Article
3 min read
Author
Jemima Owen-Jones
Published
January 24, 2023
Last Update
July 08, 2024
Table of Contents
What are the benefits of employee referral programs?
1. Offer competitive compensation
2. Host a virtual recruiting event
3. Generate a buzz on social media and among your workforce
4. Make a charitable donation on behalf of an employee
Supercharge your referral program with Deel
LinkedIn says employee referral programs are the number one recruiting strategy to fill open positions and optimize recruitment processes.
In this post, you will discover some tips and techniques companies use in their employee referral programs to attract top talent. Keep reading to get inspired.
Now that we know the core benefits of onboarding programs let’s discuss how top companies run successful employee referral programs.
When a worker refers a highly qualified candidate for a role, you should reward them. That doesn’t mean you have to give away $20,000 per referral as startup Thoughtspot did in 2014. Anywhere between $250 - $10,000 is a generous amount to encourage and reward workers for referring successful hires that remain at the company after three months.
Here’s a look at some of the payouts from other incentive programs:
Encourage workers to invite members of their professional networks to attend a virtual recruiting event to learn about open positions at your company.
Events present a unique opportunity for prospects to get a sense of your company culture and meet with hiring managers, potentially increasing their odds of being hired.
Amazon hosted a virtual career day to showcase the 33,000 open positions the company had across the country. The virtual event included the following:
Top tip
Use new hire onboarding sessions to introduce your employee referral program and get the ball rolling from day one.
Social media competitions and point scoring systems are a fun way to encourage employee engagement in referral schemes while spreading the word about your company and growing the number of referrals you receive.
Discover how the following companies used competition to generate a buzz:
Rewards don’t have to be expensive or reserved for successful referrals. A simple $5 gift card for every referral or the chance to earn an extra day off can sometimes be all it takes.
When DigitalOcean offered to make a $1,500 charitable donation on an employee’s behalf above a $3,500 referral bonus, their new employee referral program reached a 43% participation rate (4x above the industry standard).
Unlike monetary incentives that feel self-serving, charitable donations have an altruistic component and carry greater meaning for the wider community. While philanthropic donations benefit the world, they also raise an employer’s corporate social responsibility profile when shared on social media.
A referral process should be simple yet effective. Your workforce needs to know how to participate and what’s in it for them. Inform team members of new job openings, streamline referral submissions, and, most importantly, make it fun.
With Referrals by Deel, your recruiting team can create automated announcements for those hard-to-fill jobs, highlight specific departments, and boost postings with the least amount of applications. All in Slack, without the need for dedicated referral software.
And when referrals start rolling in, employees can submit a referral to your applicant tracking system (ATS) with two clicks in Slack. This process lowers recruitment costs, accelerates hiring, and fills your work community with trusted new hires.
Learn more about Deel’s HR Slack plugins, or book a demo today to get started.
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