Employee Referrals Overview
What is it?
Employee Referrals for SFX allows employee sponsors to share general and job-specific referral links with their network of friends, family, and colleagues. These referral links direct the candidate to the Career Site, maintaining proper attribution for the referral source. If a candidate uses a referral link to visit the Career Site and then applies for a job or to join the Talent Network, the sponsor is given credit for that referral in accordance with the company's referral policy.
Employee Referrals for SFX streamlines the traditional process. The traditional referral process is work intensive and requires a lot of manual effort.
Traditional process - Usually the employee is required to do a lot of work i.e. they have to find people in their network, sell the company to them, convince them to apply for a job, get access to resumes, complete a form (everything they know about the contact) and submit all of the contact information upfront. After the employee submits the contact's resume and information, then the contact has to apply for the job and the contact is checked to see if they qualify as a referral etc.
The new Employee Referrals streamlined process consists of 4 steps - Share > Apply > Hire > Track Eligibility & Reward
Share - Employees share personal referral link with network and individuals they'd like to sponsor.
Apply - Using the shared link, referred contacts visit the referral site, join talent network or apply to jobs.
Hire - Referred candidates progress through the selection process against one or more jobs until hired.
Track eligibility & reward - Referral bonus/credit eligibility is automatically determined. Referral reports track eligibility referral hires to the Sponsor for recognition & reward.
What are the key customer outcomes?
Key outcomes for sourcers
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Employee Sponsors can easily share “affiliate links” to their social networks or directly to their friends
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Automate the check for eligibility to refer a candidate
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Track bonus amount for employee sponsors
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Track employee sponsor “ownership” period
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Recruiters and program administrators can update eligibility status
- Campaigns and automation can be used to quickly target employees for valuable referrals with high-touch personalization
Measurable outcomes
Time to Hire, Cost per hire, Recruiter time per applicant, Retention, Number of hires leaving in the first 90 days
Key outcomes for candidates
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Referrals can easily opt-in: Referred contacts have the choice to apply for the job or opt into the talent network
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Referrals have a 40% better chance of getting hired than other candidates (Quartz)
How to get it?
Employee Referrals is an add-on feature that SFX customers can purchase. Customers are required to speak with their account manager.
What's included in Employee Referrals
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Employee only referral portal
- Employees can search for all jobs or only referral-eligible jobs
- Employees are assigned a personal referral tracking link which they can easily share with friends they would like to refer
- Self-service site allows employees to track the progress of their referrals
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Job links and general links for candidates
- Candidates receiving a job link from a Sponsor go straight to the job details page for said job, where they may choose to apply and/or explore other job openings
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Candidates who received a general link from their Sponsor, start at the home page of the referral site and can search for jobs or join the talent network
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Automated eligibility determination
- Candidates are checked to see if they already have a sponsor, if their sponsor type in eligible, the system checks the contact's status is eligible and if the sponsorship has expired
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Referral functionality in the SFX CRM
- Contacts who have been referred are clearly marked as a Referral in their contact profile
- Referrals are linked to their Sponsor along with Eligibility and sponsorship history
- Sponsors will have their own contact profile that will be marked as a Sponsor in the CRM once they have referred a candidate
- Referral bonus eligibility and amount are tracked per job
- Referred contacts and sponsors are searchable by means of the Eligibility Status filter in the Contacts page
- Campaigns & Workflow automation
- Target employees with campaigns to promote the referral program generally, high priority job openings, etc.
- Target referrals with a custom message/voice for referred friends
- Automate a special welcome message to all referred contacts with workflows
- Referral Analytics
- Track information needed to process referral bonuses with Referral Details reports
What’s not included?
The below features will be made available shortly after product launch:
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SSO - Single Sign-on for Employees to Referral portal
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Referrals AI Assistant (targeted for Q1) - an intelligent referrals assistant, allowing employees to make referrals, receive updates and check current roles directly from their workspace.
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Slack Integration: Referrals AI Assistant will initially be available for Slack, with additional platforms planned
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Seamless Sign Up: employees can start referring right away by chatting to the AI Assistant app in Slack, with no need to visit their email inbox to confirm their account
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Search Open Opportunities: guided search helps employees find suitable roles to share with their contacts
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Simple, Step-by-Step Referrals: AI Assistant provides quick access to referral links for employees to share, or can share with contacts directly via email or SMS
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Status Alerts: boosts employee engagement with alerts in their workspace when the status of their referrals changes
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- Redesigned referral activity on the home page - The UX and UI for the Employee Referrals homepage will undergo a major structural redesign shortly after launch
Current Referrals homepage
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Redesigned Referrals homepage coming after initial launch
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Using Employee Referrals
Enabling Client Settings
New client settings under Referrals need to be enabled: Enable Referral Settings and Allow Eligibility Override. Note: Users will have to sign out and back into the CRM in order for the enabled settings to take effect.
The Enable Referral Settings setting when enabled, displays the Referral Settings in Tools. The Allow Eligibility Override setting when enabled, allows crm users to manually edit eligibility in sponsor/referral contact profiles.
Turn on the above settings by navigating to Tools > Feature Permissions > Referrals
Accessing and using Referral Settings
To navigate to Referral settings, select Tools and scroll down to and select Referral Settings. Note: The 'Enable Referral Settings' feature permission must be enabled in order to see Referral Settings.
Sponsor Types
Sponsor Type settings allow you to select which sponsor types are eligible for referral credit. Prior to a sponsor referring a candidate on the referral portal, the sponsor will have to sign up to use the referral portal and select a Sponsor Type. Depending on what sponsor type is selected, will determine if that sponsor is eligible for referral bonus. For example 'Employee' sponsor type is eligible but 'Contractor' is not.
Users can turn eligibility on and off for existing Sponsor Types, edit existing Sponsor Types, create new Sponsor Types and delete Sponsor Types.
- To turn eligibility on and off for Sponsor Type, toggle the eligibility toggle switch.
- To create a new Sponsor Type (duplicate types cannot be created):
- Select the + icon
- Enter a new label name
- Select ADD.
- To edit an existing Sponsor Type:
- Select the edit icon.
- Rename the label.
- Select EDIT.
Status Masking
Status Masking settings allow you to group numerous global statuses together under one Status Mask. Status Masks will display on the referral portal and end users will not be able to see global status(es) hidden behind each Status Mask. For example, a referred candidate is given the global status 'Rejected' but they will see the status mask 'Not Suitable' instead of 'Rejected'.
Users can edit what global statuses are hidden behind each status mask, create new status masks and delete status masks.
To create a new Status Mask:
- Select the + icon.
- Enter a new Masked Status Label.
- Select what global statuses you want to associate with and hide behind the new status mask.
- Select Add.
To edit an existing Status Mask:
- Select the edit icon.
- Rename the Masked Status Label if necessary.
- Select/deselect what global statuses you want to associate with and hide behind the status mask.
- Select UPDATE.
To delete an existing Status Mask:
- Select the delete icon.
- Select Confirm.
Eligible Global Statuses
Eligible Global Statuses settings allow you to toggle on and off which global statuses are eligible for referral credit. At the time a referral contact is added, the system will check if the referral contact already exists in the database. If the contact already exists, it will check the contact's current global status, and if the global status of the referred contact is deemed eligible for referral bonus to be paid, then the referral status will be marked as 'Eligible'.
For example, if a candidate is referred by a sponsor, and that candidate already exists in the database with a 'Shortlisted' global status, the eligible global status toggle can be toggled off because that candidate is already shortlisted for another job and a referral bonus will not be paid.
Ownership settings
Ownership settings allow you to define ownership credit types and how long an employee owns a referral for.
The ownership credit setting decides who gets the referral credit if multiple employees sponsor the same candidate. You can select between - Oldest Submission, Newest Submission, Split (if two sponsors refer the same candidate, the referral bonus can be split) and Oldest and Most Specific.
The ownership hold period setting defines how long a sponsor owns a candidate for. This can be set between 1 and 36500.
Hired Statuses
The hired statuses settings allow you to distinguish what global statuses correspond to a hired status. Once a referral has a hired status, the employee that referred them is eligible for the referral credit. For example, 'Hired' would be toggled on to signify that the candidate has been hired and the sponsor can now be paid their referral bonus, at the same time 'Rejected' would be toggled off, resulting in the sponsor not being paid a referral bonus.
Recruiter Experience - Using the employee only referrals site
On signing into the employee only referral site, employees can see the below bullet pointed stats on the homepage. Each client will have their own referral site and the styling is going to be based on their branding etc. but the general layout will be the same.
When signing into the employee only referral site for the first time, the employee will have to register and sign up. The employee will be required to enter a name, password, select a sponsor type ('Employee', 'Manager' etc) and accept the terms and conditions.
Homepage stats:
- how many times they have shared out their personal referral link
- how many referrals have came into the system as a result of those shares
- how many of those referrals have applied for a job
- and how many referrals have been hired
These statistics will increment as more contacts join the talent network and apply for jobs.
Employees can obtain their personal referral link by using the employee only referral site. The personal referral link tracks any activity associated with the employee and can be shared with anyone in the employee's network or individuals they want to recommend for referral.
Once a referral has come into the system by means of the personal referral link, employees can track the referral's progress at a high level.
Recruiter experience - Referral site homepage
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By selecting Show All on the homepage, employees can see an entire list of all their referral activity as well as history and progress to date. They can also see if the referral is eligible or not and what the referral's current status is relevant to the jobs they've applied for. For referrals that have applied for multiple jobs, the most recent jobs will appear at the top of the list.
Employees at any time can self service and check on the status of what's happening with people they've referred. If a contact is not eligible for referral, the system will not provide a window into that contact's progress and the employee will be unable to see what job they have applied for.
Recruiter experience - Entire list of referral activity
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When searching for job openings, it is up to the employer to decide what jobs are available on the employee only referral site. On the job search page, employers can decide to only promote jobs that are eligible for referral, or promote all jobs and highlight which ones are referral eligible. If the employee sees a job that they want to refer to someone in their social network, they can easily make a referral by selecting Make a job referral on the job details page. By selecting 'Make a job referral', a link that is unique to that job and that employee will be generated. Employee's can then copy and share the link on their social network accounts by means of copying and pasting, or by sending an email, or sharing on Facebook, LinkedIn and sms, all of which can be done on the job details page.
Recruiter experience - Job details page
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Employees can also share out a general referral link that is not tied to any specific job, and instead acts as a general invitation to tell the receiver to check out what jobs are available in the employee's company. This general link is available on the homepage of the employee only referral site, and similar to specific job referral links, it has the same sharing options built in - send an email, or share on Facebook, LinkedIn and sms.
Recruiter experience - Get general referral link
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Candidate Experience - Receiving a job specific referral link or general referral link
Candidates that receive a link will see the candidate facing version of the referral site. In the case of a specific job referral link, candidates are taken to a specific job details page of the career site and see all of the information they would normally see pertaining to a job i.e. job description, information about the company etc. Candidates will not see sponsor sharing options or any sponsor specific information. Candidates can apply for the job by selecting Apply.
Referral experience - Job details page
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For candidates that receive a general link from an employee. Accessing this link will bring the candidate to the career site homepage of the referral site. From the homepage, candidates can go straight into a job search or join the talent network. Candidates can also explore other areas of the referral site by selecting the links at the top of the page i.e 'Home', 'Events', 'Search Jobs' and 'Join our Talent Network'.
Referral experience - Referral site homepage
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How it works with the SFX CRM
Searching for referral and sponsor contacts in the CRM
Once a candidate has been referred by a sponsor, CRM users will be able to search for referral and sponsor contacts in the Contacts screen by using the Eligibility Status filter in the CRM.
To search for referral and sponsor contacts on the Contacts screen:
- Toggle on Custom Fields in the filters pane.
- Select the Eligibility Status drop-down. Note: 'Custom Fields' needs to be toggled on in order to use the Eligibility Status filter.
- Select Referral or/and Sponsor.
- Select OK.
When looking at a contact's profile, users can see at the top of the page next to the Area of Interest and Contact Status if the contact is either a Referral or a Sponsor.
Contact is a Referral
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Contact is a Sponsor
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Eligibility Status Toggles for Referrals and Sponsors
If the Enable Referral Settings has been enabled, the Referral and Sponsor toggles in the 'Eligibility Status Toggles' section of a contact profile will be disabled and cannot be toggled. For Referrals, the Referral toggle will be active (marked green) and the Sponsor toggle will be inactive, and for Sponsors, the same logic applies.
The screenshot below shows a Referral's contact profile in a Referrals enabled client environment.
Viewing Referred By and Referrals sections in a contact's profile
For referred contacts, users can track corresponding Sponsor relationships at the bottom right of the Contact profile page. Referred contacts can have more than one sponsor and the eligibility status is noted next to the sponsor's name. If a sponsor is marked as eligible, that means that sponsor takes ownership of the referred contact. Depending on company policy, sponsors can take ownership of referred candidates for up to 6 months or a year. Note: Referred contacts can only be owned by one sponsor and when the referred contact opts into the talent network, or applies to jobs, that contact's relationship to the employee sponsor is tracked in the database. Even if the referred candidate applies to a different job.
Similar to referred contacts, in sponsor contact profiles, users can track corresponding referral relationships at the bottom right of the contact profile page and see who the employee has referred and if the referral is eligible or not eligible.
The eligibility status for a referral bonus is determined by three configurable settings:
- Contact Status: When a contact gets added or updated in the system as a referral, the system will check if that referral already exists in the contact database, and if they are considered eligible or not eligible depending on their contact status i.e. 'rejected', 'not a match' etc.
- For example, if a contact has applied for a position with a company and was unsuccessful, that contact is marked as 'Rejected' in the contact database and is not eligible for referral and a referral bonus will not be paid. However, if the contact has a contact status of 'Joined talent network', the company might decide that even though the contact exists in the contact database, the company has never actively considered that particular contact for a role, and therefore the contact is eligible for referral and a referral bonus will be paid.
- Assigning a Sponsor Type to an employee: Depending on the level of where the sponsor contact stands in the company hierarchy, will determine if that sponsor contact is eligible for a referral bonus. For example, company directors are not eligible for a referral bonus because they have too much influence over hiring decisions. This can also be extended to contractors and temps.
- Does the referred contact already have an owner: Has the contact been referred before by a sponsor, and is that sponsor still active. If the first sponsor is still active, then the new sponsor is not eligible for a referral bonus.
Important: Users who have the 'Allow Eligibility Override' privilege can override the eligibility on sponsor/referral profiles. In some cases, exceptions might be made whether or not a sponsor is eligible for a referral bonus depending on certain circumstances. For example, if a sponsor employee was recently promoted to director level, they would no longer be eligible for a referral bonus.
Referral Information in contact profile
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Sponsor Information in contact profile
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Target sponsors or referrals with automated workflows
Using workflow automation, users can configure workflows in order to send custom messages to contacts marked as referrals or sponsors in the system. These messages can be customized separately for referrals and sponsors as separate groups within the contact database.
When a referral is added to the database and comes into the CRM as a referral contact, workflow automation can be configured to send a special message welcoming the referral e.g. 'Thanks for applying, your sponsor thinks you would be a great addition to our company'.
Workflow automation for a referral contact example
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Track information needed to process referral bonuses with Referral Details reports
In the Referral Details report, employers can apply filters to see:
- who has been referred
- who is the sponsor
- what position has the contact been referred for
- the current contact status of the referred contact
- whether the referred contact is eligible or not
- if there is a bonus amount attached to that particular job the contact has been referred for
Even though Employee Referrals for SFX has streamlined and automated the decision for whether a referral is eligible or not, this report can be generated and served up for a final review when it's time to pay the referral bonus.