REFERRALS PROS • Faster hires (29 days on average compared to 39 for job adverts) • Higher retention rate (46% vs 33% according to HR Technologist) • Reach candidates not on the market NONO TION TTION T CONS • Referral schemes might lead you to hire candidates similar to the employees you already have. Be aware of this and incentivise diverse referrals. ALENT AALENT A PRIZE Companies offer cash or prizes for a successful placement. However, you might decide SS on something that makes sense in your company – would your culture respond better to cash SESSES or a bottle of wine or an Amazon voucher? A trophy for the referrers desk or a lego figure representing the person referred? It’s important that the reward demonstrates gratitude and SMENTSMENT that it is meaningful. Only spending £50 on showing that gratitude is a sure fire way to dry up any referrals. Hiring is hard, and a referral can be a valuable short cut. Decide early on whether you want to reward referees based on passed probation, offer made or simply passing the first interview. This will affect how substantial the prize can be. Waiting for someone to pass their 3 or 6 month probation period might lead employees to lose interest. If founders trust their interview process it should be possible to reward on offer. SUBMISSIONS Make it as easy as possible for staff to submit referrals. Let your team know they should email referrals to a specific email address where your HR or recruitment manager can keep a record of high quality candidates if there isn’t an explicit job open. When you do receive a referral, take care to make sure the process is both quick and effective – and take the extra time to offer verbal feedback. The process could be abridged by for example removing the initial phone screening. OTHER THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND • Change the reward to renew employee’s interest • Identify and reward your ‘super recruiters’ • Publicly praise people who refer candidates 3838