Using Current Employees as a Powerful Recruiting Tool

Steps in an Employee Mentoring Process.
To start a basic mentoring program, send a letter and information packet from the mentor to the new employee's home address before the first work day. The package might include a wide range of information from the history of the company to welcome letters from relevant managers including the president and even area information such as maps, internet sites, restaurants, clubs attractions, if the employee is from another location.

The mentor can then personalize the package with a cover letter providing contact information, key dates and times for personnel processing and induction, and general comments.

How to Select a Mentor for the New Employee
Select mentors from the new employee's peer group. Ideally, find a different mentor for each new recruit, until everyone in the department has had a chance to mentor. This should be done at several levels of the organization. The introduction of the "buddy" will help the new employee feel welcome.

Bottom Line Results from using Employees in the Recruiting Process
According to a study by Watson Wyatt of 147 large North American companies, employee referrals are an efficient way to find new workers. Companies that hire more than 1/3 of new employees through employee referrals generated more than twice the total return to shareholders (48%) of employers that hired less than 10 percent of employees through referrals (23%).

Summary
Using a team approach to recruiting offers many benefits. Consider adding this powerful recruiting tool to your arsenal.

Lynne Eisaguirre appears as a workplace expert on CNN Headline News, Bloomberg TV, ABC News and many other media sources. She is the author of Stop Pissing Me Off: What to do When the People you Work with Drive you Crazy and five other books. She is the founder and president of Workplaces That Work. A Former practicing employment attorney, she presents workshops to clients such as Harley-Davidson, Southwest Airlines, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Sun Microsystems on issues from conflict management to employee retention to leadership and team building. She lives in Golden, CO and can be reached at www.workplacesthatwork.com.