Many of us are grateful to live in today's thriving economy, but those of us who influence recruitment in business understand the challenges mirrored by America's 3.5% unemployment rate. The demand for talent outweighs the supply, pushing business to hit the drawing board in search of creativity and innovation in the area of recruitment. So how can we balance the disparity?
For many programs, the answer is leveraging Employee Referrals. For recruiters looking to grow teams quickly without compromising quality or culture, a strong Employee Referral program is often one of the easiest and most successful options I'd consider first. Here's why-
Your employees are your biggest fans, and most are happy to share an environment and the benefits they love with their friends and family. It's all about values, and very often the cultural values of your organization are a better match than any, with a referral lead. Ever heard the adage "like attracts like"? You see this principle at play most here. Think Keith in Outside Sales is a rockstar? Maybe he has a daughter interested in getting her career started- a great fit for Events Marketing, Inside Sales or Customer Care teams.
If your recruitment program is already tracking its conversions the proof is in the pudding- you'll notice a better hire and retention rate with this talent lead source than any other. A stellar employee referral program could save you a lot of time prospecting and interviewing less qualified candidates- not to mention, it's especially efficient with the need to replace fewer turnovers.
Here are the key ingredients to build (onto) your referral program like a boss:
1) Determine how to incentivize employees.
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I've learned, what's cool to me might not always be transferable to Stacy in Accounting, so ask around, take surveys and consider what everyone might like. Pay attention here and discover what people really want. Employee survey tools like Emplify and TINYpulse are some considerations.
Determine what you want to incentivize, when you will incentivize, and communicate this very clearly to the team. If your organization is using ADP- a post in this portal is great, but I'd avoid placing specific details about the program in the employee handbook, so you can change the incentives based on future demands. To build on this...
2) Get the word out!
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Remember how excited you were on Day 1? New hires are too! You might consider using this momentum to capture referrals here- as part of your on-boarding process. Maybe just educate each new hire on the benefits of participating in the referral program- whichever you're comfortable with.
Get social! Most employees are happy to give back to a company who gives to them, it's important the team knows this benefit is on the table for them. Create a communication strategy including Slack and social media, but don't forget about the low-hanging fruit...make flyers for managers in other areas of the business to hand out at their weekly meetings, post these in the break room, develop an ambassador to spread the word, and send emails about open positions, all with a reminder now's the time to participate.
3) Start with the end in mind.
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Set targets, hit goals and know what you're really offering.
It's important to always remember, you're not marketing or offering the incentive you created, you're marketing your company's mission here. The incentive is just a promo for the team to invite friends and family to join them in their support of the company's mission sooner.
If you're not already tracking conversions I'd recommend beginning this as soon as you can. Recruitment can easily be viewed as a business- with a marketing line, a pipeline of candidates (SALES), and as a fulfillment center (PRODUCTION) ultimately providing talent to all areas of the business. It's a mini-business! And when you begin viewing your recruitment as a mini-business, you begin to understand the importance of tracking numbers using referral technology, candidate tracking software, or just a simple spreadsheet (ADP also has an add-on for this).
Overall, tools like these will show you what you should start, keep, or stop doing within your employee referral program, and throughout the rest of your recruitment program.
Go to CoachAngie.com today or call to learn more about how the employee referral program, and a KPI-Driven Recruitment plan can help your business grow quickly, without compromising culture or operational excellence.
# CoachAngie #RecruitLikeABoss
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