How to Implement an Employee Referral Programme

Date Posted: 10/12/2017

We hear that the unemployment situation in the world is rising and hitting an all time alarming high. But does that make it any easier to recruit new hands into your company? Seasoned recruiters in most organizations know it is not that easy filling a vacancy just because so many people are looking for new jobs.

Recruiting takes more than just filling a vacancy, the quality of workforce you need does not come that easy. One way to fill a vacancy in your company is by putting in place a good employee referral program as it can be an important part of the recruitment process.

Implementing an employee referral program
Referral program in employee recruitment is the bringing of other parties into the hiring process with the aim of connecting the right and best-fit applicants to fill available vacancies. There are so many ideas on how to implement a referral program, but the following implementation practice will not only help in recruiting the best match for your vacancy, it will help in high retention of employee services over time.

Make everyone aware
To successfully implement an employee referral program, every employee needs to be aware there is a referral program. The guidelines to the program must also be available to people who will participate in it. Knowing about the program is one part; the other part is for everyone to know when a vacancy exists that need to be filled. Use various communication channels to announce a vacancy and clearly set out the qualities and description of what you need from your prospective employee.

Charity begins at home; start with your current employees
Exceptional applicants want a company where they are treated with respect and fairly. The best people who can testify to that are your current employees. Their word is crucial in assuring prospective employee of better treatment when they join your business. Therefore, factor your employee into your referral program and design a clear and open recruitment process that your current employees can easily access.

Providing guidelines for managing your referral program
We live in an incentive based world where motivation is a key instrument in better performance. If you have decided on incorporating your current employees into the referral program, make it known and make it unambiguous to everyone. Also, say what the inventive will be and how it will  be implemented. The guideline needs to be spelled out clearly for everyone to understand. Since you are interested in quality referrals, you can tie it in with the incentive. When setting up the guideline, it is necessary to let it be known what qualifies anyone for the incentive. For instance, it may state that the referred employee must have stayed for a minimum of 90 days before the staff that refers the employee gets the incentive.

Make it Succeed
Your effort at getting the right employee does not end with announcing a vacancy and referral incentive; you need to make it happen. Use available communication channels to engage your staff and people on such channels. The reason you want to do that is that if you need top performers, you have to go for them and the best way to get them is through another top performer.

Use people to influence people to get what you want. If you know anyone who is a top performer, how about talking to them one on one to ask them to refer someone they know to you? This way, you are not just sitting down hoping someone will come through the door, you can get up and bring them in somehow.

Show more seriousness
Many company referral policies are left on the shelf to gather dust without implementation. Don’t let this happen to your employee referral program. One way to show seriousness is by educating your employee about the referral program. By educating your staff about the program, you are empowering them to take the program as important and go all out for the right candidate that will lead to the overall success of your company. When employees understand the value of great staff to the company’s success, they will understand what you mean by looking for the best hand to fill available vacancies.

Use a recruitment agency
In conclusion, while an employee referral program is an excellent way to fill your staff vacancies with quality staff, a less cumbersome way to achieve the best is through the use of a good recruitment agency. A hiring company already understands what is required and what it takes to get the right applicant. A recruitment agency can present you with pre-qualified candidates to meet your exact needs.

If you need help in filling your vacancy fast with quality, top performer employees, let Ikon Solutions do the job for you. For best staff in hospitality and hotels, healthcare and medical services, engineering and technical staffing, we are always on hand to help.

Need to give your business a shot in the arm by hiring some of the best talents from the Philippines? You can trust Ikon Solutions to find the best people for you and be certain that every detail of the hiring process is maximized in finding your ideal candidates.

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