It is always difficult for recruiters to find ideal candidates, particularly when the sheer volume of candidates in the job market makes it hard to philter the quality candidates from the rest. The time, effort, and resources that go into hiring great candidates have been made more difficult by remote work to justify.

The most accurate, accessible, and underutilized source of candidates for recruiters is employee referrals. HR teams can leverage their relationships with current staff and get them to suggest valuable candidates. Within a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost of other candidate-sourcing channels, your staff can help you reach the most relevant candidates.

Referrals reduce hiring time

Employee referrals provide immediate access to talent because they are sourced through your employees’ personal connections. This cuts off a lot of time from the hiring process that would otherwise be spent on the cycles of sourcing and screening, coordination, negotiation, etc.

References enhance hire quality

Much of the world’s workforce consists of passive candidates. Despite the recent shift in the employment market, which has increased the number of job seekers, the highest talents in most industries often work in large and secure jobs. This means that they may not look for opportunities actively, but may be open to new roles. Such candidates can be reached with references. As you have already become fully aware of your vision, mission, culture, and atmosphere, your employees can tell you why people should think about your business.

Referrals boost retention rates

Referrals give your new hires the opportunity to understand your business from the point of view of an employee before they even begin to work for you. That implies that referrals understand what they are signing up for. They have company friends who can assist them to settle in quickly, reduce attrition, and boost retention. It is also true that workers who are prepared to refer to their relationships have faith in the business and are likely to stay longer. Your referral program can also be an employee satisfaction check in a sense.

Referrals get culture fits

Referrals also make it simple for people who fit in with the culture to be attracted. Referred applicants already know someone in the company and are familiar with what the culture is like, which implies that those references are more likely to be individuals who are first and foremost attracted to the culture.

Referrals help to attract potential clients

When your employees build brand awareness among their connections, they are not only tapping potential candidates, they are also creating prospective customers. The connections of your employees may vouch for your organization in the businesses for which they work, leading to positive word of mouth in larger circles for your brand.

Conclusion

Make sure you have your sourcing basics right before you hire through referrals. Watch out for common pitfalls that through referrals can come with sourcing candidates, and do not rely on referrals as the only source of talent. You should stick to the standard hiring process and provide timely updates to candidates if you don’t want diversity to take a hit, so you don’t leave them hanging, even if it means gracefully rejecting candidates.