You’ve implemented a well-branded employee referral program with creative ways to catch the attention of your employees. You’ve educated your employees on the

bottom-line value of your referral program and the high priority jobs that you are recruiting for.  Yet…your employee referral results are not quite where you would like them to be.  Now what?  Networking.  Educate your managers and high performing employees on how to go beyond talking to people about open jobs. Teach them the skills they need to build and maintain an effective professional network for life, while at the same time enhancing your employee referral program results.

Real networking is not about making a couple of calls to fill an open position.   Networking is not a transaction.  It’s about creating and effectively managing a network of people, based on long-term, two-way genuine relationship building.  At its core is a pay-it-forward mentality. You give without being asked and help because it’s the right thing to do. Relationships are based on trust, respect, and genuine caring for others.  Effective networkers know that people move in and out of their networks over time, but their networks are always active and always a priority. 

You know the reasons employee referrals are important.  There are countless studies, articles and blog posts confirming that referrals will save you money and increase quality of hire.  Assuming that you believe the data, then we must continue to find ways to make our employee referral programs more effective.  Well-networked recruiters, managers, and top performing employees are at the core of taking your employee referral program to the next level. 

By helping your employees become better networkers, you will build the foundation necessary to sustain a successful employee referral program.  Frankly, most people are just not that great at networking. It’s hard. It takes time. Most of your employees, and many of your recruiters, could use your help.

This blog post is an excerpt from an article I wrote that was published in the October issue of the Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership.   Future blog posts will address tips for effectively building and maintaining your professional network.