iCIMS' User Group Breakfast Takeways: The Power of Employee Referrals

Yesterday, while sitting on Northeast Regional Amtrak train 186 from Washington DC to New York City, I had three hours and twenty eight minutes to reflect on the iCIMS User Group Breakfast I had just attended. Similar to User Group Breakfasts in the past, this event brought together 31 of iCIMS’ leading users in the DC area for a networking event and thought-provoking round table discussion. The breakfast focused on the theme “Evolving Strategies for Talent Management in the Coming Decade” and round table discussion topics ran the gamut. From OFCCP compliance to onboarding, Going Green, social media and performance metrics, the user discussion touched on all aspects of talent management.

Riding on the train, I found my thoughts drifting back to one topic in particular – Employee Referrals. A large portion of the round table discussion unexpectedly focused on leveraging employee referral programs. While I am familiar with a wealth of analyst research that highlights the benefits of employee referrals, I was taken aback by the inherent value iCIMS’ customers experienced from their individual employee referral programs. The round table discussion moderator went as far as to say that 53% of her organization’s new hires come from employee referrals.

Research has shown, and yesterday iCIMS users reaffirmed, employee referral programs are a cost-effective way to hire qualified talent. In addition to reducing cost-per-hire metrics by eliminating the need to post open positions to job boards, time-to-fill metrics are often significantly lower for positions filled by employee referrals. Perhaps the most important aspect of employee referrals is the caliber of candidates they produce. When comparing an employee’s original source of hire to subsequent performance assessments, iCIMS users found that employee referrals were their top source for the highest performing employees. After all, a current employee is often reluctant to refer someone to a position if they think that candidate will reflect poorly on their professional judgment.

After discussing the benefits of an organized employee referral program, the discussion transitioned to how iCIMS’ Talent Platform can streamline and automate the process. While many organizations in attendance were already leveraging their iCIMS Talent Platform to support their referral program and experiencing significant time savings, some were still managing the referral program manually.   Those organizations with automated referral programs discussed the benefits of sourcing clients directly from the employee referral portal and tracking the referral payouts. Clients also spoke of recruiters who were once over-whelmed with manually tracking referrals now having their workload cut in half thanks to iCIMS. iCIMS’ referral functionality also encouraged employees to refer more candidates for jobs because it automated the process, providing them with a simple way to submit and track their individual referrals.

For those organizations that realize the inherent value of employee referrals but are still managing their program manually, I encourage you to look into iCIMS employee referral functionality. iCIMS’ robust Talent Platform can easily be configured to support any referral program, big or small. My experience at yesterday’s user group breakfast cemented my belief in the value of an organized employee referral program.