BY JONAH NWOKPOKU

Recently, online job portal, Careers24 introduced an online solution, a feedback mechanism that provides unfettered access to employees to rate their employers. Called the Company Review, the new solution democratises employer performance assessment, thereby providing a two way seamless communication pathway for both the employee and the employer to make informed decisions.

Head of Marketing, Careers24, Temitope Niyi, told Vanguard that “As a feature on the careers24 website, the Company Review provides an opportunity for employees to give completely anonymous feedback to their former or current employers.” “The platform also provides potential employees or candidates with reliable information and gives them valuable insights while researching potential employers,” he added.

How it works

To review a company, all a potential reviewer has to do is visit the website and click on Companies. One can pick either Company Reviews or Company Directory. Next, you search for the company you would like to review and then click on Add review and follow the step-by-step guide. A reviewer can review former employers or current employers.

Already, the platform boasts about 5,000 registered companies which are available for review with over 500 reviews for different companies. Companies such as Guinness Nigeria Plc, Unity Bank Plc and Nigerian Bottling Company Plc have already garnered several reviews based on information given by their employees.

Solution to drive competition among employers

Speaking on the solution, Careers24’s Business Development Manager, Adegbite Oreoluwa, said that the most significant role the solution will play in the job market will be driving healthy competition, especially for quality talents among employers.

He said: “Employers will have to review their management of talents and ensure they create a lively, work environment. This will also make employers competitive in their hire and management of talent. Let me use this analogy. Lets say we have two companies in the same sector competing for the same talent. Let’s call them company A and company B. Company A has received 80 per cent positive reviews and Company B has received 80% negative reviews.

Automatically Company A would gain more candidates for hire than company B. Company B might even lose quality staff to Company A. You will discover that over time, because of the negative reviews received by Company B from careers24; it would begin to work on their overall relationship with their employees to ensure they receive positive reviews and improve their chances of hiring the best available talents.”

According Oreoluwa, “Job candidates in Nigeria have never been in a better position to research potential employers, and employees have never been more empowered to spill it all when it comes to reviewing their current workplace. This feedback will ultimately affect the future of recruitment and business growth.”

Improving quality of business services

On her part, Head of Client Relations and Business Services, Careers24, Francesca Oghide said: “Company Review is the voice of employees and it provides employers with insight into areas of employee’s dissatisfaction, which can be treated urgently to make current employees happy and to attract the right potential employees. I strongly believe Company Review is a right step to redefining the way employers handles employee relationship in Nigeria.”

She added: “From the candidates’ perspective, it is no longer about finding the right job but also about looking for the right company. This is why Careers24 has created a place where you can find and share honest and trusted information about companies/organisations in Nigeria, written anonymously by current and previous employees of these companies.

When I talk with Human Resources managers, they talk consistently about employee retention issues. Therefore feedback is very important; companies can make informed decisions from the reviews gotten to reposition their organisation. If your employees love their work and the environment you have created, they will treat your customers better, innovate, and continuously improve your business instead of looking for the next available job opportunity.”