What about hiring referrals?
How do you feel about referrals? I think these can be a great resource for prospective employess as normally someone will not put themselves out t on a limb unless they know they will be a great employee.
Holli,
I think that referrals are great. I just would not depend on them solely for creating my candidate pool. At least the person making the referral knows the candidate and his/her work habits. They also would have a good sense of that person's organizational fit. Some organizations will even pay a "finder's fee" for a referral if that person is actually hired.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
I think a candidate referral from a current employee has a variety of benefits to the organization. First, even if you have a candidate referral progran in which you provide a reward for a successful hire from a referral, this approach is less costly to the organization in comparison to placing a job ad or using a search firm.
Secondly, a good candidate referral program can involve employees in the process of locating talent to strengthen the organization's bench, so to speak. The referring employee also becomes a salesman for the organization in this process.
Lastly, I agree that employees are careful with their candidate referrals because it is a reflection on themselves.
I think referrals are defenitley a good place to start and should be considered if the person referring is someone you trust. It also depends on how well the person referring knows the applicant. I would not give any preferential treatment to an applicant purely because they were referred. I would base it on the interview and prior job skills first.
Gale,
You make great points. What I would add is that the employee making the referral obviously knows this candidate and his/her work habits. This information will be a guage in terms of organizational fit. It is certainly better to know a little bit about a candidate rather than nothing. You will still want to use additional sources and not depend solely on referrals.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Nicole,
I agree on your comment regarding preferential treatment. The candidate does, however, gain some instant credibility regarding their work ethic if one of our employees saw fit to recommend that person. It also gives you a feel for the possible organizational fit of that individual. As I have said before, it is one source of candidates but should, by no means, be the only source.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
I agree with you also that they do gain some credibility however I have had many experiences working in the staffing industry when it came to referrals. Sometimes people will refer friends and you need to be cautious with that one. I would defenitely give them an extra star when considering but it would not be my deciding factor when hiring them. I agree that it should be a source but not relied upon.
I agree wtih you that I would not totally rely on it as a sole source. I believe it was you who said that if it was coming from a trusted source, the referral becomes more credible. It is an inexpensive or free source of gaining a pool of possible candidates.
I agree. Referrals are a great way for employers find their next hire. I wouldnt refer someone to my own place of employment if they could potentially make me look bad.
Given your comment, when you, as the supervisor, accept referrals, you need to consider the source of that referral as well. Is this an employee whose judgement you trust? Is this an employee whose work ethic mirrors that of the culture of your organization? Employees will refer others whose work habits are similar to their own, so you need to make sure that this is the work behavior you are looking for. If this is a potentially good source for helping to create that pool of candidates or if you are having difficulty recruiting for a particular position, you might want to consider a referral stipend. This will encourage employees to think about others with whom they have worked who might be a good organizational fit.
I think this is a great way to get some qualified applicants for the position. Like you mentioned people don't like to refer unless they are 100% they will be a good fit b/c they don't want people to think badly of them. But i also think it is great b/c usually the staff referring someone has a good grasp of what we are looking for in the position and since they know the candidate they are referring they will know if it is a good fit for both the company and the candidate.
Cassandra,
There can also be a cost factor involved her. Using an outside recruiter can have a significant impact on your bottom line. Even using your in house HR is going to have a cost factor. HR will need to advertise the vacancy some place whether it is a professional journal or an online resource. That is an expense to the Department. Referrals may be free unless you offer a referral fee. So there are advantages to using referrals as a recruiting source.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
I agree with Dr. Kapper,on her comment about having similar work habits, and work ethics. Also if they would be a good fit to the organization. I do have concerns with hiring people I know outside of my work, because you know them on a personnel level. How effectly can one separate personnel relationships with prefessional relationships?
Linda,
Good point, Linda. It would require you to do some serious soul searching to determine if you can handle it. You would need to think about different situations and whether your friendship would allow you to do what you need to do. Do you really want to mix your work and personal life?
Dr. Patricia Kapper
A company should not rely solely on referrals for their pool of prospective candidates for an open position. I think referrals coming from current employees show that they enjoy working for that company and want to share that with a friend, relative, or whoever by inviting them to apply. If you did not like who you are working for, why would you want to have someone you know outside of work put in the same boat of working for someone you do not like? On a down side of referrals, I think they could backfire because you may have more socialization between the two instead of working like they should.
Danica,
Referrals are good as one source of candidates but I agree with you that other sources should be used as well. Referrals are an inexpensive way to recruit even if your college does pay a referral fee. Whether or not you get a number of referrals is an indication of the morale within your college. Your employees will not refer others if they themselves are not happy with where they work. I do agree on the socialization comment that you make. That, however, becomes a management issue with which to deal.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Referrals work great most of the time but I have found that you really need to be aware of the relationship of the Referral and the referrie. If the relationship is close enough they won't have a problem taking the chance on a really close friend/family member.
I agree that referrals are a great way to find good applicants. You must always consider the source of the referral. You would also want to consider how well they know each other and the influence they can have.
Stephen,
The trust and respect that you have for the employee making the referral will play into your assessment of the candidate. If that employee has a work ethic which you would like to see replicated in others within your organization, then the referral probably has a similar work ethic. We tend to surround ourselves with others much like us.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Anna,
One posting cautioned about the potential for socializing on the job if the two individuals are too close. That then becomes a management issue and needs to be dealt with from that perspective. Referrals can be a cost effective way for creating a pool of candidates. It just needs to be done cautiously and the interviewing process needs to be thorough.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
