Emma Mirrington from The FIRM and David Steel from Talent Insight Group share the insider info from their latest research into Employee Referral Schemes. We asked a range of organisations all the questions you wanted to know from reward structures (when and what), eligibility, technology, budgets, perils and pitfalls and more! Come and join us for this interactive and informal session and leave equipped to refresh or launch your own ERP!

1. Employee Referral Programmes
Key Insights

2. The FIRM - what we do
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3. Talent Insight Group - what we do
Talent Insight Group partners
with organisations wishing to
make informed strategic talent
and business decisions

4. Talent Insight Group - what we do
Insight: research in to the external market to mitigate risk aligned
with talent. This includes salary benchmarking; location planning;
brand perception; pre-acquisition talent due diligence; role
benchmarking.
Search: research to help clients find and recruit the best available
talent in the market for an immediate need at a highly competitive
cost.
Mapping: research to provide an illuminated view of the talent
landscape as a prelude to candidate engagement.
Pipelining: proactive research to provide small, medium or large
candidate pools for future talent needs. Underpinned with real
time external market insight.

5. Employee Referral
Schemes

6. The Questions
1. What are the general programme mechanics of your ERP?
2. Do you have a global or local framework for your ERP?
3. If global, are there any differences in the ERP across different countries?
4. Does your ERP offer a monetary or points based reward?
5. Is the structure of your ERP flat rate or tiered?
6. When are your rewards paid?
7. Does your ERP include referral into talent pools as well as for specific roles?
8. Are there any eligibility restrictions on your ERP? (i.e. Can HR make referrals?)
9. What technology do you use for referrals? (i.e. ATS, specific software)
10.What is your budget for your ERP?
11.What percentage of hires come from referrals?
12.How did you effectively launch your ERP?
13.How do you keep the ERP alive and in employees minds?
14.Are there any key pitfalls employed with ERPs?

7. The Questions
1. What are the general programme mechanics of your ERP?
2. Do you have a global or local framework for your ERP?
3. If global, are there any differences in the ERP across different countries?
4. Does your ERP offer a monetary or points based reward?
5. Is the structure of your ERP flat rate or tiered?
6. When are your rewards paid?
7. Does your ERP include referral into talent pools as well as for specific roles?
8. Are there any eligibility restrictions on your ERP? (i.e. Can HR make referrals?
9. What technology do you use for referrals? (i.e. ATS, specific software)
10.What is your budget for your ERP?
11.What percentage of hires come from referrals?
12.How did you effectively launch your ERP?
13.How do you keep the ERP alive and in employees minds?
14.Are there any key pitfalls employed with ERP's?

8. How did you effectively
launch your ERP?

9. How did you effectively launch your
ERP?
9
Posters
Screen Savers
Desk Drops
Weekly
Emails
Induction
Partnership
Internal
Comms ERP
Champions

10. Does your ERP offer a
monetary or points based
reward?

11. 90
10
Monetary Other
Does your ERP offer a monetary or points
based reward?
11
“We moved from financial
reward to charitable
donations last year...”
FMCG 2
“Monetary for experience
hires, points for grads…”
Tech 1
“Monetary at the moment,
but we are looking to move
to points and potentially
prizes…”
Tech 3
“Usually money but
sometimes a lottery ticket...”
(variation between
countries)
Aerospace & Defence

12. Example payment structures
Financial compensation:
• £1,000-3,000 paid in two parts - 50% on start and 50% on end of
probation
• £1,000-3,000 paid entirely at end of probation
• Charity donations (e.g. donation made once a target has been reached)
Examples of non-cash rewards:
• Company rewards (e.g. lunch with the CEO or a desirable parking spot)
• Vouchers (e.g. for coffee houses)
• Extra paid holiday days
• iPads and other technology gifts
• Experience days or weekends
• Family experiences (e.g. theme parks)
• Dinner for a group at a luxury restaurant
• Keys to win a car
12

13. Example payment structures
13
Payment ranges from following
dependant on work level:
• £250
• £500
• £2,000
• £4,000
✓ Paid in full after one month
Leather jacket with “I’m a talent
magnet” embossed on the inside
Entered into global draw – top 10
referrers win £25,000 payment
• £75 – School leaver
• £150 – Clerical
• £300 – Tech/Professional
✓ Payment after 6 months
• £1,000 – PA/Admin
• £2,000 – PA upwards
• £3,000 – Partner
✓ 50% paid after 3
months remaining 50%
after 6 months
• Admin - £500
• Management - £1,000
• Senior Manager - £1,500
✓ 50% paid after one month and rest
after probation
£1,000 flat fee paid after successful completion
of six month probation period
£500 flat fee paid after one month
£3,000/$5,000 payment regardless of level. Global scheme
so flat payment in each country
• £2,000 – graduate
• £3,500 – professional
• £5,000 – management

14. Is the structure of your ERP
flat rate or tiered?

15. 64
36
Flat Rate Tiered
Is the structure of your ERP flat rate or
tiered?
15
“Usually flat rate but, for example, our
UK team offer different levels of
payment for different levels of seniority,
and a different sum for graduates...”
Aerospace & Defence
“Tiered and country
specific…”
Financial Services 1

16. When are your ERP
rewards paid?

17. When are your rewards paid?
17
0
1
2
3
4
5
After Probation Referals first day
of employment
Split over various
time markers
Varies between
country
Other time frame

18. Does your ERP include referral
into talent pools as well as for
specific roles?

19. Does your ERP include referral into talent
pools as well as for specific roles?
19
“Yes, but we only
reward at hire
stage…”
“If we hired against
a referral for a
specific role from
the talent pool,
then yes...”
57
43
Specific Role Talent Pool

20. Are there any
eligibility restrictions on
your ERP?

21. Typical ERP eligibility restrictions
• TA/Recruitment exempt
• HR typically exempt although some exception
• Senior Managers and execs often exempt
• Anyone involved in recruitment process exempt
• Permanent employees only eligible
• No-one currently offering alumni/non-employee referral payments
although a couple of companies looking into it
• Family member referrals exempt in some companies
21

22. What percentage of
hires come from referrals?

23. What percentage of hires come from
referrals?
23

24. How do you keep your ERP
alive and in employee’s
minds?

25. How do you keep the ERP alive and in
employee’s minds?
25
Techniques used:
• Internal communications promotion
• Text reminders
• Email reminders
• Posters
• Flyers
• Intranet articles
• Events
• Celebrations of successful referrals and referees
• Introduction at induction
• Yammer
• Discussed in briefing meetings
• TV screens around the building

26. What are the key pitfalls
associated with ERPs?

27. What are the key pitfalls associated with
ERP’s?
27
• Ownership – when does the candidate become the property of the TA team?
• Diversity – no more than 50% referrals
• Reward – When/ How should rewards be paid? How should they be structured globally?
• Restrictions – Should ERP’s be applicable for temp/ contract/ internships/ trainees?
• Can create a negative employee experience if not managed effectively/consistently
• Potential for the cost of recruitment to be inflated due to increased number of referrals
• In some geographies referrer does not like to be linked to referral (cultural differences)
• Making sure managers do not have a bias towards or away from a referral candidate
• Administering the program can be labour intensive
• Potential to end up recruiting groups of friends into teams/take on failing teams from
other companies.
• Slight tendency for employees to try and push the cause of their referred candidates.
• ATS complexity letting the process down
• Quality of referrals
• Not just refer a friend, more refer a contact!
• Keeping the scheme front of employees minds

28. Why have an ERP?
28
• Candidate engagement
• Cultural fit
• Speed of hire/reduce ‘time to hire’
• Quicker assimilation for new starters
• Employee engagement
• Reduction of absence and attrition
• Successful cross border recruiting
• Cost effective

29. ERP Top Tips!
29
• Make the referral process as simple as possible (i.e. no more than two
clicks to refer!)
• Simple and clear policy
• Link to EVP objectives
• Relax rules for a period of time for priority/harder-to-fill roles
• Use your employee forum to understand how employees want to be
rewarded (consult, don’t just tell)
• Senior stakeholder support
• Continuous marketing and communication strategy
• Rewards should be realistic, competitive and timely

30. Any Questions?
www.thefirm-network.com
www.talentinsightgroup.co.uk

31. How do you build hiring
manager capability in your
organisation?