Tag Archives: Employee Referral Programs

You had me at “Thank You”: Intrinsically engaging employees for Strong Employee Referrals

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What is the easiest way to make your employees happy, after long hours of work they have just put in to help you recruit the best talents that they know of? It is this questions that bogs many companies to have success with their employee referral program. Creating a vibrate recruitment culture with employees fully aware and engaged with your program is more than just a $10,000 reward (and yes, we have seen dozens of companies give $10,000). Truth is, sometimes a simple “thanks” may be a sufficient, or in other cases, a fantastic experiential reward, such as a vacation. We have seen Careerify customers give a car, which can show you how serious some companies strive for building a strong recruitment culture with the necessary engagement.

 

The human psychology is naturally motivated by some level of reward or incentive. It is essential to review the various reward options you can provide your employees to further increase the rate of referrals without sacrificing the quality.

Irrespective of the size, geography, or type of your organization, it is imperative to reward and recognize your employees for their effort.

Let’s take a look at the two main types of engagements:

1. Intrinsic Engagement:

An absolute must when creating an optimized employee referral program. From best-selling author Daniel Pink of Drive to studies completed by MIT, research has indicated that intrinsic rewards are an excellent way to motivate employees to complete tasks through autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

2. Extrinsic Engagement:

A vital aspect that some of the most successful companies have created thus far. Extrinsic motivation can be in the form of different compensation such as points, dollars, perks, vacation days, or even promotions. We will look at different types of extrinsic engagement in the next blog.

Let’s briefly look at a few types of intrinsic engagement you can incorporate within your employee referral program. For a more detailed analysis, along with ways to further optimize your program, we encourage you to download this eBook on 15 Employee Referral Must Haves.

Recognition.

Recognition is a powerful feedback mechanism that many employees strive for. It can be a simple “thank you” for a referral from a recruiter. It has the influence to encourage an employee to think of who else within their networks may be great candidates for the corporation to hire. Optimized ERP’s often provide recognition throughout the interview process.

How do you incorporate recognition with the interview process you may ask? Here are a few tips:

  • Submission of a Candidate:

Once a candidate has applied for a position through an employee referral, it is strongly recommended to recognize the employee with a “thank you” in a timely manner. Reinforcing acknowledgement of the employees’ referral indicates to the employees that their referrals are valued by the organization. This also stimulates the employees to be more involved in the hiring process, creating deeper engagement.

  • Offer Stage:

After researching and assessing hundreds of companies, the few that have attained 50%+ of their hires through referrals often initiate recognition once an offer had been made to the candidate. Sometimes interviews are drawn out in a lengthy process. The employee can be an influential person within the offer stage, as he/she ultimately has a stronger relationship to persuade the candidate to accept the opportunity over potential competitive offers. By ensuring that the employee is involved in securing the hire, the employee will likely have greater fulfillment.

 

  • Hiring Stage:

Once the hire has taken place, recognizing the employee is an absolute must to ensure he/she participates in future recruiting opportunities. A form of recognition can be a simple “thank you” card from the hiring manager and recruiter, or a publicized recognition at town hall meetings. Two companies that we had studied recognize their employees by sending a monthly newsletter which includes exceptional performers who have helped with recruitment via the referral program.

It is important for HR staff to note that they must obtain permission from employees prior to providing public recognition. Though the majority of employees may yearn for public praise amongst their peers, some employees may shy away from this extra attention. It is important for HR staff to manage this process in order to ensure that employees are comfortable with any public recognition.

How do you engage employees intrinsically? We would love to hear your comments and suggestions.

How to Make Your Staff Happier: Employee Referral Programs

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Ever wonder why your employees complain about being stuck working with people they can’t seem to get along with? Work has become so stressful that it gives you headache in the morning, after waking up from a delightful dream about your boss awarding you a 4-week vacation. There is an easy solution to this: Employee Referral Programs (ERPs).

Referring qualified friends, colleagues or even family can create an excellent source of prospective candidates. Employee referral programs are essentially used by organizations to hire great talent while reducing acquisition time and cost, yet prolonging the duration of employment. In short: employees work with great, trusted talent, the company saves money up front through the recruiting process, and likely increases the return from the specific employee. For full analysis on Employee Referral and its benefits, have a look at the following E-Book: 5 Employee Referral Must Haves.

The Solution: Referrals

Employee Referrals are recommendations given by employee to their managers and HR regarding potential candidates. They can be provided by employees, and management, in addition to external stakeholders such as partners, customers, and friends/family.

 

Referrals are invaluable; they not only provide critical information but they are powerful because they are created from credible trusted sources. This also alleviates us the pressure of hiring external professionals to find us adequate personnel. Employee referral programs are used to obtain useful information from our employees’ network that will be of use to the organization, further reducing costs, turnover rates and lengthy searches for qualified candidates.

In this blog post, let’s discuss two of the benefits of Employee Referral Programs.

1. Grade-A-Talent Knows Other Grade-A-Talents

Step back and take a look at your network from afar. For many, most of our network is comprised of family, friends that we grew up together as a child, those we met along the way at schools, and finally worked with over the years. Each sociological group, has similar characteristics. As an example, those who tend to go to Harvard are considered to be “intelligent”. High-school jocks are considered to be “competitive” and geographic areas are now categorized. On a granular level, people associate themselves with others who have similar interests and traits. It is therefore safe to assume that similar qualities you admire in your employees may exist in others that they know.  If a particular job, or company culture requires a specific trait, chances are your employees would be quick to identify those in their “social” groups that can help. Your Grade A Talent will know others, and it is imperative for you and your organization to foster a strong recruitment culture.

As baby boomers continue to retire, there is an impending shortage of talents in every industry. It has gotten more difficult for corporate recruiters to go through pools of applicants to pick out the right talent. The best and simplest way to find suitable candidates is through a combination of building a recruitment culture internally via the employee referral program because it creates employee engagement while simultaneously efficiently and effectively finding adequate talent. More on this in upcoming blogs.

2. Lower Cost for Hire

Employee referral programs can lower your cost per hire. A robust ERP can potentially save your organization thousands of dollars a month, allowing for budgets to be re-allocated to other departments that need them. According to a study of Lincoln Financial Group, whose employee referral program accounts for 55 percent of all external hires, the company boasts a much lower staffing cost ratio of 10.9 cents per dollar. This confirms that referrals do in fact, reduce the cost of hiring employees.

An ERP spin off effect is internal mobility. As employees begin to understand what type of candidate would thrive within their business environment, they are more inclined to express interests in the open positions that are being offered in their companies. This cuts down the costs for hiring tremendously, since the company directly “re-hires” the employee, drastically reducing onboarding and training costs.

Employee Referral Programs should be the cornerstone of every organization striving for a strong culture because since fosters employee engagement and increases workplace culture. This critical component in building a recruitment culture will become the new BFF for those in HR.