A friend in need! Hiring via employee referrals is the new favourite in top companies

Referral systems are slowly becoming companies’ favourite way of hiring new people, since it involves asking its own employees to recommend candidates, making sure that only worthy candidates appear for the interview. In turn, employees get rewarded.

A majority of Indian companies are now using top technology for referral hires, since it involves lesser time and also increases employee’s sense of belongingness with the company. "Nearly 55% of talent leaders see employee referral programmes as the top source of quality hire," Irfan Abdulla, director, talent solutions, LinkedIn India, told ET.

Top companies going the referral way for hiring include Coca-Cola, Infosys, Genpact, Capgemini, Deloitte, and Jubilant etc, with the mentioned names reporting hiring over 40% of their workforce through referrals.

When it comes to rewarding employees for successful referrals, companies are paying more to employees who recommend more women for roles, which also helps in bridging the gender gap in company’s workforce.

For example, Capgemini has launched 'recruitHER' for employees to upload profiles of female candidates to be eligible for a lucky draw. Coca-Cola also boasts of 31% women associates since they place a 15-20% premium on female candidates that get hired through referrals.

While some companies pay referrals in terms of cash, there are some companies that like to give out gifts like kindles and external hard disks in case employees refer someone who makes it to the workforce.

Image source