Slides presented by Steve Boese on June 9, 2011 for an HCI Webcast on Social Referrals for Recruiting.

1. The Social Referral Referrals Powered by Social Media Steve Boese June 9, 2011

3. 1: Hello 2: Sourcing 3: Context 4: Problems 5: Possibilities 6: Social 7: Goodbye

4. Steve Boese HR Technology Guy Host of the HR Happy Hour Show Writer on Fistful of Talent Barbecue Enthusiast

7. Just over half of all hires are filled by internal movement Source – CareerXroads 2011 Source of Hire Report

8. 27.5 Percent of external hires attributed to referrals

19. We know employee and other referral programs work. We strive to increase the percentage of external hires filled via referral and the numbers of individuals participating. But… (there is always a but…)

21. Problem 1: Communication What jobs are open (especially the critical ones) What are the profiles (not your lazy brother-in-law) What is the progress/status (chances are your referrers don’t know)

22. Problem 2: Alignment Link to areas of business need (targeted areas of pain with comms, incentives) Not allowing everyone to play (and not penalizing the party poopers) Understanding the impact (can’t I just use Monster.com?)

23. Problem 3: Participation People are busy (especially the ‘important’ ones) What’s In It for Me? (I am tired of it too, but get over it) Do I believe this IS a good place to work? (this is kind of important)

24. Problem 4: Measurement Statistics first (numbers, qualified leads, interviews, offers) What is the impact? (cost reduction, time to fill, quality of hire) How can we improve? (without data, hard to refine)

26. Approach1: Communication Targeted communications (connect critical job to business objectives, hot jobs, key markets) Not all, but who (make it clear who we are looking for, use algorithms to help) Report and feedback (central admin, referral portal, ease of use, priority interviews)

27. Approach 2: Alignment Tell stories (Joe, VP of Marketing, referred by Mary, Director of Sales) Embrace the ecosystem (you still try and sell to old customers, right?) Give the stats (chances are your referrers don’t know, tools will make this possible)

28. Approach 3: Participation Make it simple to play (email alerts, one-click referrals, easy tracking) Clear value play (cash, more effective team, recognition, ease of tracking – blend and serve) Why do you love working here? (at the core – making us all more successful)

29. Approach 4: Measurement Tools for tracking activity (can’t manage what you don’t measure, sorry it’s true in this case) Assess the impact (baseline first, then measure and interpret) Improve and Refine (Data on activity and impact analysis are the guides)

31. What about social?

32. Encouragement You can’t really have an effective social referral program if your employees are not allowed, empowered, and encouraged to participate professionally with social technology. ‘Friend us on Facebook when you get home’ is not really a winning strategy The most effective social referral programs will be a reflection and a hallmark of the most successful ‘social’ organizations.

33. What’s worth sharing? Beyond job listings, make sure you offer referral program participants other opportunities to share and create Evolved social referral programs are like evolved social recruiting efforts – engagement, value, interaction Use sharing tools, syndication, tutorials etc. to make it really easy to get employees to act as ambassadors.

34. Manage the Networks There are lots of options, opportunities, and considerations to assess with social referrals. Have at least one person to manage, coordinate, coach, and monitor. Consider creating and providing training and coaching to help critical employees develop their networks that can be leveraged for referrals Stay on top of what is working and what isn’t. Barriers are low, so be willing to experiment and adapt.

35. Accept the inevitable In social referral programs, and with social in general, there will be mistakes, slip-ups, embarrassments. (#weinergate, #kennethcole, #whateverhappenedtoday) But using these as an excuse or barrier to participation is the easy way out, and a poor use of a valuable resource Have a policy, create a central ‘go-to’ person, coach ‘em up, but don’t let fear or uncertainty lead to inaction

37. Let’s Review: Sourcing is changing (but slowly) Referrals are critical (and getting more complex to manage) Tools can help manage, optimize, measure, and scale social referral programs

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40. Don’t be a stranger…. Steve Boese - @SteveBoese steveboese@gmail.com www.steveboese.squarespace.com www.hrhappyhour.net www.FistfulofTalent.com