Everything
else!

What is credibility? It is the quality of being trusted and believed in. What is authenticity? It is the quality of being true to your personal values, being honest & accountable and ensuring they all align.

The recruitment industry generally gets a bad rap, being perceived to be unscrupulous in business dealings, lacking in communication and not understanding what clients and candidates want along with various other complaints. At People Intelligence, we have always bucked this trend and are very proud of the fact that we are known for our quality of service, the speed at which we work and the open and transparent way we communicate with everyone we come into contact with, as well as sticking to our values and ethics in business. We often get comments about how fast we are, how open and honest we have been during a time that is stressful for job seekers and hiring managers alike.

So, what is my point? I previously posted a poll on LinkedIn asking ‘What would incentivise you to review your network to find candidate recommendations you would pass on to recruiters?’ 65% of respondents replied that they did not need an incentive, they would refer where they can and 32% of respondents liked the idea of a cash referral bonus. This brings me to referral programs and whether they are effective or not? Our testimonials page on our website is the 2nd most visited page after the Search for Jobs page, which would suggest that people are doing what they do when they buy any product, doing their research to ensure they are working with a credible company. Having said that not everyone we work with offers us a referral or a testimonial, even those that tell us verbally what a great job we have done. Statistically 83% of customers say they are willing to refer but only 29% actually do**.

Does it become a situation of out of sight out of mind? Is everyone fed up with receiving surveys from every company you interact with asking for information on your customer experience? Is it hard to find the words to write how you feel in a formal invitation scenario? A study by Nielsen reveals 92% of consumers are more inclined to trust personal recommendations over traditional marketing, as people become more desensitized to mass marketing**. 

Are people mistrusting of reviews on a website? Therefore, what is the point of giving one? How many times have we read about bad reviews closing down businesses, having been written by a competitor and not by a patron and most recently a company that manage reviews for the recruitment industry are also under scrutiny! We have thought hard about how we overcome this and how we honour one of our core values, transparency and how that provides reassurance to the reader. We are proud of the candidates and clients we work and build relationships with, giving us the confidence to ask permission to display their name and where appropriate company name on the testimonial. We also show the date a testimonial was given and expire testimonials after a certain time period to ensure content remains relevant.

We value our referral program whether it is formally written on our website or verbally to attract clients and candidates. Our business has grown and developed by word-of-mouth, which we greatly value and it incentivises us to keep on track. I would suggest that if you have had a bad experience with a recruitment company then give them a negative review and voice your concerns directly with them in the hope it brings about change but if you have had a good experience then do the same by giving a good review on the website, a Google review or by making referrals. Not only will this ensure that credible companies float to the top, but you can earn yourself cash bonuses or charity donations as most companies offer a reward for reviews and referrals.

Click here to review our testimonials and referral scheme.

** https://referralrock.com/blog/reasons-why-you-need-a-referral-program/