Published on Wednesday, Jan 23, 2008
Employee referral programmes (ERPs) are making the news as never before. Candidate-strapped employers are pulling out all the stops to entice the staff to recommend their acquaintances for vacancies within the company. The payoffs – cash, perks, free trips, prizes, reward points, raffles - are getting bigger, as companies try to tap this invaluable tool for obtaining top-quality hiring leads. After all, employee referrals are indeed an excellent ‘low-cost’ ; key to the best talent available.
Unfortunately, an extremely disquieting spin-off is surfacing from this recruitment tool. Blinded by the lure of extra money, employees go overboard and recommend ‘candidates’ left, right and centre. As acclaimed writer Anthony Meaney highlights on a recruiting community portal, “My belief is that referrals suffer from decreasing returns to scale, as employees move from referring the one or two truly awesome people they know, then to their cousins Tom, Dick & Harry who they meet here and there and finally to some guy they met in the pub after golf last weekend”.
Further, a candidate-bias creeps in as employees refer their friends and family in a bid to secure jobs for them. My brother needs a job and my company needs an employee. If I refer him, I score brownie points in the family and can finance an overseas vacation for myself. A win-win for all”.
The current prolific rage of social networking sites compounds the problem as people are inundated with referral requests from ‘unknown contacts’. The overwhelming prospect of “finders fee” tempts them into making indiscriminate recommenda- tions.The statistics speak for themselves. A recent survey reveals that 42 per cent employees refer candidates because they want to help a friend find a good job. Nearly 24 per cent are motivated by a reward and only the remaining 24 per cent really want to help the company.
Unfortunately, an extremely disquieting spin-off is surfacing from this recruitment tool. Blinded by the lure of extra money, employees go overboard and recommend ‘candidates’ left, right and centre. As acclaimed writer Anthony Meaney highlights on a recruiting community portal, “My belief is that referrals suffer from decreasing returns to scale, as employees move from referring the one or two truly awesome people they know, then to their cousins Tom, Dick & Harry who they meet here and there and finally to some guy they met in the pub after golf last weekend”.
Further, a candidate-bias creeps in as employees refer their friends and family in a bid to secure jobs for them. My brother needs a job and my company needs an employee. If I refer him, I score brownie points in the family and can finance an overseas vacation for myself. A win-win for all”.
The current prolific rage of social networking sites compounds the problem as people are inundated with referral requests from ‘unknown contacts’. The overwhelming prospect of “finders fee” tempts them into making indiscriminate recommenda- tions.The statistics speak for themselves. A recent survey reveals that 42 per cent employees refer candidates because they want to help a friend find a good job. Nearly 24 per cent are motivated by a reward and only the remaining 24 per cent really want to help the company.
What’s in store
What sidetracked referrers fail to realise is that though a positive referral reflects on their goodwill and commitment to the organisation, the opposite is very well true too. They are accountable for the quality of their referrals with their esteem and credibility on the line if the referred candidate fails to clear the interview or does not ‘fit in’ the company. And, one bad referral too many will black mark them with unshakeable notoriety! Cheryl Soltis, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal, is dead on with, ‘Be careful about whom you refer, as it will hurt your own reputation if a candidate you recommended is hired and doesn’t work out’.
Moreover, employees fall into a trap of their own making as they stand to win rewards for successful hires only. Most ERPs come with the in-built clause that referrers will be paid/awarded if and only if the candidate is hired and remains on the job for a specific period of time; else a staggered payout at best.
What sidetracked referrers fail to realise is that though a positive referral reflects on their goodwill and commitment to the organisation, the opposite is very well true too. They are accountable for the quality of their referrals with their esteem and credibility on the line if the referred candidate fails to clear the interview or does not ‘fit in’ the company. And, one bad referral too many will black mark them with unshakeable notoriety! Cheryl Soltis, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal, is dead on with, ‘Be careful about whom you refer, as it will hurt your own reputation if a candidate you recommended is hired and doesn’t work out’.
Moreover, employees fall into a trap of their own making as they stand to win rewards for successful hires only. Most ERPs come with the in-built clause that referrers will be paid/awarded if and only if the candidate is hired and remains on the job for a specific period of time; else a staggered payout at best.
Playing matchmaker
Here’s a blow-by-blow checklist on how to give referrals your best shot:
• Gain a comprehensive understanding of the opening in question. A strong grasp of the organisation’s needs coupled with requisite job requirements will position you to as a stellar ‘recruiter’ for your employer.
• Diligently make sure that the candidate has the necessary qualifications and skills to fit the bill. Familiarity with your contact’s goals, past body of work, career path, ability to deliver results, reliability and weaknesses. helps in assessing his potential and matching his profile with the job. As an executive coach advices, ‘If you don’t have experience with them, interview them, take a look at their résumé’.
• Determine whether the referred person’s personality and work ethics can fit in with the company culture and jell with colleagues. Update him on the company’s ‘way of doing things’, values, type of people.
• Shift the focus from profit motive, ‘helping acquaintances’ or onboarding friends and concentrate on corporate loyalty to be able to present ‘credible endorsements’ – right person for the right job. Think long and hard to conclude candidate relevance and his probability of getting hired. As Eric Lee, a software engineer and successful referrer in a telecommunications company in Illinois says, “I only refer people who can help the company. I wouldn’t bring in someone who would hurt the company’s performance”.
Conducting such a preliminary screening to weed out unqualified or inappropriate candidates will effectively eliminate the likelihood of questionable referrals.
Here’s a blow-by-blow checklist on how to give referrals your best shot:
• Gain a comprehensive understanding of the opening in question. A strong grasp of the organisation’s needs coupled with requisite job requirements will position you to as a stellar ‘recruiter’ for your employer.
• Diligently make sure that the candidate has the necessary qualifications and skills to fit the bill. Familiarity with your contact’s goals, past body of work, career path, ability to deliver results, reliability and weaknesses. helps in assessing his potential and matching his profile with the job. As an executive coach advices, ‘If you don’t have experience with them, interview them, take a look at their résumé’.
• Determine whether the referred person’s personality and work ethics can fit in with the company culture and jell with colleagues. Update him on the company’s ‘way of doing things’, values, type of people.
• Shift the focus from profit motive, ‘helping acquaintances’ or onboarding friends and concentrate on corporate loyalty to be able to present ‘credible endorsements’ – right person for the right job. Think long and hard to conclude candidate relevance and his probability of getting hired. As Eric Lee, a software engineer and successful referrer in a telecommunications company in Illinois says, “I only refer people who can help the company. I wouldn’t bring in someone who would hurt the company’s performance”.
Conducting such a preliminary screening to weed out unqualified or inappropriate candidates will effectively eliminate the likelihood of questionable referrals.
Attracting the best
Ultimately, it’s the organisation that stands to suffer if the candidate turns out to be unacceptable and a drain on its time and resources. Therefore, the management should give its employees the right tools to enable them to refer appropriate people.
First of all, outline an awareness campaign with rational descriptions of the openings in the organisation. Provide information on job requirements and instructions in job listings, meetings, emails, flyers and so on. Some companies go so far as to require referring employees to justify their recommendations.
Build and manage a proper employee referral programme to extract value from employee connections. Offer appropriate and timely incentives to encourage right referrals. As Mr. Squires of Management Solutions says, “A successful program has to educate employees about referrals as well as pay them”.
Finally, the organisation itself should avoid being taken for a ride through stringent selection, testing, reference checking and interviewing formats!
Ultimately, it’s the organisation that stands to suffer if the candidate turns out to be unacceptable and a drain on its time and resources. Therefore, the management should give its employees the right tools to enable them to refer appropriate people.
First of all, outline an awareness campaign with rational descriptions of the openings in the organisation. Provide information on job requirements and instructions in job listings, meetings, emails, flyers and so on. Some companies go so far as to require referring employees to justify their recommendations.
Build and manage a proper employee referral programme to extract value from employee connections. Offer appropriate and timely incentives to encourage right referrals. As Mr. Squires of Management Solutions says, “A successful program has to educate employees about referrals as well as pay them”.
Finally, the organisation itself should avoid being taken for a ride through stringent selection, testing, reference checking and interviewing formats!
PAYAL CHANANIA
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