Employees can turn out to be some of the best recruiters you could ask for. A happy workforce is a walking, talking advertisement for your company, meaning that they are one of the best ways to promote new positions and find new employees.
If your employees refer a candidate then they should be high quality. This is because, by referring someone, you are putting your reputation on the line. Candidates are therefore pre-screened by your employees, on both skills/experience and general cultural fit.
This is also a less expensive option, because you don’t have to pay for an external recruitment agency or to advertise your job adverts online. By tapping into the existing network of people around you (friends, family, old colleagues, etc.) you can share the position you need filled easily and affordably. An Employee Referral Programme is a great way to encourage your employees to use their network to help to fill the position too.
This can also help to improve your employee retention rate, because high quality candidates who fit into your company culture are more likely to want to stay in that position. Also, an Employee Referral Programme can help to increase retention rates among your current workforce as well, because it takes employees who like the company to want to refer someone they know to work there too.
By helping their friends or family to get a job, employee’s perspectives about the company should be improved. This positive energy will influence their work, and helps the new candidate to settle into the workplace.
Employee referrals are one of the best ways to engage with passive candidates. Even if someone is happy in their position/company, hearing about a new job that a friend thinks you will be good at, at a company they feel passionate about, may be tempting. This means that another whole realm of candidates is available for you to contact.
Similarly, finding specialists is made slightly easier if your employees are involved in the recruitment process. Your employees may know other people who specialise in similar things, so the chances that they will be able to recommend someone is relatively high. This, again, saves you money, because you don’t have to use an expensive external recruiter to find these specialists.
These are some of the ways that employees can help with recruitment, and setting up an Employee Referral Programme is definitely a good idea. If you are still struggling with finding your dream candidates then check out our free guide for writing job adverts.