Employers who need to recruit skilled workers are turning to existing staff for help in finding the right people from among their friends and relatives, as Colin Cottell reports in the Guardian.
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's 2004 recruitment and retention survey, which showed more than eight out of 10 employers experienced recruitment difficulties, 38% of UK employers used employee referral schemes as a way of finding staff. This was up 4% on the previous year.
As well as Nationwide, online retailer Amazon, Sainsbury's, Vodafone, Bupa and Asda are just some of the growing number of employers who use them. In the voluntary and non-profit sector, the CIPD says the proportion increased six-fold to almost one in five.
While cost is obviously one major advantage of this approach, a study published last year by Income Data Services found that applicants tend to be of a higher calibre than those attracted using adverts and have a better 'cultural fit', which can result in a reduced time to hire.