Glossary: HR & Recruiting Definitions
An employee referral is when a potential new employee is referred (recommended) to a company by an existing employee or client of that company. Setting up an employee referral program or scheme is a common way for employers to attract talent while saving on recruiting costs.
Employee referrals include any applicants for a position at your company that have in some way been referred (either directly or indirectly) by an existing employee, customer, or client of your company.
An employee referral differs from most externally sourced talent in that the company did not have to use traditional recruitment methods to reach and attract the candidate. Instead, the candidate is referred to the company.
Referrals can help a business save on their recruitment costs and shorten the time to hire period. This is why many companies have implemented employee referral programs and schemes to promote referrals, often with lucrative incentives for the referees in return.
Employee referrals are popular among hiring managers as they can pose many benefits. However, there are some downsides to consider as well. We’ll list both below.
Instead of having to invest in traditional talent attraction methods—such as writing a job ad, posting a job, shortlisting, and screening—you can take a shortcut almost straight to the interview process.
This can strongly reduce both the time and cost to hire.
Furthermore, since the existing employee already works at your company and knows how your business operates, they will often be able to judge whether the referral will be a good culture add. And, chances are they’ve told the potential candidate a bit more about your organisation and the company culture as well.
In other words, the candidate has been both preselected and prepared for the role. That’s why employee referrals are often much more qualified from the start, as both parties know what they are getting themselves into. This can strongly improve the quality of hire.
With candidates found through external sources, like job boards or social media, there’s a higher risk that as soon as they start at your company they realise their expectations don’t match the reality.
Moreover, if the referral is a close friend of the person referring them, bringing this new employee on board might actually have a positive effect on the retention of the existing employee as well. Being able to work with a friend might improve their satisfaction at work, increasing the chances they want to keep working at your company.
There’s even the possibility that one of your employees stayed in touch with a former employee who might be interested in returning to your company (a so-called boomerang employee).
As such, including employee referrals in your hiring process can help you expand your reach and attract candidates that you otherwise would have never found.
All of this can in turn help boost your employer branding.
This can lead to conflict in the workplace and it may even result in one of the two leaving the company altogether, leaving you back where you left off.
The benefits of employee referral programs should be clear by now and, when handled correctly, the pros certainly outweigh the cons. But to get the most out of employee referrals, it’s best to implement a structured employee referral program.
Consider the following points when building your employee referral scheme:
These tips help you increase your chances of creating a solid employee referral program that will consistently deliver qualified candidates. And with the Great Resignation still on the way, diversifying your recruitment strategies is more important than ever!
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