The Social ReferralReferrals Powered by Social

MediaSteve BoeseJune 9, 2011

1: Hello2: Sourcing3: Context

4: Problems5: Possibilities

6: Social7: Goodbye

Steve BoeseHR Technology GuyHost of the HR Happy Hour ShowWriter on Fistful of TalentBarbecue Enthusiast

Just over half ofall hires arefilled by internalmovement

Source – CareerXroads 2011 Source of Hire Report

Percent of external hires attributed to

referrals

27.5

We know employee and other referral programs work. We strive to increase the percentage of external hires filled via referral and the numbers of individuals participating.

But…

(there is always a but…) 

Problem 1:

Communication

What jobs are open (especially the critical ones)

What are the profiles(not your lazy brother-in-law)

What is the progress/status

(chances are your referrers don’t know)

Problem 2:

Alignment

Link to areas of business need(targeted areas of pain with comms,

incentives)

Not allowing everyone to play(and not penalizing the party

poopers)

Understanding the impact(can’t I just use Monster.com?)

Problem 3:

Participation

People are busy(especially the ‘important’ ones)

What’s In It for Me?(I am tired of it too, but get over it)

Do I believe this IS a good place to work?

(this is kind of important)

Problem 4:

Measurement

Statistics first(numbers, qualified leads,

interviews, offers)

What is the impact?(cost reduction, time to fill,

quality of hire)

How can we improve?(without data, hard to refine)

Approach 1:

Communication

Targeted communications(connect critical job to business

objectives, hot jobs, key markets)

Not all, but who(make it clear who we are looking

for, use algorithms to help)

Report and feedback(central admin, referral portal, ease

of use, priority interviews)

Approach 2:

Alignment

Tell stories(Joe, VP of Marketing, referred by

Mary, Director of Sales)

Embrace the ecosystem(you still try and sell to old

customers, right?)

Give the stats(chances are your referrers don’t

know, tools will make this possible)

Approach 3:

Participation

Make it simple to play(email alerts, one-click referrals, easy

tracking)

Clear value play(cash, more effective team,

recognition, ease of tracking – blend and serve)

Why do you love working here?(at the core – making us all more

successful)

Approach 4:

Measurement

Tools for tracking activity(can’t manage what you don’t measure,

sorry it’s true in this case)

Assess the impact(baseline first, then measure and

interpret)

Improve and Refine(Data on activity and impact analysis

are the guides)

What about social?

EncouragementYou can’t really have an effective social referral program if your employees are not allowed, empowered, and encouraged to participate professionally with social technology.

‘Friend us on Facebook when you get home’ is not really a winning strategy

The most effective social referral programs will be a reflection and a hallmark of the most successful ‘social’ organizations.

What’s worth sharing?Beyond job listings, make sure you offer referral program participants other opportunities to share and create

Evolved social referral programs are like evolved social recruiting efforts – engagement, value, interaction

Use sharing tools, syndication, tutorials etc. to make it really easy to get employees to act as ambassadors.

Manage the NetworksThere are lots of options, opportunities, and considerations to assess with social referrals. Have at least one person to manage, coordinate, coach, and monitor.

Consider creating and providing training and coaching to help critical employees develop their networks that can be leveraged for referrals

Stay on top of what is working and what isn’t. Barriers are low, so be willing to experiment and adapt.

Accept the inevitableIn social referral programs, and with social in general, there will be mistakes, slip-ups, embarrassments. (#weinergate, #kennethcole, #whateverhappenedtoday)

But using these as an excuse or barrier to participation is the easy way out, and a poor use of a valuable resource

Have a policy, create a central ‘go-to’ person, coach ‘em up, but don’t let fear or uncertainty lead to inaction

Let’s Review:

Sourcing is changing (but slowly)

Referrals are critical(and getting more complex to

manage)

Tools can help manage, optimize, measure, and

scale social referral programs

&

Steve Boese - @SteveBoesesteveboese@gmail.comwww.steveboese.squarespace.comwww.hrhappyhour.netwww.FistfulofTalent.com

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