Forgot to share my November Column over at Workforce.com on Glassdoor.  Here's a taste, get the whole column here:

"Sites dealing in company reputation (the best example is Glassdoor) represent the next macro-trend that will change how you recruit and attract candidates. Company reputation providers like Glassdoor and Vault.com have a simple strategy: They are looking to aggregate candidate eyeballs by offering employees a place to go to rate the companies they work for.

If Glassdoor, for instance, can drive enough of that traffic to its site, it’ll be able to sell you the traditional products you recognize (job postings) as well as some new offerings designed to help you manage your brand (Think microsites with video, pictures and other items designed to help you tell candidates you aren’t evil. In fact, you’re actually OK.).

Indeed went after aggregation and the SEO/Google factor. LinkedIn went after the candidate database. Glassdoor is going after what I’ll call the “Yelp factor.” 

The Yelp factor is pretty simple. In today’s digital world, your employees are leading their lives as consumers as part of a review economy. Sites like Yelp, Amazon.com and TripAdvisor have made it normal for average consumers to rate their eating, sleeping and shopping experiences.

The Yelp factor has been undeniably accelerated by the mobile revolution. Company reputation sites have been around for a while and mostly pushed to the side by HR leaders. That’s changing since employees now view rating things as acceptable, normal and even expected.

Before the Yelp factor came into play, Glassdoor was offering jaded employees a place to rant anonymously about how poorly a company treated them. HR pros didn’t get it and didn’t trust it, perhaps rightfully so.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the public flogging. The Yelp factor has actually normalized the gripe volume. Because your good employees have experience with reviews, too, they’re as likely to participate in sites like Glassdoor. But you might have to ask them, and of course that means you have to engage.

Other notable shifts are taking place related to the company reputation segment that is notable. Do a search for your company online; odds are you’ll find a Glassdoor search result, right under the expected Indeed SEO dominance. More anecdotal evidence from multiple companies I work with suggests ads placed on Glassdoor via tools like the Google Ad Display Network perform at high levels.

Translation: Glassdoor is growing up, candidates are using it and smart HR/recruiting leaders are starting to experiment with diverting spend in that direction."

How much spend and attention is what you need to figure out. Go get the whole column here.