Here at WPB we have had a lot of conversations recently about how companies attract, hire and, in particular, retain people. Only last month, at our Multi-Generational conference, we heard that youth will often broadcast their views of a company to everyone they know, especially if they are unhappy! Given Facebook's reach, that insight can go international! So, it was with great interest I checked out this website when it crossed my desk yesterday - www.ratemyemployer.ca.

Employers increasingly are going online to check out prospective employees and sometimes don't hire people for what they find there. We've all heard the stories of party photos or inappropriate comments ruining someone's job prospects. Well this site seemed to put the shoe on the other foot and the web site's slogan sums its goal up best - "Who said background checks and Pre-Employment Screenings should be reserved for employers only?" Well that was enough of a twist to pique my interest and so, in the interest of research of course, I checked it out to see what sort of feedback was rolling around and was it similar to what we've been hearing, particularly among younger workers.

Although this site does have people posting to it who had unrealistic expectations of the work they were doing, many appeared to have identified real issues in their workplaces.

One of the positives I see here is that many of these issues are correctable. Posters appear to have legitimate concerns around shifting company values, lack of management skills to effectively motivate people, their own lack of autonomy and compensation packages that rarely reward those who work hardest and/or perform best.

In most cases, employees wanted to be knowledgeable about, and feel connected to, their company. They wanted to feel proud to be working there and be given the responsibility to do a good job. In return, they wanted to be fairly compensated for the work done and enjoy the gains made by their employer.

I think you'll find it interesting to take a peek at some of these posts. There may even be reviews submitted on your own organization. Could your employees be telling the world how wonderful you are or to stay well away?

If you have any comments or thoughts you'd like to share, do not hesitate to contact me at carol@workforceplanningboard.com