Best Practices: Employee Referral Program Bonus Strategy

Best Practices Employee Referral Program

Bonus Strategy

Best Practices: Employee Referral Program Bonus Strategy

Bonuses are considered as the biggest motivator

for employees to refer candidates, but the main

focus and discussion should not only be the

quantum of bonus but also on the criteria and

modalities of payment.

INTRODUCTION

Best Practices: Employee Referral Program Bonus Strategy

Roles that require highly specialized or niche skills or people with specific domain experience will need to be offered higher bonuses to justify the time and effort needed by employees to search among their connections for people with the required niche skills.

Jobs for which people with the required skill sets are relatively easily available can be offered lower incentives.

Some Points To Ponder Upon:

Best Practices: Employee Referral Program Bonus Strategy

A general thumb rule while deciding on the referral bonus is to peg it at 20-25% of the normal cost of hiring for that role through an external agency.

It is also important to keep in mind that the referral bonus should be perceived by employees to be a good enough amount to justify his or her time and effort in referring candidates and should be in proportion to the value it brings to the organization.

Some Points To Ponder Upon:

Best Practices: Employee Referral Program Bonus Strategy

Plan a hiring budget against each job description. This allows organizations to implement a tiered employee referral bonus program which rewards every employee who has made a relevant referral.

This acts as a great motivator to draw more referrals. Employee whose referral is finally hired is rewarded with the highest bonus, while employees whose referral make it to the final list but are not hired get a lower portion and so on.

Best Practices: Employee Referral Program Bonus Strategy

Cash incentives are not the only ways to motivate

employees. Small gifts like gift cards or t-shirts or other merchandise offered on a regular basis help to keep employees engaged with the hiring process.

Another way is to offer employees who have referred candidates an opportunity to participate and win in a larger prize draw like a laptop or a TV or a holiday etc.

Best Practices: Employee Referral Program Bonus Strategy

Offering employees the opportunity to contribute their

referral amount to a charitable cause attaches a higher value purpose to the employee referral program which in turn helps to draw more employees to this.

Attach a supplemental referral bonus amount for positions or roles that are hard to fill as they require specialized, niche skill sets.

Best Practices: Employee Referral Program Bonus Strategy

If you are looking to hire fast for a position, a good option

is to introduce limited period bonus add on for referring candidates upto a specified date post which the supplemental bonus is removed.

Lastly, companies have gone beyond referral bonuses to recognize employees who have contributed significantly to the success of employee referral program by felicitating them at office functions or with handwritten notes from senior leaders.

ZALP is just a click away (www.zalp.com)

These best practices if used in your employee referral program

bonus strategy can help you set up your referral program policy in

place. If you need any other help in setting up your employee

referral program,

You may also opt for a free consultation on improving your referral program results. Our employee referral specialists would be glad to help.

For more information, visit

www.zalp.com To book a consultation appointment, drop a mail to

info@zalp.com You may also call us for any other assistance

1-866-217- 1267

The Employee Referral Booster