Advice on setting up an employee referral program for recruiting

Question: Hi Bare Bones Consulting, any advice on setting up an employee referral program?

Answer: Great question…over the past few months a number of our valued clients have made contact about the challenges in recruiting effectively in the current market.

There’s little doubt things are in a jobseeker’s favour at present, particularly if you’re operating in the hospitality, construction & building, childcare, aged care or the medical & allied health sectors.

Across the board, it would be safe to say that more than ever right now, good people have their pick of where they can work.

There are many things you can try to swing things back in your favour and one I’ve found can work well is an employee referral program.

What is an employee referral program?

Simple: New employees are sourced through an existing employee referring someone they know to the company in return for some type of monetary reward or benefit.

What’s the benefit of implementing an employee referral incentive?

There’s an increase in the number of businesses trailing employee referral programs and for sound reasons: referred new hires are often a better cultural fit, they can be more engaged, less likely to leave, and more productive.

There are also additional benefits to the employer; the time and costs associated with an internal referral are lower than the traditional “advertise, shortlist and interview” process.

And, if we’re being realistic, who’s better placed to make an initial preselection of potential candidates than your existing workers?

Not many current employees are willing to refer a dud worker to their current employer.

Employee referral rewards & incentives

One key in making your employee referral scheme work is how you structure your reward or payment timing.

When it comes to how (and when) you reward your employees for a referral, there are several different options.

While cash incentives can be great motivators, other non-monetary perks can be just as effective.

Assuming you’re offering a cash incentive, one simple structure is to offer 50 per cent of the payment upon the appointment of the new employee and the balance once the new hire passes their probation (3 or 6 months).

SEEK offers 3 steps to success when adding an employee referral program to your recruitment process.

Employee referral programs should be 1 part of a wider recruitment strategy

Let’s be honest:  An employee referral program isn’t going to solve the current candidate shortage.

But when you include an effective program, you add one additional tool to your recruiting strategy and you may be one step closer to finding that perfect staff member.

Bare Bones Consulting can show you how professional recruiters maximise results.

How we can help with recruitment

From entry-level to executive, we can assist in attracting the best people to your advertising, guide your interview and selection process and introduce you to online personal assessment tools for the perfect candidate fit.

We can even help design an Employee Referral Program that suits your business, people and budget.  Check out our HR recruitment services here.

Contact us today for a complimentary Human Resources (HR) consultation or call Greg directly on 0401 279 065.