culture-branding
Are employee referral programs the most effective way to recruit?
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
How do you identify favourable traits in candidates? How do you identify those skills or characteristics that set a candidate apart? Employee referral programs could help.
In all likelihood, this happens at the interview stage where you potentially spend only 20 or 30 minutes with a candidate. How likely is it that you'll glean that from a few meagre moments? Considering the alternatives, who would be able to offer that insight to you – their friends, acquaintances, their former colleagues. Referrals from your employees are an ideal way to source candidates.
The smallest number of applications, but the greatest number of hires come from internal referrals
Employee referral programs are among the most efficient, cost effective and successful methods of sourcing and hiring candidates. The smallest number of applications, but the greatest number of hires come from internal referrals. Employee referral software have proven particularly effective for recruiting for sales and marketing, both essential to growth. They can improve employee retention and achieve diversity, with much fewer resource requirements for your HR department. It's a no-brainer really – internal referrals are better for recruiter and candidate.
Engaging your employees to contribute to referrals, as part of a recruiting campaign, requires structure and planning. It does not need to be a large-scale costly program, like multinational referral programs. It just needs to encourage and engage employees. Here's are a few keys steps to implement in your referrals program:
Who to take referrals from?
Do you want to take referrals from non-employees or former employees? Do you want to take referrals from employees in unrelated departments? A broader network to utilise can potentially scale up your referrals program. Social media sourcing is another cost-effective and innovative way of entering your employees’ online network. Your colleagues and employees can act as brand ambassadors, fostering a positive view of your organisation, as well as giving an indication of what you're all about.
Financial reward isn't your only option in this case. 80% of companies use non-financial rewards, instead opting for public acknowledgement or additional holiday time. Charitable donations are also popular in lieu of cash rewards. You need to encourage employee referral programs to avoid dips in participation. Keeping awareness up through email reminders is one simple way of ensuring this. Gamification or competition are also great ways of maintaining interest.
Just as it is with applicants to job postings, if the process is complicated or unclear, they are likely to abandon the application before completion
The process should be simple, so as to encourage employees. Just as it is with applicants to job postings, if the process is complicated or unclear, they are likely to abandon the application before completion. Use recruiting software here, in fact, HireHive has a feature to track employee referrals. Offer employees feedback to keep up interest. This way, you can track prolific and successful referrers.
Referrals can make your job a lot easier. With fewer, high-quality applicants to go through, you can get to interviewing and hiring much quicker. Nobody knows your culture and requirements better than your colleagues, so embrace employee participation. By keeping the process simple and rewarding employee participation, implementing a referrals program can be pretty easy.
“HireHive makes the team a lot more productive. We’d be lost without it. Team Leaders can do it all themselves if needed or jump in at the right time and know exactly where everything is and what’s happening.”
Hilary Dempsey Head of HR at Life Credit union
