Teamwork. It’s the building block of any company, big or small. The benefits of teamwork stretch beyond the borders of your cubicle and out into the world of recruiting. Collaborative recruiting has a deeper impact than just your typical, run-of-the-mill programs. This is because it involves more than just the Human Resources and recruiting departments. Collaborative recruiting involves current employees and those who would be a part of the same team. Collaborative recruiting takes other employees into consideration, since 90% believe decision makers should make the effort to include others’ opinions before making a decision.

Build a Referral System for Employees

Referral programs are great for employees and employers alike. It’s really a simple equation: combine a rewards system to your employee referrals program, and the results are amazing. Your employees will not only enjoy working with their teammates but also you will be less likely to lose your new hires. In fact, new hires that were referred by current employees are 20% less likely to quit their jobs. A well-constructed referral program decreases the likelihood of a high turnover rate, which ultimately decreases the amount in extraneous corporate spend.

Dr. John Sullivan, recruiting guru and thought leader, says referral programs work best when specific measures are put into place. While 69% of companies have formal employee referral programs, they could always work a little better. Start with these tips:

• Consider receiving referrals from employees who network with your ideal talent pool
• Include those who don’t work for the company such as retirees, spouses, and even customers.
• Sponsor events that give candidates and employees the opportunity to network and gather more referrals

Share Ideas

Communication is vital to workplace cohesion, so it stands to reason that employees enjoy feeling they are a part of the decision making process. 86% of employees place the blame of failed office projects to the lack of collaboration and communication. Teamwork is ideal; so when you have employees that refer people they already know and work well with then teams thrive. Instigating an atmosphere of communication from the beginning with a collaborative recruitment process perpetuates the behavior, starting with your new hires. Sharing opinions between current employees and the hiring managers on which candidate fits the company’s ideals and goals best continues teamwork notion.

Create Small Group Sizes

Small groups facilitate a higher quality of communication. Since only 7% of communication is through the actual words you say, it is beneficial to see the people you communicate with. Because companies have a tendency to feel “less is more” when it comes to the size of their teams, they can miss project details. 92% of employees believe there is a direct correlation between their organization’s tendency to hit or miss project deadlines and the bottom-line results. The inclination to get assignments done correctly and on time is primarily dependent upon the quality of the group. Therefore, the smaller the group: the higher the quality.

It seems intimidating for candidates; however, board interviews often give the potential team members insight into their capability with the candidate at the end of the table. So, giving the employees the ability to meet candidates and at least superficially measure a match in skills. Why is this so important? Well, 97% of employees believe misalignment within a team is responsible for the results of a project.

Collaborative recruitment can only be effective if the decision makers give other employees the opportunity to see teamwork with a candidate in action before they are hired or rejected. An employee referral program is a great opportunity to do this, in that employees already interact with the candidate, albeit outside the walls of the organization. Dr. Sullivan, corporate advisor for Fortune 500 companies, says the opportunities to network with past and current employees are some of the best referrals a company can get. Give your recruitment process a makeover with some collaboration and the tools you need to make it work.

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