Basic Characteristics of Excellent Programs In order to gather the “right” metrics about a referral program, you need to know upfront what the critical design elements are that turn good referral programs into great ones. Next, you need to have metrics that cover each of these critical areas if you …

Action Steps for Reenergizing Your Referral Program Reinforce the employee's role in building the team. Great referral programs are not about money; they're about empowering employees to play an active role in building an all-star team for them to work with. Exceptional employees understand that working with the very best …

Lots of Questions While we have written on this topic extensively, sharing what best practices have been observed, documenting what concepts from other functions can be borrowed to drive a program, and highlighting the firms that for lack of a better phrase kick butt, we are aware that program managers …

The Referral Bonus The largest expense item for most referral programs is the referral bonus. Approximately 90 percent of the programs I have encountered use some form or monetary incentive, the largest of which I have seen recently is $40,000. While that might seem extreme, keep in mind that for …

Turkey Already a Prime Destination for Leading Firms Most people around the world know that there is a country named Turkey, but few know much about it. However, if you were to take a college student from Ohio and plop them down on the streets of Istanbul, a lot would …

Why Recruit at a Trade Fair or Professional Conference? Unlike a job fair, in which people decide to attend on their own, a trade fair or a conference is a gathering of the very best professionals in any industry, who all are sent by the company. Because they are sent …

Recruiting Leader of the Year, Best Use of Metrics, and Best Recruiting Process: Dan Hilbert, Valero Energy What Dan Hilbert and his team at Valero Energy have accomplished will forever change the strategic options that recruiting directors must consider. They have developed what may be the world's most strategic staffing …

Recruiting Outside the Box Takes Courage The only problem with the approach outlined here is that while nearly every recruiter on the planet says that they want to try outside-the-box tools, most recruiters are mundane, lack the courage to try new things, and are unwilling to invest the time it …

Right Days and Wrong Days to Offer Someone a Chance for a New Opportunity Wrong day: Any day during the week before a targeted individual is expected to hear about whether they got their expected promotion. Right day: The day after they were rejected for that promotion. Wrong day: The …

The six basic approaches required: Read business papers and magazines. The purpose is to identify when newsworthy companies have positive, negative, or dramatic business events. Watch the weather. Watch the weather channel and read the weather section of the newspaper to identify geographic areas where people are likely to want …