Get the best from your Employee Referral Program - Tips & tricks.

In these talent hungry times, we’re all clawing our way to the best and brightest out there. With an improving economy comes fierce competition to scope out solid gold candidates. It’s a manic time that’s seen us all turning to techniques old and new to attract, bag and retain talent. Amongst the hoards of tools, tricks and apps, there’s one that can trump the rest - employee referral programs.

Most companies claim to have one but it tends to be in a pretty shoddy state. Poorly designed and data sparse, these programs tend to be myth that rarely turns out the goods. It’s a shame really, there’s not many tools out there that can make a bigger impact on hiring volume and quality than a good old ERP.

What percentage of hires do you reckon come from employee referrals? Well, if it’s less than 40% you need to read on. Getting the most out of any ERP doesn’t take buckets of cash or hours of your time, it’s about fine tuning everyday use and practice. Employees are the life and soul of good business. It all starts and revolves around them. They are brand advocates, talent scouts and company culture assessors all rolled into one. In short, they are a greater asset than you can ever hope for so use them!

So, what can you do to create a program that nabs the best talent and keeps employees on the ball? Perfect processes, reward royally and be the king of communications for starters…

Sing it from the rooftops.

You’d be shocked at how many employees don’t have the foggiest about their company’s referral program. Make sure your talent foot soldiers actually know what the deal is, explain that the program is a serious, ongoing affair. Draft in the top dogs, CEOs etc, to spread the word and make it a regular talking point at weekly meetings and company events.

Get ‘em all listening by setting a big launch incentive. Put your money where your mouth is and set a challenge - first employee to provide a referral hire through the new program gets a new ipad and an extra two weeks holiday. Go to town and invest in its importance.

Rethink reward.

Don’t just chuck money and flash at top performers. Incentives work, we all know that, but think of the bigger picture and praise those making smaller waves too. Reward for referrals, not just hires. Some referrals tick lot’s of boxes but miss out by a whisker so don’t ignore those efforts. If an employee sees their referral as a failure, they won’t try again and that won’t do. Reward the effort not just the result.

Remember to be vocal about success stories and spread the word about winning cases via Facebook, newsletters, the lot.

Be selective when asking for help.

Mass emails are a no no. Don’t just fire a uniform email out to all your employees when you need a helping hand, they’ll turn off and lose interest. Be specific and target employees that can help you fill a particular role. Create targeted pools of employees who can genuinely offer valued referrals. It might take more time to develop these but it’ll save you big time and budgets later.

• What are their skills and experience?
• What circles do they move in? What are their relationships like with past employers?
• Who do their LinkedIn connections / social profiles consist of?

The best programs don’t cover every job going, they focus on the tough nuts and high impact roles. Don’t waste the time of your teams with spammy, junk referrals - go for gold and not for the ones that can filled via the normal sources.

Master communication.

It’s recruitment 101. There’s a million and one times along the referral process where feedback and contact is required. Having a swift, friendly system in place to keep communication flowing is a necessity.

• Tell employees how their referral is getting along.
• Make sure there’s solid links of contact between employee, recruiter and the referral from day dot.
• Use the likes of LinkedIn to plot your network and cite potential opportunities/employees to engage with.
• Be rapid in your responses. Laziness is a program killer.

There’s a flurry of actions you can take to get your ERP singing for you. From providing better tools, like story inventories or training sessions, to looking out-house by drafting in ex-employees, there is no shortage of tips and tricks available.

It all comes down to being proactive. Don’t let your program go stale or become a burden to your team. Keep it energised and full of life. Your employees want to work with the best team possible so urge them to play a role in creating it. Give them the tools, praise and understanding to take control and make an impact.

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