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Hiring “hard to fill” roles
Could an employee referral program help!
Q: I am a manager in a biotech firm. We are still having trouble hiring developers. I want to use a refer a friend effort. If a person refers a new employee, the person receives a specific amount of money. I know our neighbor companies have such benefits. What if a friend is terminated? What if a friend works for a friend? Before I go to HR, I need to get answers to my questions. They argue with every idea presented to them.
A: Employee referral programs are often successful recruiting tools for companies, particularly for “hard to fill” types of roles. I would put developers in the “hard to fill” category.
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Usually, an employer has a policy which outlines rules regarding employment of relatives and/or friends. The goal of such a policy is to discourage any favoritism, the appearance of favoritism, a conflict of interest or even an appearance of a conflict of interest. As an example, a call center manager should not supervise his spouse, or the senior head of developers should not supervise her best friend from college. An employee referral program would usually use these same guidelines for referred candidates.
An employee referral program sends a few additional messages to the employees of a company. One is the message “We are hiring.” This is a positive message as 2025 will likely be a mixed bag for hiring. Second employers often want to reward employees who tap into their personal and professional networks for the purpose of referring candidates. Three, employees often refer candidates who are sometimes pre-screened. Employees often do not want to refer a personal friend or professional contact who may reflect negatively on them.
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A well-planned employee referral program will provide guidance on an employee termination. Usually if a referred employee resigns or is terminated, the bonus is not paid if that occurs within a specific timeframe. The timeframe may be 90 days or a similar time period.
Many reputable companies have employee referrals programs as part of their talent acquisition strategy. Marriott Hotels, Nike, American Airlines and Salesforce all have employee referral programs. Some companies report that 40% or more of their new employees are hired through their employee referral program.
There is a lot of information online which will help you with the advantages and disadvantages of employee referral programs. You are smart to explore an employee referral program.
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