In this blog post, you will learn how to build an effective employee referral program in 4 easy steps!

How to build an effective employee referral program?

Thinking about building an employee referral program for your company?

Congratulations!

You are on your way to find qualified candidates easier, faster and cheaper!  

Employee referral programs can significantly improve your time, cost and quality of hire.

However, to achieve the highest return on investment (ROI) of your employee referral program, you need to build an effective, structured employee referral program.

In this article, you will learn how to do that in 4 easy steps!

4 easy steps for building an effective employee referral program

Here are the 4 steps for building an effective employee referral program:

Step #1: Plan

First, you need to understand and define your hiring needs and resources.
Then you need to set up specific, measurable and time-bound goals.

Finally, you need to allocate all the resources you will need to set up your employee referral program and achieve your goals

Step #2: Design

Make a life a lot easier for your hiring team and your employees by automating your employee referral process. Modern Applicant Tracking Systems have built-in automated employee referral programs.

Next, you need to make the rules of your employee referral program clear, consistent, transparent and fair by setting up an official employee referral program policy that will contain all the rules in one place.

Finally, you need to design an effective employee referral bonus program.

Step #3: Promote

Organize a special event to introduce an employee referral program to your employees or simply have your CEO announce your new program in the regular all-hands company meeting.

To keep your employee engaged, create specialized campaigns to promote your employee referral programs.
Organize employee referral parties, include a note about your employee referral program in your company newsletter, print out employee referral posters, etc.

Step #4: Maintain

Make sure you recognize the effort of your employees and show your appreciation.  

for their contribution to your company. Reward them and celebrate each and every successful hire made through employee referrals.

It is also important to track and measure the results of your employee referral program.

Analyzing your results will also help you discern your best practices and bottlenecks.