THE Most Strategic Recruiting Initiative:

Leveraging Your Employees

to Source, Assess & Sell

Presented By: Tom Darrow

Copyright 2005 Talent Connections. All Rights Reserved.

 Employee Referral Program — Why?

• Increased quality of hire

– Skills, behaviors, and cultural fit can be referenced
• Low cost to administer
• Empowers employees
• Increases employee morale and loyalty
• Candidate has positive pre-disposition about
company
• Candidate is contacted proactively instead of
waiting for them to take the initiative
• Limited competition for candidate

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 Primary Weaknesses of Employee
Referral Programs

• Program is out dated

• Program is poorly designed
• Program is too detailed
• Program doesn’t vary reward with
urgency and market value of the position
• Program doesn’t INCENT
• Program assumes employees know how
to recruit/find referrals

Copyright 2005 Talent Connections. All Rights Reserved.

 Buy-In from Management

• Develop a business case

– Collect sourcing and cost metrics from
prior two years
– Estimate cost of employee referral
program
• Marketing
• Referral bonuses
– Estimate increased number of hires
through ERP
– Estimate cost savings (if any!)
– Anticipate management concerns

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 Primary Management Concern

“Referring new hires and helping to build the

company should be a part of the employee’s
job”

• Considerations:
– Employees do what they’re evaluated on
– If a program can increase quality of hire, reduce
cost, and reward employees, isn’t that a good
thing?

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 Additional Management Concern

“Employee referral candidates are hired more

because of relationships and less because of
skills and fit.”

• Consideration:
– Recruiting assessment process should be the same
for candidates from all sources

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 Additional Management Concern

“Hiring too many employees from referrals will

lead to an adverse impact problem.”

• Considerations:
– Assessment process should screen for job related
factors
– Develop diversity initiatives to counter tendency to
refer “people just like us.”

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 Additional Management Concern

“If we’re getting so many hires from employee

referrals, what do we need all these high
priced recruiters for?”

• Considerations:
– Recruiters facilitate employee referrals
– Recruiters set overall strategy
– Recruiters consult with hiring managers on job
requirements, candidate assessment, and offer
package

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 Who is Eligible (Full or Partial)?

• Management?
• HR/Recruiting?
– Challenge: Make recruiters eligible!!!
• Contractors/Temporaries?
• Alumni?
• Vendors?
• Others?

Make everyone eligible in some way!

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 What Positions are Eligible?

Hi-Tech

Administrative All Entry Level

Management

Copyright 2005 Talent Connections. All Rights Reserved.

 Other Considerations

• Are clients/customers off limits?

• Does referred candidate need to have minimal

requirements? Does referred candidate have to
be referenceable?
– Have to have met the candidate
– Have to have their permission to submit resume
– Avoids referrer from becoming a “pastatute”

• Does the referrer get credit only if referral is

hired?
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 Other Considerations

• Treat referred candidates the same as

candidates from other sources except….
move more quickly!

• Referrer will not be involved in the

assessment process

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 Incentives — Rewards

• Cash • Parking Privileges

• Stock • Training course
• Vacation reimbursement
• Frequent Flyer • Equipment
• Performance – Computer
Evaluation note – Palm Pilot
– Home office
• Drawing
• Exclusive tickets,
• Logo merchandise
restaurants, country
clubs
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Cash
• Pay out
– In first paycheck after start date?
– After 90 days?
• Longer timeframe will not deter employees from
making referrals
• Covers probation period
• Manager/company is responsible for assessment –
this argument is not consistent with agency
agreements
• A problem develops if referred employee leaves
after 3 weeks and bonus has been paid out
• More cash when referred hire gets
promoted?
– Could create internal politics
– Referrer has no control over referee’s retention
or contributions
– Should they have to pay some back if the referee
gets fired?
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 Cash

• Gross up for taxes!

– Reduce payout levels if necessary
– Keep the emotions positive

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 Drawing

• Who is eligible for the drawing?

– 10 tickets for every referral hired
– 1 for every referral not hired
– Watch out!
• If someone wins the grand prize who didn’t refer
someone who was hired, you undermine an
essential aspect of ERP’s – a hire is the goal.

• Need to document qualifying timeframe

for drawing

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 Drawing

• PWC – “all but one chose cash”

– Undermines hype value of non-cash awards

• Part of award to charity

– Great idea!
– Watch out – charities/non-profits that exclude
protected classes (e.g. religious organizations)

• Employees need to feel they have a reasonable

chance to win
– Have more secondary prizes
– Draw more often

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 Program Slogan and Logo

• Create special slogan for program:

– Shaping Our Future
– Bank$Shot
– Bird Dog
– PERSonnel (Personal Employee Referral
System)
– Quest for the Best
– Planes Trains and Automobiles ERP
– Spotters

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 Incentives — Recognition

• Mention in new hire welcome e-mail

• Note in Performance Evaluation

• $$$$$$/merchandise presented at company

meeting
– Or….hand delivered by CEO

• Logo clothing for display in the office

• Reward managers for the % of hires in their

departments from employee referrals
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 Buy-In from Employees

ERP
Advisory
Training
Team
Program

• Create advisory team of employees to help

develop program
• Develop training program that must be
completed for employees to be eligible for
employee referral program involvement
– Get key leadership to first sessions!

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 Teach Employees!

• How and where to

source/network
• How to build relationships
• How to assess potential of
candidates
• How to sell the position and
the company
• Importance of confidentiality
• How to work within the
corporate process
Copyright 2005 Talent Connections. All Rights Reserved.
 Employee Referral Program —
Sourcing Channels

Prior
Employers
Country Clubs/
Community Conferences/
Organizations Seminars

Children’s Professional
Friend’s Parents Associations

Commuter
Trains/Buses Alma Mater

Family and
Church

Copyright 2005 Talent Connections. All Rights Reserved.

 How to Teach Employees

• Recruiting Process Workshop

• Interview Skills Workshop

• Make attendance in both mandatory for:

– Participation in interviews
– Participation in ERP

• Get senior management to attend first class!

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 Recruiting Process Workshop

• Develop a game
– “Recruitopoly”
– “Recruit or Consequences”

• Teach the strategy, techniques and tools

for recruiting in the company
– Sourcing, assessing, selling
– What is the Hiring Manager’s role?
– What is Recruiting’s role?
– What is everyone else’s role?
– Employee referral program

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 Interview Skills Workshop

• Recruiting Process
• Interview Preparation
• Types of Interviews
– Screening
– Skills
– Behavioral
– Confirming/Selling
• Managing the interview
• Assessing the candidate
• Documentation
• Legal issues

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Questions
& Answers

Copyright 2005 Talent Connections. All Rights Reserved.

 Thank You!

Tom Darrow
Principal
Talent Connections, LLC
602 Gettysburg Place
Atlanta, GA 30350
(770) 992-3701
TomDarrow@talentconnections.net
www. talentconnections.net

Copyright 2005 Talent Connections. All Rights Reserved.