| 15-20 % of new BPO recruits are through referral |
|
| The Financial Express 22/05/2007 |
|
|
|
Higher cash incentives and the promise of more loyal employees are spurring recruitment through employee referrals in BPOs, with close to 15-20% of candidates now being selected through such referral schemes across all levels in organisations, according to in-dustryplayers.
"In the last quarter, 9% of total employees were selected through our associate referral program. Andyearly, on anaverage, recruitment through referrals contribute about 20% of the total. A majority of the candidates appointed in this manner have experience ranging from 0-3 years," says Kishore Velankar, VP-human capital management, Integreon."
Similarly, Mumbai-based BPO Stream does 15% of its recruitments through referral programmes, with the maximum candidates1 selected at the entry level. "The candidates we select are across sectors. We pay a decent amount to our employees for making this possible," said Vineet Mittal, MD of Stream.
Employees get cash as well as non-cash incentives (mobile phone, iPod, etc.) for referring a candidate. "Employees in our company at times even earn a month's salary with 2-3 referrals," revealed Mala Gupta, senior VP, human resource, Infovision, a Delhi based domestic BPO. Infovision at present hires, on an average, 18% of its total candidates through referral programmes.
Declining to reveal the specifics about the incentives for referrals, Velankar said, "We give cash incentives to our employees for referring candidates, and we try to keep the pay almost at par with the payment that we make to the recruitment consultant."
According to industry players, the main advantage of selecting a
candidate through referral
schemes is that employees know
what type of candidate their organisation requires for the post.
Moreover, attrition rates
among such employees is comparatively lower than those selected through
walk-in-interviews. "Hiring employees through reference works
as a motivational tool to the employee who refers a candidate as
he gets monetary or non-monetary benefits when his referred
candidate is selected," said Velankar.'
BPOs are promoting this referral programme heavily to recruit more employees in their company. "We are looking at newer initiatives and more schemes like non-cash incentives etc., to encourage recruitment through referrals," said Gupta.
Industry experts expect the percentage of new recruitment through such schemes to go higher in the near future. Moreover, increased attrition rates, pressure on profitability and difficulty in sourcing talent have left the BPO industry with significant challenges to tackle. Yet, recruitment through referral has provided a little relief to these companies. |
|
