How Employee Recognition and Appreciation Can Improve Candidate Referral

Everyone knows that happy employees who feel recognized for their work will be more likely to stay with their company and more inclined to work hard each day they are at their desks. While this connection is beneficial to leverage through the use of a great employee recognition program, there are other benefits that employers do not always think about when they are designing their employee recognition programs.

One of the least-considered but perhaps most essential benefits of offering a quality employee recognition program is that it can lead to referrals of excellent candidates for your open job positions. Candidate referral programs can lead to valuable hires that are hard to make without leveraging connections within your industry. If you have been struggling to make your referral program work for you, it might need a little boost from your employee recognition and appreciation program.

If you are ready to learn more about how your employee recognition program can improve and benefit your candidate referral system, read on!

How Employees Recognition and Appreciation Can Improve Candidate Referral

Happy employees are motivated employees. For example, 13% of polled employees state that positive recognition for their hard work inspires them to come to work each day and work hard. Employee satisfaction also directly correlates to workplace culture and a sense of community and commitment among teams at businesses.

However, many employers are not aware that employee satisfaction directly drives employee utilization of candidate referral programs. And it makes sense. If you do not enjoy your work environment, why would you refer friends or acquaintances to work with you?

Many employers incorrectly believe that offering monetary benefits for hired referrals is enough to motivate existing employees to refer their friends and prior co-workers to apply for open positions at their company. While a bonus is often welcomed, many employees are not motivated by the promise of money if they are not happy in their current job.

What Can You Do to Foster Employee Recognition?

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You might be wondering how you can create a more positive and recognition-focused workplace to drive good candidate referral results. Of course, the answer to this question is going to be affected somewhat by the industry that you work in, but there are some good rules of thumb to follow if you are trying to make sure that your employees love their jobs and that they feel welcome to refer talented new hires your way.

1.       Use Creative Bonuses

Not everyone is motivated by monetary bonuses. You can take a poll of your staff if you are not sure what kinds of benefits and prizes they would like to have access to for exceeding expectations, or you can get creative and come up with unique ways to promote a positive work environment.

Gift cards can be a great way to say thank you to employees who are working hard for you every day, or you might consider offering flex days or other PTO-based incentives to make people aware that you have seen their hard work and are recognizing them for it. It can seem like just throwing a thank you email their way is enough, but many people are working hard enough at their jobs that they are sacrificing their time.

Giving back with a gift card, some PTO, or a little bit of flex time can be a great way to benefit your employees to show that you understand how hard they are working for your company. In addition, these kinds of benefits are a great thing to offer when you are trying to get your candidate referral program up and running as well because many external applicants will be motivated by these kinds of bonuses.

2.       Use Points Systems

This idea leverages the kind of points system that your parents may have used to help you learn to earn rewards for doing chores around the house. Let’s face it, not everything about work is fun! But, if you want to try and encourage people to work on the hard things that are not popular to tackle, a points system can go a long way toward creating this kind of enthusiasm.

Earned points can then be collected or turned in at the employee’s discretion to gain access to processes and rewards. Determining the kind of award that you will win for your hard work will also help motivate and inspire team effort over the long haul.

3.       Make it Clear That You Care

No matter what kind of reward structure you are using, make sure that your employees feel a personal connection with you to make them aware that you appreciate them. Even the most excellent gift will feel hollow when delivered without the right kind of outreach.

Providing a caring and committed work environment to your employees will go just as far toward them feeling appreciated as an extravagant gift. This warm and caring work environment will also be a great motivator to inspire candidate referrals that will fill your more critical job roles with employees who are the right fit for your business needs.

Candidate Referral Programs go Hand in Hand With Employee Satisfaction.

Promoting a happy and healthy work environment is essential if you try to find quality new hires for your open job positions. If you cannot make your current employees feel valued, they are not likely to refer anyone else to come work with them, and they might even be reaching out to their connections to find a new job rather than to bring those connections to work at your company.

Employees who are happy with their jobs and the company they work for will not only work harder and stay with your company for longer; they will also help you to create a team of valuable workers who love their jobs.

 

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