By Kristin Zajac

 We talk to a lot of folks who manage employee referral  programs and the most common challenge we hear is a lack of  employee adoption. There are a few main reasons why  employees don’t adopt:

 1. It’s too hard to think of someone who might  be a fit. When most of us hear about a job opening,  unless it’s the perfect match for our spouse or  someone we spoke with this week, it’s hard to recall who we know in that field. We may spend a minute or two thinking about it, and if we don’t come up with anyone, we give up.

2. It takes too much time. Say an employee does think of someone who might be qualified for a particular job. Now what? They’ll need to reach out to the person, describe the opportunity, have a conversation about the company, follow-up to get a resume, submit it to HR, and respond to status update requests from the candidate. With all the things people have going on day-to-day at work, this is a significant effort for something outside the lines of their direct responsibilities. It’s no wonder it falls to the bottom of the list.

3. They aren’t aware of new job openings. Per my last point, employees don’t have time to regularly check the company career portal for new positions. Unless they happen to hear of one, or their recruiter provides them with regular updates, they’ll never know if a job comes up that is a perfect fit for their college roommate. Without awareness, there can be no referrals.

4. The last time they referred someone they never heard back from HR. Just as employees have little time to submit referrals, overworked recruiters often don’t have time to close the loop with employees who have submitted them. Even worse, sometimes referred candidates don’t hear from HR at all – disappointing both them and the referring employee. When this happens, employees are dis-incented from referring again.

Do some of these challenges resonate? We’ve designed Bullhorn Reach Referrals to specifically combat these issues, and it’s working. Our customers are seeing extremely high employee adoption, as much as 86% after re-launching their employee referral programs on Bullhorn Reach. Our implementation and adoption team has given these customers the extra coaching and assistance they need to make their programs a success.

Want to learn more? Contact us today.