There are many tools out there to help to increase efficiency in a corporate recruiting department, but kick-ass employee referral programs are definitely at the top of my list. Prior to joining entreQuest, I worked as a corporate recruiter for a company that had a very effective program, but after attending LinkedIn’s Talent Connect Conference in October 2014, I learned even more about how you can more effectively use the power of a referral program.
For those of you who don’t have much knowledge on employee referral statistics, they are crazy awesome (See - this, and this, and this one too). Study after study shows how employee referrals are hands-down the BEST source of hires. The number of days a position sits vacant decreases, the quality of the hire increases, the tenure of that employee increases, and more. It’s a no brainer. But outside of statistics, there is an intangible factor that cannot be replicated: the trust that exists between your employee and that member of their network. The referral has an opportunity to have a behind-the-scenes perspective of someone who is successful at the company. Plus, that degree of separation can be a source of comfort that will ultimately help your prospective employee take the plunge and join your company.
To take the first step to launching a successful employee referral program, you want to create a corporate culture that encourages your employees to act as true brand ambassadors of your organization – so much so that they want to run to everyone in their personal networks to tell them just how awesome their work world is! High-performers likely have other high-performers in their networks that could be impactful to your organization. So, create a culture that boosts the value you place on your employees by creating a formal employee referral process. That way, your corporate recruiters or recruiting partners aren’t the only members of your company’s recruitment team.
Here are some tactical tools to help get you started:
• Use a tool that is trackable for both the recruiting team and the employee. Keep your employees informed as their referral goes through the consideration process.
• Create desirable incentives for your employees to encourage referral bonuses, especially for hard-to-fill positions. Whether it’s a cash bonus, a piece of company swag, or a quarterly happy hour for the employee who referred the new employee; the options are endless to show gratitude towards your people who opened up their networks for the sake of your company.
• Introduce your company’s employee referral program during the onboarding process. Your employees are your talent ambassadors from day one. Share how they can contribute.
•Broaden the pool of participants in your referral process (i.e. partners, vendors, company alumni).
• Identify a strategy for non-qualified referrals. Let’s face it – every referral isn’t a quality referral. It will be a challenge for your recruiting team or recruiting partners to put every referral through the interview process. So set a precedent and stick to it.
These few examples will help you create a sustainable and effective employee referral program. You can’t afford to not have one.
