Exploring the Conscious Intent Behind Employee Referrals

Understanding people is hard enough. The classic children's story Alice in Wonderland taught us that all is not what it seems. So how should you reassess that ultimate channel of possible deception – the Employee Referral? Amarpreet Bhamra, a tried and tested SSO practitioner, describes the problems this program can propagate... Employee referral programs are prevalent in many organizations, including across shared services. The pros and cons of employee referrals, spanning from lower recruitment costs to favoritism at the workplace, are equally well documented. What intrigues me is to better understand the intent when an employee refers an individual. Is there a conscious "purpose" when we refer someone to our workplace? In my professional career there have been many instances when colleagues have back-filled vacancies from junior to middle management level with their referrals. A common thread that runs across these activities is that the individual to be referred is either well known to the employee or is an acquaintance from an existing network. Employees often cite a certain degree of intimacy or friendship with the respective individual in their previous organization, to back up the credentials. Moreover, the referrals are often associated with a brilliant track record of performance in the past organization. Which begets the question: Would an employee refer someone from their past organization who would have challenged them? Would they push for someone who had alternate points of view and a sharp perspective? Would they be comfortable in referring an individual who would have been a threat in terms of career competitiveness? Are employee referral programs even designed to evaluate some of these perspectives? While it is common practice for referrals to undergo the normal recruitment process, some of these issues remain camouflaged and could potentially derail an organizational culture. In terms of cultural alignment, the practice of referring a set of employees with a known chemistry may promote clones in the workplace. From an organizational perspective this would breed mediocrity while at more senior levels such flaws could impair business strategy and lead to risky decision-making. From a behavioral perspective we seem to accept colleagues who easily embrace our viewpoints. We all want to be cushioned against any job insecurity or any signs which could unsettle our well-being. In a competitive and increasingly digitized world we tend to hang on to protect the interests of our families. Hence employees get cold feet when an individual tries to offers a radical perspective which is viewed as a threat or non-compliance to the accepted norms of teaming. Our sub conscious mind tends to blacklist such colleagues or be influenced by similar remembrances in the past when considering whether to refer an individual. The conscious intent in the referral program is to preserve our well-being at the workplace and side-line the real viewpoints. In the Indian and Asian context (to some extent) regional and caste preferences tend to influence employee referral programs. As an outcome of these intents, diversity in the workplace, for example in shared services, is isolated and impairs organizational success and competitiveness. Are there any solutions to overcome this conscious intent? A starting point for human resource professionals in shared services may be to investigate deeper into the candidate’s background and probe his/her line of independent thinking. Another option is to place greater emphasis on the evidence cited by the individual in terms of their risk taking abilities in the current organization; or to push deeper for situations where the individual had conflicting viewpoints with peers or superiors. In this regard, shared services need to unbolt themselves and adopt a balanced view of conflicts where opposing voices may have a meaningful perspective beyond the immediate context. As the intent is largely individual, targeted diversity and awareness programs to sensitize employees may be beneficial. A key remedy could also be to promote better understanding of different cultures and backgrounds. In the current scenario, the notion of stability at the workplace is increasingly threatened by innovations and digital technologies. This in itself represents a conflict within many shared services and other organizations and denotes a need to realign the prevalent culture. While employee referrals are recognized as a handy tool, they warrant a redesign to remain relevant in tomorrow’s business environment. [inlinead]

Exploring the Conscious Intent Behind Employee Referrals

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