In the hunt for the ideal profile, it is difficult today to find candidates despite the job offers posted online or even despite the company’s presence on social networks.
Are you involved in recruiting new talent for your company and looking for new sources of recruitment? Consider cooptation. Indeed, it can allow you to obtain qualified candidates by making the network of your employees work.
What is cooptation ?
Finding candidates is sometimes complicated for some positions. Implementing co-option in your company will allow you to unearth candidates that you would not have been able to access with a traditional recruitment model.
Co-optation, what is it ?
Co-option, also known as participatory recruitment, is a recruitment method that allows employees of a company to recommend potential candidates themselves who could correspond to an offer within their company.
The objectives of co-opting for the recruiter are as follows :
- Discover relevant candidates for open positions ;
- Source “penurious” profiles ;
- Accelerate the recruitment process and reduce costs.
What if your employees helped you hire ?
A short recruitment cycle, a strong commitment, a high retention rate: on paper, cooptation has it all. According to APEC, it represents 25% of recruitments on average. It’s no wonder that more and more organizations are looking to set up an employee referral or referral program.
How does it work ?
Co-optation works in three parts :
- The recruiter who decides to solicit the internal and external network of the company via co-option. This allows him to obtain qualified candidates in order to meet a recruitment need.
- The co-optor, that is to say, the employee who recommends to the recruiter a person from his professional network who has the skills to meet a recruitment need in his own company.
- The co-opted who is none other than the candidate who meets the recruitment need via co-optation.
What are the advantages ? The inconvenients ?
The advantages of cooptation are numerous, whether for the recruiter or the employee. But cooptation can sometimes have limits.
Advantages of cooptation
Using co-option allows companies to reduce their recruitment costs. Indeed, referral can be a real time and money saver: you can find qualified candidates in record time.
This avoids incurring recruitment costs such as paid job offers, paid CV libraries or even calling on recruitment firms.
One study suggests that the duration of recruitment by cooptation is 29 days. It is 39 days for candidates recruited from job boards, and 55 days for those recruited through a career site.
A study by Glassdoor suggests that the average cost of hiring in developed countries is around €3,500.
In addition, using referral will allow you to be connected with candidates who can sometimes be difficult to reach.
It will also allow you to find candidates with values close to those of the company and who will integrate more quickly into the company.
According to a study carried out with more than 50 companies, people recruited by referral stay 70% longer than those who are recruited by the “classic” process.
Disadvantages
Co-opting has many advantages but it also has disadvantages.
Co-option can sometimes create a phenomenon of “cloning” in the company. Indeed, the candidates you recruit using co-option often resemble the employees who co-opted them. This phenomenon can therefore harm the diversity of profiles in the company.
This method of recruitment is also an additional system to put in place in the company, which can sometimes be complicated. Indeed, you will have to manage different relationships internally, particularly with your employees who will co-opt candidates (management of possible bonuses, manage possible sources of tension with the co-optor and co-opted if the recruitment process is too long, etc.).
Piston or co-option, what’s the difference ?
To co-opt someone is to recommend them for their professional skills, for a specific position and not because they are appreciated as a person. A co-opted candidate will see his application treated in the same way as a traditional candidate, he will go through all the stages of the recruitment process.
To boost is to support the candidacy of someone you know without being sure that he is competent for the position to be filled. Boosting someone is helping an acquaintance get a job by using their position or influence in the company. This practice is often frowned upon by employees who may see it as a kind of favoritism for certain employees.
How to set up and promote cooptation in the company ?
Co-option is a subject that can sometimes be complicated and long to set up. Here are some tips to use to organize a referral program and encourage employees to join.
How do you organize a referral program ?
In order to set up a referral system in your company, you will first need to think about the following topics :
- Who can co-opt a candidate? Indeed, some companies accept that all employees or only part of their employees can participate in this method of recruitment.
- On which positions can employees co-opt a relationship? You can decide to authorize the cooptation on all the positions to be filled in your company or only on positions deemed to be “poor” in terms of candidates.
- Is a reward provided as soon as an employee is hired via the cooptation of another employee? Putting in place a remuneration will promote and accelerate the implementation of this type of system in your company.
- What are the company’s operating rules? It is important that each employee who would like to be able to use this system knows exactly the conditions under which this method of recruitment works.
The referral program should not be too rigid and should be able to make employees want to participate in this program. It must therefore be made both precise and simple so as not to give the impression of a complicated procedure.
Should there be a co-optation bonus ?
In order to encourage co-optation in companies, many companies have set up bonuses to encourage their employees to recommend candidates from their professional network.
This bonus system makes it possible to increase the percentage of cooptation rates in companies. Indeed, if the employee is rewarded then he will be more involved in the cooptation.
If so, how much ?
The amount of the referral bonus is usually set by management and human resources. It must be set according to the budget granted for recruitment and also the budget of the company. Indeed, an small company will not be able to set up a premium as large as a large company.
This bonus can be paid once the trial period of the recommended candidate is validated. This assures the company that the recruitment was successful.
However, in order to encourage this practice, many companies pay this bonus in two stages: 50% of the bonus when the candidate is hired and 50% of the bonus once the trial period of the co-opted employee has been validated.
Today, a large number of recruitment portals are focused around cooptation, taking advantage of social networks in particular to target a larger number of profiles. In exchange, the person who co-opts you gets a financial bonus if the recruitment turns out to be positive. Generally around 1000 euros, it can reach 5000 euros depending on the company. A win-win principle which could therefore be developed in the years to come.
According to Keycoopt, specialist in co-option programs with large groups, a majority of employers opt for a double-speed co-option bonus :
- a fixed and standardized amount, paid for each successful cooptation ;
- a variable amount, which increases with the importance of the position and the duration of the contract.
In all cases, the co-optation bonus is only paid at the end of the new employee’s trial period, who therefore sees his hiring validated.
Recruitment by cooptation does not necessarily rhyme with a monetary bonus. Some companies choose to offer consideration in the form of gifts. Let’s take a closer look at the different possible options.
Material gifts
- A gift certificate or gift card.
- An object such as a high-tech product or a gift basket.
Experiential gifts
- A stay in France or abroad, to do with family or friends.
- A sporting, cultural, leisure or well-being activity such as tickets for a show or a sports match.
Charitable donations
- Participation in the next company-funded mission.
- Association leave to become a volunteer with an association
How to encourage company employees to co-opt ?
As seen above, setting up a referral bonus is a first step that will encourage your employees to use referral. However, if setting up a referral bonus is too big a budget for your company, you can set up other types of rewards: gift vouchers, travel, […].
But if you want to encourage your employees to co-opt, your co-optation system must also be simple, clear and precise. Indeed, if the employee has the impression that co-opting a contact is too complicated then he will not invest in this new method of recruitment.
Should you co-opt for external or internal recruitment? Both ?
Co-option is mainly used for external recruitments. Indeed, this method is used to find profiles that are complicated to recruit or simply when we want to save time and reduce the costs of our recruitment.
For internal recruitment, the recommendation of line managers is more than enough. Indeed, if you wish to recruit internally, the company’s line managers will be able to define whether an employee is more competent than another for a specific position.
Cooption: a method to implement
This participatory recruitment method will allow you to unearth talents that you would not have been able to unearth with a traditional recruitment method. In addition, thanks to this method, your employees will feel much more concerned and involved in the company.
Here are 6 concrete actions to promote and implement a good referral policy in your company.
Action 1 : communicate about your referral program
Only 32% of employees say they have already been co-opted during their career […] In addition, 56% of employees admit that they have never sponsored another person in their entourage.According to a study carried out by QAPA
The figures speak for themselves, you must establish effective communication in order to make your co-optation program known to your employees. To do this, make your job offers easily accessible and establish detailed job descriptions to properly target the desired profiles.
You can also use your internal communication tools to transmit this information to employees: interactive bulletin board, email, website, newsletter, intranet, etc. The internal communication tool will help you reach 100% of your employees.
Action 2 : define rules
After having communicated well on the existence of your referral program, it is now a question of letting your collaborators know that they can join it.
Set clear rules and ask the right questions :
Who can co-opt ?
Some companies exclude executives and Human Resources Officers from co-opters. Others allow all their employees to participate.
Who can be co-opted ?
Opinions vary from company to company. Nevertheless, family members are usually pushed aside to avoid any relationship problems.
To ensure the effectiveness of recruitment by cooptation, it is necessary to respect good practices. Here are a few :
- Train employees in the candidate personas sought, by position: what are the desired technical and behavioral skills ?
- Be clear on the rules : a qualified and co-opted candidate will not automatically be hired. The recruitment decision remains at the discretion of the HR department and the manager.
- Supporting the collaborator-cooptor by simplifying the recommendation procedure and keeping him informed of each stage of the recruitment of “his” candidate.
- Automate the recruitment process to reduce administrative tasks and make it easier to track the sources that generate the best talent.
Action 3 : challenge your coopters
64% of recruiters consider the best candidates
are those that have been recommended. According to the white paper “The social referral” by Bill Boorman
It is certain, cooptation represents a real interest for the company, but also a new challenge for the cooptor. Indeed, he is the best ambassador to speak positively about his company and his job. A committed employee is an employee who recommends his company. It is in this sense that cooptation is at the service of the employer brand. The satisfied employee will more easily convey a positive image to those around him.
Even if they feel good and fulfilled within the company, you must encourage your employees to take part in the adventure of cooptation by showing them that they have a role to play in the constitution of the team. They will feel valued and see that their opinions matter. In some companies, there is a reward system for both the co-optor and the co-opted: monetary bonuses, gifts, etc. The referral bonus is not always systematic, many companies offer vouchers or gifts.
For example, Decathlon offers its employees vouchers, Bonduelle offers a bonus of 750 euros. At Capgemini, the bonus is variable, 1200 euros for the employee who co-opts a beginner candidate or 2000 euros for a candidate with more than 2 years of experience.
Action 4 : greet your co-optors during the trial period
Do not hesitate to communicate internally on the latest news, in particular newcomers recruited thanks to the co-optation program. This is an opportunity to be transparent with all employees and to keep them informed of changes.
Highlight the co-optor and the co-opted as well as the rewards obtained in order to encourage everyone to participate in the program.
Action 5 : highlight the best co-operators
Show your appreciation and value your best co-operators by organizing internal events. During an award ceremony, for example, you can offer trophies or goodies to the most involved employees. It’s a great way to thank them, motivate them but also motivate all the employees of the company to engage in co-option !
Action 6 : have your co-operators testify
And precisely: there is nothing better than video testimonials or articles in the form of interviews to help your employees better understand your referral process and encourage them to adhere to it.
For example, present concrete cases and show the advantages of a recruitment carried out thanks to your referral program. Distribute them on your internal communication tools to communicate to all employees.
All you have to do is integrate these tips to boost your referral process! Of course, each company is different and chooses its own rules. But we advise you to put all the chances on your side to recruit the best candidates thanks to your ambassadors.
Examples of cooptation in recruitment
Starting a program can be difficult without examples to follow. So, here are some examples of employee recommendations :
Salesforce organizes competitions between employees.
Google offers a trip to Hawaii to employees who submit the correct recommendation.
DigitalOcean donates cash prize to charity.
Buffer uses a fun recommendation portal.
Spendesk offers employee co-optors the opportunity to donate €1,000 to the association of their choice.
OVH sends a weekly newsletter to its employees to inform them of vacancies open to cooptation.
Accenture offers employees the opportunity to donate a portion of their referral bonus to charity. And the company doubles that amount.
So convinced? Good set up !