Employee Referral Programs

“Our thinking was people don’t listen to recruiters but they listen to their friends.” Ajeet Singh – CEO of Tough Spoot

As lean times force business to reduce advertising and marketing budgets, more and more companies are trying to develop customers through word-of-mouth referrals.
Employee Referral Programs have never been so popular among top Silicon Valley IT firms. Last year, the start-up Tough Spot has made headlines by offering a $20,000 referral bonus to employees.

What is an Employee Referral Program?
An Employee Referral Program is an internal recruitment method organizations use to identify potential candidates through their employees network.
Sometimes it means employees will receive a monetary incentive. Even if there is not such a reward scheme, letting your employees know their help is valued can go a long way. Your employee gets to say “I got my friend a job” and will be grateful for the opportunity to contribute. You build trust and long lasting relationships that way.
The new recruit already knows some employees and the corporate culture. There is a great energy surrounding him as he walks through the door.

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4 reasons why you should have an employee referral program ?

1. Build a talent pool

A referred employee is more likely to make referrals himself. While this will not lead to a recruitment every time, this ensures you have a large pool of candidates available in case of future need.

“In sales a referral is the key to the door of resistance.” Robert Foster Bennett – Former United States Senator

2. Having an employee referral program is the best way to promote your company brand

Giving your employees the opportunity to make referrals turns them into brand advocates. They know their help is valued. New recruit thinks “if my good friend recommended it to me, that must be a good company to work for”. Each referral recruitment sends the message that the company is such a recruiter of choice that employees recommend it to their friends.

3. An Employee Referral Program helps hire employees who share the company culture

Assessing skills like IT or language skills is easy. However, assessing if an employee will align with company values is a completely different matter. You know such an alignment is the key for a proactive workforce and a healthy company well aligned for growth. Yet how do you assess it in interviews?

Hiring through employee referrals solves this issue. Your employee is aware a bad recruit would reflect badly on him. So he would only recommend somebody if they are 100% sure they are compatible with the company culture.

4. Boosting team morale

An employee referral program offers employees to act beyond their restricted working area. It betters their engagement while lowering turnover because :

1. It fosters the sense of connection to an employer that values their opinion and gives them opportunity to make a positive contribution to the company.

2. Referred employees tend to stay longer because they come on-board with established social connections and have been brought for their compatibility with the company culture.

If retaining the best talents, lowering your recruitment budget and having a vast pool of talent at hands is of interest to you, we recommend you put employee referral program at the core of your recruitment strategy.