When I speak at HR conferences, I often ask the group to raise their hands if they know who their worst five managers for turnover and engagement are. The great majority immediately raise a hand. So your worst performing managers are well-identified and are known to those who rank both above and below them.

Employee referrals are 4Xs more likely to be hired, save companies over $7,500 per hire, perform their jobs better than their peer employees…and most importantly for our purposes, stay longer. The fact is that gaining employee referrals matters especially in industries where good candidates can be rare.

The world’s leading nations have a new common enemy which is that we are all running out of workers. The metric is “birthrate”, and the U.S. is at an historic low of 1.6 in 2023. Then there is Russia. I was watching The Late Show with Steven Colbert which showed a clip from Russian TV that couldn’t possibly have been true. I Googled it and was shocked to see that it was.

We long-time Floridians know the pre-hurricane drill, and as much as we have physical prep things to do, the emotional worries consume more of our energy. What I saw at Home Depot last night, beyond the long lines of customers buying sheets of plywood to board up their businesses and homes, were the happy faces, top-of-their-games politeness and genuine desire to be helpful to others. Somehow, we all found joy by being in the presence of others who felt their same trepidations.

Losing one technician for a month results in lost revenue greater than $60,000. So a client implemented a program where technicians earn double referral payouts after five new hire referrals because the net is significantly less than the $60,000 lost revenue per opening. By linking referral payouts to the actual cost of turnover, executives recognize that investing in employee referrals is a cost-effective way to reduce vacancies and minimize revenue loss.