Professional Networking outpaces Employee Referrals as #1 Source of Hires.
It has taken ten years for professional networking to become part of mainstream hiring, but it’s now considered to be one of the most important sources of quality candidates by almost half of US companies, outstripping even the reliable employee referral.
Employee referrals use to be a company’s bread and butter and it’s easy to see why; typically employee referrals cost less to acquire, perform better and stay longer. So what is so important about professional networking? And are you missing the boat if you’re not considering its effects in your strategic workforce planning?
Professional networking can cause serious heartburn for strategic workforce planning. Because employees have access to a vastly larger field of contacts and employment opportunities through networking sites, such as LinkedIn, employees can easily see what else is out there -and with very little risk to their current job. Many employees now see changing employers as the easiest way to advance in their careers. Gone are the days of assuming a new hire will be on your roster for the next five years – and it wreaks havoc on a company's ability to plan for future work force needs.
Even though it causes headaches for workforce planning efforts, social networking is also a critical tool that companies can't afford to ignore. Cultivating relationships with people outside of your organization who have key skills (even though they may not be ready to join today), is as critical as identifying employees inside of your organization to take on future roles. And it’s easier than ever to find and connect with them using professional networking tools.
Employee referrals were a wonderful way of learning of new talent- but passive. You had to wait until an employee (who knew of the job opening in the first place) decided to tell a qualified friend, who in turn decided they were interested, and who then reached out to you. Now, you can find the right talent and then figure out who they know within your organization. Or lead them to someone if they don’t already know anyone. Professional networking is a valuable way to cultivate relationships well in advance of hiring, and to reach people your organization couldn’t have reached in the past.
Professional networking is a key driver to improve company referrals. It’s time to take control of the heartburn and make professional networking work for you.