Like Attracts Like: Recruiting Talent through Employee Referrals

In today’s competitive job market, where top talent is getting more difficult to find and recruit, an employee referral program is a simple and effective strategy to recruit new employees. Traditional referral programs, with no incentives built in, have disappointingly low participation because there is little motivation for employees to refer good people. But with a few tweaks, a referral system can be made efficient and effective.

First, managers should approach top performers personally and ask them to name the best five people they have ever worked with. As top performers, the referrals from these employees hold much more weight than those of the other employees. If the best in the company are impressed with the work of the people they refer, then it is safe to assume that those people are worth contacting.

Second, other employees should be approached and asked the same thing. While these referrals might not be as high quality as the first group, current employees often have good insight as to the type of people who will succeed in your organization. An incentive for current employees to provide good candidates is a must. Give employees a bonus if someone they referred is hired. You can even give another bonus if the hired individual passes their probation period. Suggest that the employees themselves call their referrals to “sell” them the company.

Implementing a program like this can significantly cut costs and hours spent looking for new talent. It is simple and effective, can be done quickly, and can be a good supplement to traditional recruiting methods like advertising jobs in the newspaper and on Internet job websites.
 

Back to Top