How to Respond to Negative Employee Reviews (And Make Them Work For You)

A thoughtful reply shows future candidates, current employees and even customers that you care, take feedback seriously, and are committed to improvement.

Here are a few proven tips to improve your replies to negative employee reviews based on research from my award-winning book, The Review Cycle.

✅ Do: Craft your reply for other job seekers

When you respond to a review, the reviewer is not your target audience. It's everyone else who sees it. Your goal is to positively influence other job seekers to apply, other employees to know you care, and customers to know you foster a positive culture. Have a showcase mindset when you respond to reviews by being kind, courteous and helpful in your tone while also providing additional info that may be helpful to other readers as needed.

✅ Do: Respond Promptly

Reply within a few days. The timing of your reply shows you're paying attention and that feedback doesn’t disappear into a void. Realize that employee reviews are not as time sensitive as a comment on a social media post or a customer service ticket, but replying within a few days consistently to all reviews showcases care for your team members.

✅ Do: Acknowledge the Issue

When a concern is not directly acknowledged, it may be perceived that you are passively agreeing with it. Directly address concerns with a passive, journalistic tone. Never make the reviewer look like the bad guy, but share truthful info that would help other readers get the right info about the topic.

If a negative review includes a list of grievances, pick one or two to address head on, then close with an invite for them to contact you directly to continue the conversation.

✅ Do: Include a Contact on Every Reply

Including the same email or phone number throughout all your review replies showcases care for employees and process consistency. Plus, a job seeker may contact you and lead to a great hire.

❌ Don’t: Sign replies with your name

When individual leaders are signing employee review replies, it may feel more personal, but there are two significant drawbacks:

1. You're introducing comparisons. A job seeker browsing all reviews and company replies may feel that replies from one leader is worse than a reply signed from another leader. Also an employee may feel the person that replied may or may not be the right person to handle the review.
2. The employer brand loses goodwill since we are showcasing care from individual leaders with replies.

It is better to consistently sign all replies from "[COMPANY NAME, Employee Experience Team]" or something similar to showcase consistency. This also showcases that your company prioritizes resources for employee happiness, which doesn't get communicated in the same way when a review is signed from an individual leader.

❌ Don’t: Reply to all reviews

Replying to all employee reviews is like being the helicopter parent at a teenager party. You're too involved. Employee reviews function as a form of social media where the community is influencing the community. Let that influence stand, but show up when it matters. Instead, follow my 3QPD Rule (Pronounced “3 cupid”) from The Review Cycle

Respond to ALL         3-star or lower reviews
Respond to ALL         Questions in reviews
Respond to SOME      Positives
                                          Dispersed

❌ Don’t: Try to Identify the Reviewer

Even if you believe you know exactly who wrote an employee review, never list an employee name in a review reply as it is against the terms of service on most employer review sites like Glassdoor.

Never confront an employee who you think may have written a negative review. Whether you are right or wrong, this is never a good look for employee morale.

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