Effective communication for a successful employee referral program
The success of an employee referral program very strongly depends upon the way that they are executed, most importantly, the way they are communicated to the employees. A company might fail miserably in its endeavor to achieve successful employee referrals in spite of having the best employee referral program ever, simply because it failed to project the concept in the right manner. To ensure that the employee referral program is successful certain directed efforts towards its effective communication would be required.
When you introduce your employee referral program you need to draw attention to it. A mere notice on the announcement board or a onetime email would not bring out the desired effect. How can your employees refer potential candidates if they aren’t even aware about such opportunities? Thus, to get the message out loud and clear, the concept should always be reiterated in the employee’s mind. This can be done through newsletters, through the company’s social media pages and blog, contests, posters etc.
Do not let your employee referral solution seem like a mere HR initiative. You need to communicate the message that the program is the organization’s initiative overall, wherein each and every employee’s participation would add value to it. The value would also be returned by the means of rewards and recognition. Conduct activities that would ensure employee engagement and instill the same level of commitment towards sourcing of the right candidates in the employees as well. Create a sense of urgency in the employees to act upon promptly. It is only when the objectives of the employees are in sync with that of the organization that any initiative taken in the company can be achieved.
The buzz of the employee referral program should not fade away. The employees would not remember about the initiative without gentle reminders. Thus, it has to be an ongoing promotional activity wherein the employees are constantly kept in loop and updated on any slight change or progress in the employee referral program.
Take your employees along with you throughout the process. On referring a candidate, an employee would like to be a part of the process, that is, they would like to be kept in the loop at every stage of progress pertaining to their referee. This would further motivate the employees to continue their efforts in sourcing eligible candidates through the employee referral programs.
Their interest to continue playing would only result in the organization procuring a finer talent pool of potential employees.
