Hard-working, innovative employees are the key to any successful business enterprise. But finding the best candidates can be difficult. When properly implemented, employee referral programs can be a useful, cost-effective method for attracting high quality talent, and the most successful programs motivate employees to participate, offer ongoing communication and frequent assessment.
Motivation leads to success. In any business endeavor, it is important to motivate your top performers. After all, they are the driving force behind your referral program. In fact, 48% of employees said cash bonuses would further motivate them to participate in their company’s employee referral program. But financial rewards are not the only means to achieve success. Offering gifts, charitable donations, PTO or even raffling off a trip can also be powerful ways to encourage top players to participate.
Communication goes a long way. Talk to your employees often about the referral program, how it works and what is in it for them. Make sure the information is easy to understand and accessible. Social media can be a useful tool for keeping your employees informed and making it easier for them to promote jobs on your behalf, and there are a number of platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn that allow users to easily share open positions with their network.
Review, Revise, Repeat. Set achievable, measurable goals you hope to achieve with your employee referral program, and then measure the progress as you go. You are spending capital to recruit the best employees, and you should track the effectiveness of your spend. How many of your hires are referrals? How does the cost per hire compare to employees hired from other channels? Continue to revise the incentives and communication until you find a balance you are most happy with.
How do you motivate your employees to refer great candidates? Share with us in the comments.
Image: Eric Chan/Flickr
Thanks for the post and the insight. Thought I’d contribute a couple of comments:
Consider the suitability of the program to the culture: there’s no OSFA when it comes to ERPs. Also, consider customizing your message content & ‘feel’ based on the workforce groups of the organization. A message to the sales guys, may not resonate quite so well with IT.
Test morale: all the comms in the world won’t boost hires from your ERP if people are discontent.
‘Top performers’ (in my mind) suggests the big guns who’re bringing in the cash and reaping the glory. Don’t forget to tap into the quiet achievers, the engine room, the back office staff, oh and the finance guys (jokes!). But seriously, if you’re only looking to work the network of a specific type of employee, that type will dominate and may cause the workforce culture to become imbalanced.
Love this blog, thanks for the info.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this. I totally agree with you that there is no OSFA and that customization is key to success. And I find it interesting where your mind went in terms of ‘top performers,’ but now that you mention it, that makes sense!
I think what was intended in this post, though, was really top performers as far as the individual role goes. So if someone in sales or IT or finance (or wherever, really) is doing a great job and you’re looking for someone similar, time to tap their networks. As long as it’s not a single personality or employee type that you’re seeking overall, I think the culture should stay balanced.
I’m happy to hear you like the blog, and please keep sharing with us as well!