With unemployment being up over the last year and less employees returning to the workforce, recruiting top talent can be very difficult. By implementing or making changes to your referral program, you can be sure you are hiring those who fit in with your company’s core values and culture.

Referral programs help ensure the company is recruiting top talent for all available positions. Follow these 6 steps to enhance your referral program:

1. Advertise. Communicate the details of your referral program clearly and regularly with employees. If they don’t know it’s there, how will they participate?
2. Make the submission process easy. No one wants to take the time to do something that is too time consuming. Make submitting and tracking easy to find and easy to follow.
3. Make employees feel appreciated. If employees take the time to make a referral, they want to receive recognition. Whether a hire is made or not, recognize your employees for submitting a contact and take the time to give them a shout out or show appreciation.
4. Keep everyone informed. Be transparent and keep employees informed with where their referral is at. Keeping them updated ensures employees keep sharing their contacts and make referrals in the future.
5. Reward engagement. Make hiring more prominent and increase referrals with incentives, such as giving out small rewards, and tracking and communicating which employees are referring the most hires.
6. Provide feedback on outcomes. Let your employees know what works and what doesn’t. If they know what you are looking for in an employee, they can narrow down their options and bring the best referrals to you.

Need help setting up a referral program or revising your current one? Contact us.