There is, quite simply, no getting away from the statistics on this one. Time and again, employee referral has been shown to be the undisputed standout source of quality hires.

Here it is in LinkedIn’s Global Recruiting Trends 2017 report, leapfrogging job boards and social networks to take the top spot in a survey of nearly 4,000 talent decision makers.

And the trend stretches back at least as far as 2010, when Career Builder’s Referral Madness whitepaper found 88% of employers naming employee referrals their number one source of quality hires.

So why do employee referrals still seem like the unloved branch of the talent acquisition family?

Why does referral only account for 9% of recruiting budgets? And how did a 2015 ICIMS report find that over 1 in 3 employers have no documented employee referral process in place at all?

Evidently it’s time to once again make the indisputably compelling case for employee referrals. Here are our top 5 reasons to put more effort and resources into making your people your hiring ambassadors.

1. Referred hires are happy hires

People don’t recommend things they don’t like to their friends. This truth goes to the core of why referrals are so effective.

Referred hires come to you pre-loaded with a positive mindset about the company – one that lasts beyond their hiring date. They’re apt to onboard more smoothly, having joined you pre-equipped with a workplace buddy. And according to the aforementioned ICIMS poll, 9 out of 10 referred employees are satisfied in both their role and the company culture.

2. Referred hires are loyal hires

All the evidence shows that referred hires stay longer. One Jobvite study put two-year retention rates for referred employees at 45%, compared to 20% from job boards.

Meanwhile the ICIMS survey found 56% of referred hires staying for 5 years, with job satisfaction increasing year-on-year in that time.

3. Candidates trust referrals

Here’s another metric where referrals come out top. ICIMS found 76% of job seekers rating employee referrals as a very or extremely important research tool – far higher than any other resource. This should come as no surprise. As Matt Charney puts it:

“Referrals are, essentially, an employer net promoter score – effectively, it’s that Glassdoor question of ‘would you recommend this as a place for your friends and family to work?’”

In other words, an employee referral the most powerful reputational endorsement you could ask for (and all while your employee is doing your pre-screening for you. Handy.).

4. Referrals save you time

No job search or company research. No cold application to prepare, submit and be sifted. It makes perfect sense that referred candidates would reach you quicker. And so it proves. Jobvite found that on average, a referred applicant joins their new employer after 29 days, compared to 39 days for job board joiners and 55 days for career site candidates.

5. Referrals save you money

Bersin by Deloitte put the average US cost-per-hire at $4,000 in 2015. Set against this, even a hefty £3,000 bonus for each successful referral is a significant saving. When you factor in the lower turnover rates that referred hires bring, referrals start to look every bit as attractive financially as they are from a quality of hire perspective.

Conclusion

So how’s your employee referral programme looking? If you’re still one of the 37%, hopefully this article has given you some serious pause for thought. And if your programme still hovers somewhere round the 9%-of-budget priority mark, maybe now really is the time to look again at this most underrated of talent sources.

Those in the know, share. If you think your network would find inspiration in this post, we’ve made it really easy for you to tell them using the LinkedIn Share button below.

The post Are You Taking Employee Referral Seriously Yet? appeared first on EWS.

Finding a genuinely effective way to measure hire quality is the recruiter’s holy grail.

LinkedIn’s Global Recruiting Trends 2016 report ranks quality of hire (QoH) as “the most valuable performance KPI.”

Yet the report also reveals that most people are only measuring QoH after a new recruit has been brought on board:

• 50% measure QoH through new hire performance evaluation
• 49% measure QoH through turnover or retention statistics
• 43% measure QoH through hiring manager satisfaction

But isn’t that too late? Yes, it shows how well they’re performing in the job they’re doing, but what about the job they were hired for?

There is a strong argument that the most effective way to measure QoH is to make your candidate selection metrics a fundamental part of the process.

Here is that argument in four simple steps.

1. Focus on performance-based hiring

Typically, recruiters hire candidates based on skills, qualifications and past experience. But actually, hiring specifically based on a candidate’s past performance gives you richer insights into their relevant accomplishments for your role.

This shift in focus enables you to align your predicted and actual measures of QoH, which in turn helps hiring managers to assess actual performance directly and meaningfully. The bad news? It requires an overhaul of the hiring process. Keep reading to learn how!

2. Rethink your job descriptions

Traditional job descriptions read something like this:

• This is who we are
• This is the position we’re looking to fill
• This is the experience you must have
• These are the skills and qualifications we’d like you to have

The problem here is that although qualified candidates may tick every box on your list, they may still not be the best person for your job. Why? Because you’re not asking them for the most germane performance-based information.

When you rethink your job descriptions, replacing your big shopping list of qualifications and experience with a honed list of key performance objectives, you’re recruiting for the very factors you can subsequently assess for QoH. You’re planning for excellence, not just measuring it.

Lou Adler, CEO of the Adler Group, recommends using six to eight key performance objectives to describe the job, including the sub-tasks for these main objectives. For time-sensitive objectives, include what you expect applicants to accomplish within a certain time frame.

3. Ask for samples of past work

Don’t just list the skills required of a candidate. Go a step further and state how those skills will be put to work.

For example, instead of “strong writing skills” include something like “strong writing skills to be used for monthly reports to your direct manager and quarterly reports to the executive team.” And ask for samples of similar reports the candidate has written. As Adler notes, obtaining samples of applicants’ work “makes the pre-hire quality assessment straight-forward.”

4. Use a talent scorecard

The Adler Group has created a Quality of Hire Talent Scorecard which can be used during the interview to accurately predict QoH. It compares past performance with the performance objectives you’ve outlined in your job description and provides you with a cumulative score predicting QoH.

You can also use the same scorecard to assess post-hire QoH.

Conclusion

Performance-based hiring is a big shift in ethos, but one that can pay huge dividends. In place of a vanity presentation lauding the effectiveness and ROI of your hiring process, you’ll be able to improve your process by interrogating differences between predicted and actual QoH.

Interviews become more consistent, job requirements become more tangible, and culture fit can become a vital component of the process.

With such a finely-honed (and continually improving) selection process, you begin every search for new talent knowing your system is proven to ensure quality of hire.

Those in the know, share. If you think your network would find inspiration in this post, we’ve made it really easy for you to tell them using the LinkedIn Share button below.

The post How Early is Too Early to Start Measuring Quality of Hire? appeared first on EWS.