Let us face it — no company likes employees resigning after a short period. This scenario leads to a halt in the workflow, thereby disrupting productivity.
So, what is the solution? While you can use recruitment tools like Bayt CV Search, other strategies are worth exploring.
A worthy strategy to hire the perfect talent is the ‘employee referral program’. An employee referral program includes the current staff to find new employees.
Companies offer employee incentives to benefit from such a strategy. The result?
Recruiters do not face the burden of sourcing and hiring new talent from scratch. Also, employees hired through referral programs prove to be a perfect fit for the workplace.
This article walks through the steps employers can use to build a robust employee referral program.
The first step to building an employee referral program is transparent and straightforward discussion. You need to lay down vital points like:
Concisely discuss all these points with the company management. Also, give an idea to the employees about such a program.
This step builds trust and leads to the smooth implementation of an employee referral program.
What did you do during the company’s initial hiring days?
Some recruiters might have explored numerous job applications. On the other hand, some might have used smart recruitment solutions to screen candidates faster.
Irrespective of your sourcing strategy, one thing was common — clear job descriptions. Now that you have a team of loyal employees, it is time to display the company’s needs.
Before asking your employees to refer their connection, explain the job requirements. Consequently, your employees can suggest the best candidate, saving crucial time and resources.
Let us consider that an employee has referred a suitable candidate. What happens next?
The employee has obvious doubts about their referral. Generally, these queries are common amongst employees:
To build a successful employee referral program, it is crucial to communicate. Inform your current employee about the status of their referral.
This way, your employee will stay up-to-date. Eventually, you can get more referrals from the same employee as per requirement.
An employee referral program is meant to save time. Generally, your current employees understand the company culture and work process.
Hence, they can suggest candidates similar to their work approach or ones who can be highly compatible.
Still, as a recruiter, you need to set goals to conduct an employee referral drive swiftly. For instance, you can aim at reducing the hiring period by five days. On the other hand, you can focus on reducing employee turnover by a set percentage.
Whatever your goals, keep them realistic and time-bound.
Referral programs can be as exciting as full-proof recruitment drives. You can involve current employees to suggest different interview techniques.
In addition, incentives to the current employees for referrals can encourage them to contribute enthusiastically.
Solutions like AfterHire can provide an excellent onboarding experience to the referrals. Overall, try to fuel the employee referral program with the right tools and rewards.
After all, referrals and current employees’ chances of staying loyal improve through these gestures.
Providing monetary incentives is a general model of encouragement. However, a word of appreciation, public praise, or reward system can make referrers feel special.
Consequently, you can build the program on a long-term basis. Consider referral system to be a connected chain. Once your current referrer feels appreciated, their contacts develop more trust and comfort in the organization.
Eventually, you won’t need to spend enormous time analyzing the resumes of unknown candidates. Appreciation is the key to maintaining a productive and energetic workplace.
Summing Up
An employee referral program does not need to be highly technical. While you can use technology to boost the recruiting process, the main trick is encouraging current referrers.
Spontaneous promotions, bonuses, and intuitive software solutions can motivate employees. Moreover, you need to stay clear in communicating the open positions. There is a reason that employees are called ‘human resources’.
Finally, do not forget to track your employee referral program. Interestingly, you will notice the amount of time, money, and resources saved compared to traditional hiring.
