What is an Employee Referral Program?

Managed by the HR department, an employee referral program is a recruitment strategy that asks an organization’s current employees to refer relevant candidates for the company’s job openings. The goal is to fill the roles with qualified and capable employees who will stick around for the long haul.

Research has shown that candidates hired through referrals last longer at a company than those employed through the more traditional route. Plus, referrals make the recruitment process much faster and more streamlined, boosting the company’s productivity. There are plenty of reasons employers benefit from doing an employee referral program.

Hiring through referrals isn’t as simple as asking a group of staff to shout out names or give phone numbers. There needs to be a strong strategy. Employers must design the program, including the forms that the employees need to fill out and how to track candidate progress. Plus, there needs to be some reward system for employees that refer good, qualified candidates, such as gifted coupons or a half-day.

Employers must ensure the referral program is as straightforward as possible. By making it easy for employees to refer potential hires, more of them will do so. When done right, an employee referral program ensures a company ends up with talented, trustworthy, and qualified employees that boost the entire company – something that isn’t easy to do with an ordinary recruitment process.