Every company will or has received negative online reviews during its operations. It is nearly inevitable that some customers will be dissatisfied with the attention or services they receive. There are numerous ways to tackle negative online reviews; however, what happens when the criticism of your company comes from an employee or former employee? It is truly a tough time for the company because the negative worker reviews can hurt your excellent business reputation to a large extent.

It is obvious that an online company’s reputation is vital when it comes to customer loyalty, recruiting, and maintaining top talent. But lots of companies still do not possess a plan for online reputation management, which refers to the practice of trying to shape public perception of an organization or person by manipulating online information regarding that entity. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on ways to handle negative feedback from former employees and the reason to consider Status Labs.

First, the company needs to establish an online reputation management policy. The reason is that to respond to negative company feedback from former employees, the company must have a plan in place. It should include a policy that provides guidelines for responding to negative employee reviews or at least addressing the situation in conformity with its general social media policy. That way, while you are dealing with the negative reviews in the heat of the moment, you will be less likely to let your emotions get involved. Therefore, the plan in place should entail who will respond to the criticisms, whether it is someone from management, human resources, or a customer service representative.

Secondly, the company needs to investigate the issues carefully before making any response, since it is significant to know what and who you are dealing with regarding the negative online feedback. If the criticism raises issues that you were unaware of, examine the complaint before composing a response. All of this is done to ensure that the crafted reply will sound informed and concerned to remain in control of the circumstances and discuss your action and solution plan.

The third and most important step of handling negative feedback from former employees is to consider hiring a professional online reputation management company like Status Labs. It is a leading reputation management and SEO company that owns offices in New York, Austin, Los Angeles, São Paulo, and London. It serves clients in more than 40 nations. Status Labs has first-hand information on dealing with such a mess that can be vital to your company’s situation.

The company is involved in such duties as implementing SEO strategies, encouraging positive feedback, writing blog posts, answering complaints, interpreting feedback, and asking negative information to be taken down on behalf of the company. Status Labs mostly concerns itself with crisis communications, media relations, and content creation. Thus, customers should expect a significant improvement in their company’s reputation.