Dear Glassdoor, Please Stop With the Smoke and Mirrors



Jeff Graham


Glassdoor is a brilliant site that allows current and former employees to post anonymous reviews about their employer. The site is based on transparency and honesty from its member base... which is why their list of 25 “Top Companies for Culture & Values” is so disappointing.

It’s disappointing, because Glassdoor excluded LinkedIn from their list - the company that consistently gets the best rankings from employees. Don’t believe me? See for yourself here.

LinkedIn is Seen by Glassdoor as a Competitor

Based purely on user reviews and scores in Glassdoor, LinkedIn (4.6 out of 5) absolutely belongs on their Top 25 list. Twitter (4.5), Facebook (4.3) and Google (4.4) all made the list with lower overall scores, and a cursory glance of user reviews points toward a stronger work culture and values at LinkedIn than the other social networks.

In fact, compared with other large companies on Glassdoor, LinkedIn’s overall score of 4.6 out of 5 puts it in a league of its own. So here’s the thing I’m shaking my head at: the website that asks its users to go out on a limb to be honest and transparent seems to want to hide the fact that their major competitor is awesome.


Please Don’t Tell Me Users Made this Call

Here’s what Glassdoor said about how they came to decide on their Top 25 list:

Glassdoor has announced its report of the Top 25 Companies for Culture & Values, based on workplace insights shared by the people who know companies best — the employees.

So you’re saying that “based on workplace insights” you excluded LinkedIn from your list? No… you excluded LinkedIn because you thought it would be bad for business.

Is Giving Your Competitor Props Bad for Business? No... Undermining User Trust Is

I have much less trust in Glassdoor.com now because of this list. On the other hand, if LinkedIn had been included in the Top 25 list, I would have considered it to be a classy move to acknowledge a competitor when it’s due.

Bill Gates has famously acknowledged Steve Jobs’ sense of design, despite a fierce rivalry between Microsoft and Apple. Glassdoor missed a big opportunity to acknowledge the merits of their biggest competitor in a similar way.