Rewarding employees in an employee referral program is very essential to maintain a higher participation level in the program. Employee referral programs are valuable but when combined with the right reward management system can prove to be a great recruiting tool for organizations. Consider these best practices to chalk out an effective employee referral bonus strategy for making your referral program successful. Visit www.zalp.com/resources to explore more on employee referral reward strategy techniques to design your referral program in the right direction.

1. Best Practices: Employee
ReferralProgramBonusStrategy
Best Practices
Employee Referral Program
Bonus Strategy

2. Best Practices: EmployeeReferral
ProgramBonusStrategy
Bonuses are considered as the biggest motivator
for employees to refer candidates, but the main
focus and discussion should not only be the
quantum of bonus but also on the criteria and
modalities of payment.
INTRODUCTION

3. Best Practices: EmployeeReferral
ProgramBonusStrategy
 Roles that require highly specialized or niche skills or
people with specific domain experience will need to be
offered higher bonuses to justify the time and effort
needed by employees to search among their connections
for people with the required niche skills.
 Jobs for which people with the required skill sets are
relatively easily available can be offered lower incentives.
Some Points To Ponder Upon:

4. Best Practices: EmployeeReferral
ProgramBonusStrategy
 A general thumb rule while deciding on the referral bonus
is to peg it at 20-25% of the normal cost of hiring for that
role through an external agency.
 It is also important to keep in mind that the referral bonus
should be perceived by employees to be a good enough
amount to justify his or her time and effort in referring
candidates and should be in proportion to the value it
brings to the organization.
Some Points To Ponder Upon:

5. Best Practices: EmployeeReferral
ProgramBonusStrategy
 Plan a hiring budget against each job description. This
allows organizations to implement a tiered employee
referral bonus program which rewards every employee who
has made a relevant referral.
 This acts as a great motivator to draw more referrals.
Employee whose referral is finally hired is rewarded with
the highest bonus, while employees whose referral make it
to the final list but are not hired get a lower portion and
so on.

6. Best Practices: EmployeeReferral
ProgramBonusStrategy
 Cash incentives are not the only ways to motivate
employees. Small gifts like gift cards or t-shirts or other
merchandise offered on a regular basis help to keep
employees engaged with the hiring process.
 Another way is to offer employees who have referred
candidates an opportunity to participate and win in a
larger prize draw like a laptop or a TV or a holiday etc.

7. Best Practices: EmployeeReferral
ProgramBonusStrategy
 Offering employees the opportunity to contribute their
referral amount to a charitable cause attaches a higher
value purpose to the employee referral program which in
turn helps to draw more employees to this.
 Attach a supplemental referral bonus amount for positions
or roles that are hard to fill as they require specialized,
niche skill sets.

8. Best Practices: EmployeeReferral
ProgramBonusStrategy
 If you are looking to hire fast for a position, a good option
is to introduce limited period bonus add on for referring
candidates upto a specified date post which the
supplemental bonus is removed.
 Lastly, companies have gone beyond referral bonuses to
recognize employees who have contributed significantly to
the success of employee referral program by felicitating
them at office functions or with handwritten notes from
senior leaders.

9. ZALP is just a click away (www.zalp.com)
These best practices if used in your employee referral program
bonus strategy can help you set up your referral program policy in
place. If you need any other help in setting up your employee
referral program,
You may also opt for a free consultation on improvingyour referral program
results. Our employee referral specialists would be glad to help.

10. For more information, visit
www.zalp.com
To book a consultation appointment,drop a mail to
info@zalp.com
You may also call us for any other assistance
1-866-217- 1267
The Employee Referral Booster