The benefits of Referral Recruitment.

1. Higher efficiency
Most applications still come in via the 'work at' site and job boards. However, looking at the number of vacancies filled, a whopping 40% of vacancies are found to be filled with candidates who came in through the referral channel. In comparison, only 15% of filled vacancies come from candidates through job boards.

2. Higher quality
Employees think twice before recommending someone. After all, their own reputation is also at stake. They think carefully about whether the proposed candidate fits the company and job profile. As a result, the quality of the proposed candidates is often higher.

3. Less work for the recruiter
The employee takes a lot of work off the recruiter's hands: he handles the pre-selection and helps the recruiter "sell" the job and the company.

4. Candidate pooling
If properly designed and executed, a referral programme can provide an ongoing source of potential talent, even if there are not always concrete vacancies.

5. Referrals stay longer
Because pre-selection is better and the candidate is brought in based on authentic stories, expectations and 'fit' are better. As a result, employees from referral are found to stay on longer.

Employees who make an active effort to recruit other employees are often involved above average and therefore ambassadors for the organisation. Often, these employees stay with the company longer. The degree of success of a referral programme is therefore a good indicator of employee engagement in the company.

6. Vacancies filled faster
Research shows that, on average, a candidate who got in touch with the company through referral took 29 days to start work. Through a job board, it took an average of 39 days and through the 'working at' site 55 days.