Recommended Recruiting: When they pay for friends
Employers who need new qualified personnel are looking for help from their employees to find suitable candidates among friends and relatives, writes Colin Cottell.
Translated article. Recommended network gooroo search staff . At a reprint the reference to the source is required.
The Guardian (August 20, 2005)
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Large employers attract employees to search for personnel among friends and relatives, thus solving the problem of hiring qualified specialists. The phenomenon is not new in itself, however, recent studies indicate a significant increase in the number of companies that solve the problem of hiring staff, engaging employees in the search for talent.
Fears that such an approach would “nullify” attempts to increase staff heterogeneity (why involve most white employees in searching for candidates, if it is known that even professional recruiters tend to hire people in their own way and likeness?) Have already dissipated.
As a result, even many large and politically correct employers have joined the general trend.
Carly Gilpin, customer service manager at the Nartwide Building Society in Hertford, is one of the modern recruitment sergeants. Miss Gilpin, 21, through the People Like Us program (People Like Us, brought her friend to the company and received a reward of ÂŁ 500.
“People know people. Know what they are, whether they can join the team, ”she says. “My girlfriend is energetic. Everyone in our company is friendly and energetic. Yes, we have a reward for a successful recommendation, but to be honest, I just like working in this company, and I decided that my friend would like it too. ”
According to a study on staff recruitment and motivation prepared by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's 2004 in 2004, more than 8 out of 10 employers have difficulties in recruiting, and 38% of employers in the UK used recruiting recommendation as a tool staff. The growth of this indicator was 4% compared with the previous year.
The nationwide building society, Amazon's online store, Sainsbury's, Vodafone, Bupa, and Asda are just some of the growing number of employers using this type of program. In the charitable and non-profit sectors, according to the Graduated Institute of Personnel and Personnel Development, the number of such companies has grown sixfold and is about one to five.
“Now we are all headhunters. We are trying to attract people at all levels to find talents, ”says Philip Horn, head of HR at Asda Wal-Mart, a company where recruitment recommendation is a key tool for closing the 40,000 new vacancies that open every year. supermarket chains.
Recommended recruiting has several advantages compared to traditional methods of personnel search, says Jamie Barber, a consultant working with Recruitmax. “Costs can be surprisingly low, especially compared to the costs of search and recruitment and advertising costs.”
“And payment is made only when the appropriate candidate has already been taken on board.”
Mr. Horn agrees that costs are a major advantage. “Recruiting is an overly expensive process,” he says. Whereas “such recommender schemes are practically free of charge and turn out to be certainly cheaper than publishing an advertisement in a newspaper.”
However, according to a study published in September 2004 by the Income Data Services, compensation consultants who evaluated recommender schemes for 14 companies, low costs are just one of the advantages.
As stated in their report, applicants recommended by someone, as a rule, turn out to be professionals of a higher level than employees attracted through advertising. "It reduces the time spent on recruiting by holding fewer interviews to close a vacancy."
In addition, such "non-random" applicants have more realistic expectations about how the company will work, and are more likely to join the team.
Also an important advantage is cultural susceptibility, agrees John Wrighthouse, head of the training and development department at the Nationwide Building Society. “If a person likes working in a company, most likely, his friends and relatives, who have a similar value system, will also like it,” he says.
“People like us,” he explains, is a way of encouraging employees who have attracted people who, as stated in the survey results, are likely to remain in the company. According to him, this contributes to reducing the annual rotation of staff by up to 10%; compared to, for example, 16% in the banking sector.
Mr. Raythaus says that since the launch of the recommendation scheme in February 2004, the company has recommended over 400 candidates. As a result, 68 people were hired. And since it is much cheaper than traditional recruiting methods, Mr. Raythaus believes that this scheme has already saved the company 190,000 pounds.
It is also important, in his words, that “we benefit from the fact that employees get job satisfaction and are loyal to the company”.
Other employers rely on their recommendation schemes even more than the National Building Society. For example, according to the Revenue Service, Cap Gemini closes about a quarter of its vacancies with the help of employee recommendations, and in the Novartis Pharmaceuticals sales department this figure reaches 30%.
Pete May, HR manager at Selfridges, is another advocate for employee involvement in the recruitment process. Faced with the need to hire 1,000 employees for a store in Birmingham at the moment when the Bull Ring was reopened, which means that the demand for retail staff increased dramatically, Mr. May openly shifted responsibility to immediate supervisors by offering financial rewards if they reached goals. “I said that hiring new employees is their responsibility.”
But even Mr. May was impressed with the results when the managers of the skateboard and accessories department turned to skateboarders at Armageddon Park in Birmingham with a job offer.
“As a result of their initiative,” says Mr. May, “we recruited five people. If we had not given direct managers the right to participate in recruiting, we most likely would not have been able to attract new employees. ”
Not only the company benefits from such methods, says Mr. Horn of Asda. “Many employees enjoy when they see that the person they recruit has joined the team and continues to work successfully for a long time. And the person involved is grateful to you. The people you helped will not let you down. ”
Mr. Barber believes that such schemes can limit the flow of fresh blood and suppress fresh ideas, because employees tend to choose people according to their own image and likeness.
It can also go against equal opportunity policies and reduce heterogeneity. Mr. Raythouse confirms that discrimination "was a big fear for us." Therefore, he says, before the launch of People Like Us, they consulted the Equal Opportunities Commission.
To date, the results are promising. "The composition of the staff does not differ from the previous one, attracted through traditional advertising neither by national nor by age characteristics."
Employers argue that their recommendation schemes and commitment to equity and staff heterogeneity do not contradict each other.
“This recruitment method avoids only the need to contact agencies, but not any other steps in the process,” said Vicky Twibell, HR manager at Baker McKenzie, a large law firm where, within the framework of a referral scheme, employees are paid from 2,000 to 5,000 pounds for a successful recommendation.
“A recommended applicant, like any other who has come to us in the traditional way, goes through strict recruitment procedures so that we can make sure that he meets all our requirements, including our staff diversity policy.”
Mr. Horn admits that there may be an element of "conformity to the image." However, he is confident that employees do not focus on a specific type of people. “People in Asda are sociable, friendly, interesting, open to new ideas and changes, maybe even a little weird,” he says.
Although in the end he acknowledges that there is a danger that new employees in leadership positions may bring their friends, but at the same time I am sure that Asda will not become a company of clones. “The only negative point is the situation when an employee recommends someone, but the person does not get this job. This can cause problems, ”he says.
Another disadvantage of recommender schemes is that they are not suitable for all types of vacancies. Mr. Raythaus points out that “People like us” works well for attracting client managers, but for such positions as a project manager or a tax specialist, “for whom you need to throw the network much further”, they still use “traditional methods , For example, ads in newspapers.
Although it is not a complete solution for all the recruitment needs of the Nationwide Building Society, Mr. Reithaus describes these schemes as “undoubted success”.
The number of employers choosing this recruiting tool is growing, and many are now ready to try how it works.
Original article
In our immediate plans - improvement blog gooroo . We want to make it interesting for our experts and companies, to fill with unique and useful content. For now - the first innovation: translated articles from leading Western press about the experience of the best companies and business professionals.
Translated article. Recommended network gooroo search staff . At a reprint the reference to the source is required.
The Guardian (August 20, 2005)
')
Large employers attract employees to search for personnel among friends and relatives, thus solving the problem of hiring qualified specialists. The phenomenon is not new in itself, however, recent studies indicate a significant increase in the number of companies that solve the problem of hiring staff, engaging employees in the search for talent.
Fears that such an approach would “nullify” attempts to increase staff heterogeneity (why involve most white employees in searching for candidates, if it is known that even professional recruiters tend to hire people in their own way and likeness?) Have already dissipated.
As a result, even many large and politically correct employers have joined the general trend.
Carly Gilpin, customer service manager at the Nartwide Building Society in Hertford, is one of the modern recruitment sergeants. Miss Gilpin, 21, through the People Like Us program (People Like Us, brought her friend to the company and received a reward of ÂŁ 500.
“People know people. Know what they are, whether they can join the team, ”she says. “My girlfriend is energetic. Everyone in our company is friendly and energetic. Yes, we have a reward for a successful recommendation, but to be honest, I just like working in this company, and I decided that my friend would like it too. ”
According to a study on staff recruitment and motivation prepared by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's 2004 in 2004, more than 8 out of 10 employers have difficulties in recruiting, and 38% of employers in the UK used recruiting recommendation as a tool staff. The growth of this indicator was 4% compared with the previous year.
The nationwide building society, Amazon's online store, Sainsbury's, Vodafone, Bupa, and Asda are just some of the growing number of employers using this type of program. In the charitable and non-profit sectors, according to the Graduated Institute of Personnel and Personnel Development, the number of such companies has grown sixfold and is about one to five.
“Now we are all headhunters. We are trying to attract people at all levels to find talents, ”says Philip Horn, head of HR at Asda Wal-Mart, a company where recruitment recommendation is a key tool for closing the 40,000 new vacancies that open every year. supermarket chains.
Recommended recruiting has several advantages compared to traditional methods of personnel search, says Jamie Barber, a consultant working with Recruitmax. “Costs can be surprisingly low, especially compared to the costs of search and recruitment and advertising costs.”
“And payment is made only when the appropriate candidate has already been taken on board.”
Mr. Horn agrees that costs are a major advantage. “Recruiting is an overly expensive process,” he says. Whereas “such recommender schemes are practically free of charge and turn out to be certainly cheaper than publishing an advertisement in a newspaper.”
However, according to a study published in September 2004 by the Income Data Services, compensation consultants who evaluated recommender schemes for 14 companies, low costs are just one of the advantages.
As stated in their report, applicants recommended by someone, as a rule, turn out to be professionals of a higher level than employees attracted through advertising. "It reduces the time spent on recruiting by holding fewer interviews to close a vacancy."
In addition, such "non-random" applicants have more realistic expectations about how the company will work, and are more likely to join the team.
Also an important advantage is cultural susceptibility, agrees John Wrighthouse, head of the training and development department at the Nationwide Building Society. “If a person likes working in a company, most likely, his friends and relatives, who have a similar value system, will also like it,” he says.
“People like us,” he explains, is a way of encouraging employees who have attracted people who, as stated in the survey results, are likely to remain in the company. According to him, this contributes to reducing the annual rotation of staff by up to 10%; compared to, for example, 16% in the banking sector.
Mr. Raythaus says that since the launch of the recommendation scheme in February 2004, the company has recommended over 400 candidates. As a result, 68 people were hired. And since it is much cheaper than traditional recruiting methods, Mr. Raythaus believes that this scheme has already saved the company 190,000 pounds.
It is also important, in his words, that “we benefit from the fact that employees get job satisfaction and are loyal to the company”.
Other employers rely on their recommendation schemes even more than the National Building Society. For example, according to the Revenue Service, Cap Gemini closes about a quarter of its vacancies with the help of employee recommendations, and in the Novartis Pharmaceuticals sales department this figure reaches 30%.
Pete May, HR manager at Selfridges, is another advocate for employee involvement in the recruitment process. Faced with the need to hire 1,000 employees for a store in Birmingham at the moment when the Bull Ring was reopened, which means that the demand for retail staff increased dramatically, Mr. May openly shifted responsibility to immediate supervisors by offering financial rewards if they reached goals. “I said that hiring new employees is their responsibility.”
But even Mr. May was impressed with the results when the managers of the skateboard and accessories department turned to skateboarders at Armageddon Park in Birmingham with a job offer.
“As a result of their initiative,” says Mr. May, “we recruited five people. If we had not given direct managers the right to participate in recruiting, we most likely would not have been able to attract new employees. ”
Not only the company benefits from such methods, says Mr. Horn of Asda. “Many employees enjoy when they see that the person they recruit has joined the team and continues to work successfully for a long time. And the person involved is grateful to you. The people you helped will not let you down. ”
Mr. Barber believes that such schemes can limit the flow of fresh blood and suppress fresh ideas, because employees tend to choose people according to their own image and likeness.
It can also go against equal opportunity policies and reduce heterogeneity. Mr. Raythouse confirms that discrimination "was a big fear for us." Therefore, he says, before the launch of People Like Us, they consulted the Equal Opportunities Commission.
To date, the results are promising. "The composition of the staff does not differ from the previous one, attracted through traditional advertising neither by national nor by age characteristics."
Employers argue that their recommendation schemes and commitment to equity and staff heterogeneity do not contradict each other.
“This recruitment method avoids only the need to contact agencies, but not any other steps in the process,” said Vicky Twibell, HR manager at Baker McKenzie, a large law firm where, within the framework of a referral scheme, employees are paid from 2,000 to 5,000 pounds for a successful recommendation.
“A recommended applicant, like any other who has come to us in the traditional way, goes through strict recruitment procedures so that we can make sure that he meets all our requirements, including our staff diversity policy.”
Mr. Horn admits that there may be an element of "conformity to the image." However, he is confident that employees do not focus on a specific type of people. “People in Asda are sociable, friendly, interesting, open to new ideas and changes, maybe even a little weird,” he says.
Although in the end he acknowledges that there is a danger that new employees in leadership positions may bring their friends, but at the same time I am sure that Asda will not become a company of clones. “The only negative point is the situation when an employee recommends someone, but the person does not get this job. This can cause problems, ”he says.
Another disadvantage of recommender schemes is that they are not suitable for all types of vacancies. Mr. Raythaus points out that “People like us” works well for attracting client managers, but for such positions as a project manager or a tax specialist, “for whom you need to throw the network much further”, they still use “traditional methods , For example, ads in newspapers.
Although it is not a complete solution for all the recruitment needs of the Nationwide Building Society, Mr. Reithaus describes these schemes as “undoubted success”.
The number of employers choosing this recruiting tool is growing, and many are now ready to try how it works.
Original article
In our immediate plans - improvement blog gooroo . We want to make it interesting for our experts and companies, to fill with unique and useful content. For now - the first innovation: translated articles from leading Western press about the experience of the best companies and business professionals.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/42178/
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