee reviews and social media presence. 

In this article, we’ll share our findings about a powerful and little-used form of user-generated content (UGC): employee reviews.

Our findings highlight a significant missed opportunity for NFP employers.

Half of NFP organisations have little or no social proof of their employee experience on prominent online review sites. 

Even if an organisation has a wonderfully positive employee experience and culture, would-be employees can’t read about it. 

30 per cent of NFP employers with online reviews have an average 4 and 5 star rating.

Photo by Afif Ramdhasuma on Unsplash

While this finding is encouraging, very few organisations actively leverage this in employee stories and through employee advocacy. 

Most NFP employers are missing out on the opportunity to leverage positive sentiment and employee voices to promote their organisation as a great place to work.

Overall, Australian NFP employers have an average 1.8 star rating.

While there may be room for improvement in employee experience, the greater opportunity is in undertaking employee listening research and engagement activities to understand how employees feel so the employer can leverage this positive sentiment in talent attraction.  

Armed with real qualitative data, NFP employers can amplify employee voices and stories to promote their employer brand. 

‘Between employee reviews and great/best places to work listings, there’s no hiding from people power and social proof. The trouble is, in many organisations the mindset and approach hasn’t caught up with the new reality of this dynamic’. - Cynthia

Want to read more about the modern work landscape, common talent trends and new approaches for the era of talent? Check out Heart Talent’s NFP Talent Attraction Report.

Read more about the state of talent attraction in the NFP sector including the limitations of job advertising in this free download.

For a confidential chat about your talent strategy and how to attract the right talent to your team, get in touch with Cynthia Harris.