ajeleonard

Exactly like Trip Advisor then. Model is basically make yourself the gateway for public perception of your product (be it hotel, recruitment or whatever else) and then monetise manipulation of that perception.

elitetraveler

At the same time, how would that impact BA and AC's rating compared to the slew of other airlines being rated in the same way?

HIDDY

Not so sure you can read too much into these reviews.

BA have been in a period of restructuring which is bound to have cheesed off a lot of employees. And anyway....I see nothing to stop anyone from posting a review so what makes you think you have to be a current or ex BA employee?

lost_in_translation

Of course, why didn't I think of that, the explanation for BA's much lower rating than other legacy carriers is a systematic campaign against BA, and only BA, by non-BA employees on Glassdoor to reduce BA's rating!

The restructuring point is fair enough but even if you accept it needed to happen, it doesn't mean it couldn't have been handled better to not have such a major impact on employee morale.

NWIFlyer

I'd say for my own company I find the reviews unerringly accurate. That being so, why should I believe it would be any different for BA?

In any case, what motivation would a large group of people possibly have to castigate BA on the site? It won't affect their financial results, it won't stop people travelling with them - all it'll do is warn prospective employees that perhaps their talents might be better recognised and nurtured elsewhere because the brand image does not necessarily represent the actuality.

The likelihood of the majority of the postings being false is pretty small given the circumstances and our own knowledge, I'd say. Unless, of course, you can produce firm evidence to the contrary, HIDDY?

subject2load

As others have commented upthread, nobody could reasonably regard it as some sort of definitive benchmark ; and nor is it portrayed as such.

I think it's the chasm, of Grand Canyon-like proportions, between the BA stats and those of other large carriers that tell a story.

WRT comparison of the rating system with Trip Advisor ......if most hotels in a town happen to get review ratings of say, four or five stars and just one gets say, two stars : well, I suspect people might take a negative view of the odd one out.

elitetraveler

I would agree if it was just BA -- but UA, AA, DL have all gone through restructurings, plus AA/UA still have issues with its different labor groups - AF and LH definitely have issues with employee groups. Per some here, QR abuses its employees.

How do you account for that BA/AC rates lower to so many other airlines?

Why would BA be targeted for negativity in a way other airlines aren't/haven't?

Interestingly, if you read the reviews - many of the things we hear here from current employees --

- that they feel management doesn't value them
- would like to replace them with lower priced workers -
- also that there the relish for cutting costs often makes it hard to deliver service
- that management doesn't fully measure the impact of the cuts.
- lots of managers who don't have power to fix things
- senior management doesn't listen to feedback

I could only find one CEO with lower ratings than Cruz - the CEO of Radio Shack.

HIDDY

I was just questioning the impression given that you had to be a current or an ex BA employee to post a review on the site.

Now for some positive review news. BA have a better rating than AA on Tripadvisor.

Ancient Observer

For very small companies, these sorts of reviews might not be balanced, although they do offer insights in to what some staff or ex-staff are thinking.
For larger companies, these sorts of reviews tend to be reasonably valid. However, some caution is required. For instance, Pharms is a high margin business, and last time I looked at glass door, many of the pharms businesses were well regarded. So is the high regard from them being a great company to work for, or is it because there is plenty of money there to chuck at employees?
Aviation is increasingly a lower margin business than it used to be. However, that is no excuse for BA compared to its competition, and perhaps its reputation is being Cruzified due to the way its people are treated.

FlyerTalker688786

I think your post is very balanced and with some fresh ideas. Thank you.

Oxon Flyer

So, the rankings are based on solely on contributions from those agitators who feel strongly enough to seek out the site. Off those, 70%-80% do so to give BA a good kicking, and the rest blindly defend the company at all costs.

Sounds familiar, eh ?

elitetraveler

Actually, in reading a bunch of the reviews I didn't see much "blind defense." Favorable ratings were more based on liking the nature of working in the aviation business, being in contact with customers on a daily basis, pride in working for BA (tempered with concern about the current state of the company).

It would be interesting to see how the reviews were say 3 years ago under Keith Williams -- I tried to go back and find some saved pages but couldn't find any.

We can clearly see BA/AC performs poorly compared to other airlines - it would be interesting to see how the ratings for KW were, etc.

Maybe somebody here knows a way?

JAXBA

Quote:

Originally Posted by HIDDY

Not so sure you can read too much into these reviews.

BA have been in a period of restructuring which is bound to have cheesed off a lot of employees. And anyway....I see nothing to stop anyone from posting a review so what makes you think you have to be a current or ex BA employee?

There's restructuring to make things better and then there's restructuring just to rearrange the deckchairs. There's also how restructuring is handled, and BA is very, very bad at handling employee relations. Morale is awful, and has been for years...

Yes, I'm a former employee. No, I haven't written a review on that site. Yes, I still love BA and I still desperately want to work for them. Yes, they are awful to work for. Yes, that doesn't make sense. Stockholm syndrome?

Ancient Observer

After rather a lot of Research, Gallup produced some great insights in to employers. If you are interested, read Marcus Buckingham, or get hold of some of his presentations.
One rule is fascinating. People join organisations. People leave Managers. Your immediate manager is the biggest influence on your view of the company.
So if the manager is stuffed by the Company, you will be too.
If you don't like the manager, and don't like the CEO, the Company has a big problem.

Ancient Observer

Jaxba,
There isn't a like function on here. (that I can find)
Consider your post "Liked".
AO