Employee Referral Programs: Essential Tools in the Search for the Best Hires

In recent years, online marketing has become a potent means of promoting products and services through the internet, and many companies have resorted to online marketing, as this enhances their branding strategies.

One advantage online marketing provides businesses is demographic targeting: Consumers can be demographically targeted much more effectively in an online rather than an offline process.

Nowadays, this is especially an essential tool in the field of human resource recruitment. Companies would always like to get the best hires, yet this is one of the most challenging tasks recruiters face as they search for high quality candidates that can best fit their organizations, and traditional ways of searching for top caliber employees is no longer sufficient.

Thus, enter what is now popularly known as the Employee Referral Programs. ERPs have been proven effective in recruiting the best talents, as they increase the number of recruiters available to help them in their talent search.

Harnessing Social Media and Technology to Enhance ERPs

Employee referral programs can be harnessed to the fullest extent through social media marketing, a marketing tool that makes use of various social media channels. Through different social media platforms, such as Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and others, companies can gain greater reach in their search for the best hires. These social media platforms are available not only online, but also through digital channels, platforms and devices.

The following are the top general job referral platforms available in the market:

1. Zao is an employee referral program and social recruiting software that automatically engages employees making use of social media to attract high quality candidates. With Zao's ERP, jobs are easily promoted across social networks due to its incentivizing reward system.

Features:

3D Smart Matching

Full ATS Integration

Gamification

Extended Referrals

One-click Email Campaigns

Employer Branding

Mobile Optimized

Analytics

Detailed Referrer Chain Tracking

Social Network Recruiting

2. GooodJob Mobile app combines the dual power of mobile technology and social recruiting. It allows employee engagement with the referral program on the go.

Features:

Referral Tracking

Social Networking

Mobile for Engagement on the go

Easy & Quick Leads

3. Simplicant Online Recruitment Software and Applicant Tracking is a platform with an integrated and built-in employee referral program that also allows for the use of social media.

Features:

- The platform allows employees to share openings with talented candidates they know.

- It tracks all referral information, allowing employees to be rewarded for their contributions and companies to track these cost-effective suggestions.

4. Zalp is a social employee referral software that puts together technology and social media with features that simplify employee participation in the referral program.

Features:

- Easy On-boarding

- Quick Job Posting

- Analytics

- 7 Convenient Ways to Refer

- Real Time Tracking

- Leaderboard, a gamification feature

5. SmartRecruiters, unleashed the 2nd generation of its cloud hiring platform, integrating the reach of social with the ease of mobile to close the gap between great candidates and open positions. It also boast of a mobile hiring app for iPhone and Android devices.

Features:

- Integrated social referrals

- Prosumer, people-centric user interface

- Mobile hiring app and email notifications

- At-a-glance candidate pipeline dashboard for every job and new sourcing analytics
- Open RESTful API for customers and partners to easily connect their hiring process to the platform

6. Careerify makes recruiting social tapping social networks automated and part of the company's culture. It also has flexible multiple rewards mechanisms.

Features: The platform allows companies to

- Create rewards.

- Define eligibility

- Localize the program

- Develop brand consistency

- Flag “hard-to-fill” roles

7. Socialite ERP can be used as a stand-alone solution, or integrated as a more comprehensive talent acquisition strategy that includes personalized incentives and rewards, plus an engaging online interface that includes gamification, employee-managed privacy settings, among others.

8. SubmitReferral (SR) Automated Personal Referral Marketing System, one of the bright new ones, and designed to boost a company's diversity efforts.

All these ERPs are undoubtedly good, each providing excellent features designed to maximize the number of employee referrals and enhance the quality of hires, as well as rewards systems. However, in terms of diversity demographic targeting, these employee referral programs may not help grow the diversity of a company's workforce, for they target the general population, with the exception of SubmitReferral (SR) Automated Personal Referral Marketing System.

Another difference is, while the rest of these employee referral programs are softwares, SubmitReferral (SR) Automated Referral Marketing System is a website. It was recently launched by DiversityWorking.com, a career opportunity job search engine for the cultural diversity marketplace.

See here for more of SubmitReferral Automated Personal Referral Marketing System: Unique Powerful Referral Tool

FedEx Truckload Brokerage: Delivering Diversity Around the World

FedEx Truckload Brokerage belongs to the worldwide family of FedEx Operating Companies, as part of the portfolio of services of FedEx Custom Critical, having been added in 2008, and providing customers with a truckload brokerage option.

The Company, working with their network of carriers, provides solutions to customers' truckload shipping needs with the reliability and service they expect when using FedEx. FedEx was founded on a people-first philosophy, where respect for all people is a fundamental value and everyday business practice.

As part of the FedEx Operating Companies, FedEx Truckload Brokerage shares and commits to the values FedEx adheres to: People, Service, Innovation, Integrity, Responsibility, Loyalty and Safety.

FedEx values their people, recognizing they are the ones that lead FedEx to success and the key to their future. As such, it embraces and promotes diversity in their workplace and in their thinking. This is reflected in the diversity of their people and suppliers coming from various walks of life.

Minorities comprise more than 40 percent of its U.S. workforce and 28 percent of its management team. In fact, FedEx has also been honored with the Champion of Diversity Award from the New York Urban League and as one of the top 40 companies for diversity by Black Enterprise magazine, and one of the top 50 employers by Minority Engineer magazine.

Women are an important part of FedEx, thus it has been honored by Pink magazine by placing the company in its Elite Eight due to the number of women in executive positions, and recognizing it as a great place for women to work.

FedEx truly lives out its commitment to diversity, through its six affinity groups: African-American, Asian, Hispanic, cancer-support, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employee networks. These affinity groups celebrate diversity and promote cultural education.

FedEx's Corporate Diversity Council focuses on a global culture of diversity and inclusiveness, and promotes greater employee awareness and appreciation of FedEx's commitment to diversity. The Council likewise supports multicultural programs within the company and in the communities they serve.

As part of FedEx's Operating Companies, FedEx Truckload Brokerage likewise promotes diversity and inclusion, valuing the contributions and perspectives of all employees regardless of race, gender, culture, religion, age, nationality, disability, or sexual orientation.

To browse for FedEx Truckload Brokerage jobs, visit DiversityWorking.com, the largest diversity job board online, and start a great fulfilling career with this well-recognized diversity member company.

DiversityWorking.com Announces Phillips 66's Renewal of Partnership

DiversityWorking.com, a career opportunity resource and job search engine for the cultural diversity marketplace, is pleased to announce the renewal of its partnership with Phillips 66, one of its most loyal diversity member companies.

A leading global energy manufacturing and refining firm, Phillips 66 is among Fortune 500's top 5 list, and well recognized as America's top company for Corporate Social Responsibility. Just recently, the company announced a $1.7 million STEM grant for Bartlesville schools in Oklahoma.

Safety, Honor and Commitment are the values Phillips 66 abide by as it continues its journey to growth, innovation and achievement.

At the same time, the company is likewise committed to the values of Diversity and Inclusion that are ingrained in its corporate culture. It provides qualified applicants Equal Employment Opportunity, and treats all its employees fairly without regards to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information or any other legally protected status.

Appreciating the workforce diversity of its people as fuel in its drive to success, Phillips 66 offers extensive job opportunities and attractive benefits. As proof that having a diverse workforce enhances a company's growth, Phillips 66's senior unsecured ratings has very recently been upgraded to A3 from Baa1 by the Moody's Investors Service.

In its continual search then for the best diverse talents to join its cutting-edge, creative world-class workforce, Phillips 66 has re-affirmed its ties with DiversityWorking.com, whose mission is to help companies promote their jobs, build their brand and send targeted, qualified diversity candidates directly to the best jobs possible.

Find out more about Phillips 66 here.

Insights on Silicon Valley's Diversity Problem

Silicon Valley's diversity problem has now been publicly acknowledged by no less than the giant tech companies themselves: Google, Yahoo, Ebay, Linked In, Facebook, among others. Each of these tech companies has low diversity numbers, and may indicate they are having a tough time reaching out to the diversity communities.

With the technology sector fueling the U.S. economy, the low rate of participation in high tech also threatens to drive up the unemployment rate for blacks and Hispanics, which is already three times the national average. Computer science jobs are the fastest growing and command the highest salaries. Yet just one in 14 technical employees in Silicon Valley is black or Hispanic. - See more at:

It is reported that EBay is officially more diverse than other tech giants who have so far released their hiring statistics. Its newly released diversity report shows the company is leading the industry with more women in leadership roles and whites making up the minority in tech jobs.

However, lack of gender diverity marks Silicon Valley's reputation.

Silicon Valley has "been a bastion of sexism," says Vivek Wadhwa, a fierce critic of the valley's white male-dominated culture and author of the forthcoming book Innovating Women. The young boys network is alive and thriving not just among not engineers, but also among executives who run tech companies and the venture capitalists who fund them. "It is a self-perpetuating cycle of those in a small network that is passed from generation to generation," says Derecka Mehrens, executive director of Working Partnerhips USA, a nonprofit community-based organization in San Jose, and according to Jon Swartz, (USA TODAY), who wrote this article, Tech has had a decidedly white male look for a reason: It has been very slow to embrace diversity. - Read more here:

Many attribute the low diversity numbers in Silicon Valley to unconscious biases that affect hiring and promotion decisions. Other say the diversity issues in the tech industry may be due to the fact that only few minorities choose a course of study that would enable them to get into the STEM field, as also revealed by a study published by the U.S. Census Bureau, Disparities in STEM Employment by Sex, Race and Hispanic Origin.

The New York Times reported on a 2012 Yale University study that found that bias against women still exists in American universities. Science professors widely consider female undergraduates who have similiar accomplishments and skills less competent than their male peers. This bias means that female students are deemed less worthy of hiring, mentoring, being promoted or compensated adequately when they do get a job. - See more at:

Still many believe Silicon Valley's problem with diversity can be overcome.

So what should these companies do? A good beginning would be to set up a diversity council that includes key people from within the company plus outside voices with expertise on recruitment, retention and education. Then, the companies need to follow their own recommendations and implement those programs, not just fall back on the old boys’ network. Read more at:

One article offers some ways for tech giants to create greater workforce diversity, and among that is to “show up,” and get involved with the people you sponsor, people who don’t look like you, Just like job seekers network to make connections and get job leads, companies like Google should encourage employees to do the same thing through volunteer work. 

In addition, board membership and top-level management should be diversified and recruitment practices for employees can be more inclusive. Diversifying the tech workforce will not only boost the bottom line, but also provide African-American, Latino and female students with success stories in a field largely devoid of role models. Read more at:

The best way yet for tech companies at Silicon Valley to improve their workforce diversity is to network and touch base with the diversity population through diversity job boards like DiversityWorking.com.

the simple fact that fewer minorities choose a course of study which
w

Police Diversity Essential in Stemming Police Brutality

Public outcry and protests, giving way to chaos and looting, at Ferguson, Missouri this past week invite one to take a serious look at the state of diversity in the police force and its essential role in stemming police brutality.

The governor of Missouri declared a state of emergency and imposed an overnight curfew in Ferguson on Saturday, in an attempt to quell disturbances that have rocked the city since police shot dead an unarmed teenager a week ago. “We must have – and maintain – peace,” said the governor, Jay Nixon. “The eyes of the world are watching.” The curfew was scheduled to start at midnight and be lifted at 5am, local time.

See Timeline of events regarding the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson.

Reverend Al Sharpton has called for an anti-police rally at Staten Island next week, and the United Federation of Teachers sent an “action alert” e-mail that even promised free transportation to Sharpton’s Aug. 23 demonstration that is billed as a march for justice for “victims of police brutality.” However, Mayor de Blasio personally pleaded with Rev. Al Sharpton to cancel a threatened Staten Island march that the mayor feared “would tear the city apart,” The Post has learned.

Aggravating the situation further is the report the Brown family cried foul after Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson revealed that the doomed teenager had been suspected of stealing a box of cigars just 20 minutes before he was killed last Saturday. Sharpton said Jackson was trying to take the onus off Wilson when he released video and a police report that names Brown as a “strong-arm” robbery suspect.

Racial Disparity  

In the wake of last weekend's fatal police shooting of 18-year old Michael Brown, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles was asked about the diversity of his police department: 53 officers, just three of them African-American in a community that's 67 percent African-American, according to 2010 Census data. The mayor says it's difficult to hire black officers. See more here 

Perhaps in a town where its demographic diversity is seen to change faster than that of its police force, cases of police brutality are bound to happen, which should not be, even then. Racial imbalance is in fact the norm in police departments across the country and in other local government agencies.

Friction Due to Racial Change
Once predominantly white, the city became overwhelmingly black as white families moved out during the racial integration of public schools. At the same time, many African-American families started to move to Ferguson from St. Louis and surrounding communities.
"This whole situation has been boiling for a while," said Antonio French, a St. Louis alderman who lives five miles from Ferguson. "It's not just the death of Michael Brown but the way it's been handled by the local government and the response to the community's outrage that forced this to boil over." - Read more at:
 
Still, it does not justify at all the police reaction in the Brown case, echoed by many as an overkill, racially-motivated, and cowardly. Indeed, if witnesses accounts are to be proven true, many ask, what can be more cowardly than gunning down someone unarmed? The rule of law should always prevail, and followed strictly by law enforcers.

Racial disparity does not justify any kind of police brutality. On the other hand, it is also unfair to always blame racial disparity in minority communities as the reason behind incidences of violence by police forces.
  
Improving Police Diversity
An in-depth analysis in the Washington Post, states Even the best intentions by police departments won't automatically create perfect equality because city demographics shift over time — in some places more rapidly than others. The Department of Justice, which has filed hundreds of lawsuits against discriminatory local agencies since the 1970s, has historically looked at demographic data like this, along with hiring and recruiting practices.

Yet, it is essential to increase diversity in police forces so they can reflect the demographic makeup of the community they serve.

"Diversity is particularly important in law enforcement. Police depend on the support and assistance of the public, yet members of racial and ethnic minorities tend to view police less favorably than their white counterparts. Because of the visibility of police officers in American communities, a diverse agency publicly displays its commitment to equal treatment in law enforcement. Diversity in the ranks can also help make police personnel more sensitive to the use of racially or ethnically offensive language in casual as well as public conversations. These are advantages even in communities where residents are overwhelmingly of a single race or ethnicity. Diversity matters everywhere." -

Increasing Diversity in Police Departments: Strategies and Tools for HumanRights Commission and Others

DiversityWorking Financial Services Virtual Diversity Career Expo

DiversityWorking.com announces its upcoming Financial Services Virtual Diversity Career Expo to be held from August 14^th until August 20^th, 2014. Four of its prestigious diversity member companies are exhibitors in this big event, each a leading name in their field and an Equal Opportunity Employer:

KPMG LLP, an audit, tax and advisory firm, and a member firm of the global KPMG International Cooperative


McGraw Hill, a leader in credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics for the global capital and   commodity markets


Rabobank, one of the world's leading food and agri banks


Nature Conservancy, a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters

Each of these diversity companies have a line-up of financial job opportunities awaiting successful candidates. All those interested to launch their careers with any of these 4 leading companies are enjoined to come visit the Financial Services Virtual Diversity Career Expo.

DiversityWorking.com is the largest diversity job board online with a mission to provide job seekers with thousands of positions to search for, matching many different professional careers and experience levels. Products and services include a resume database, job search engine, and targeted corporate diversity branding opportunities.

Diversity Plays An Essential Role in Reducing Corporate Risk-Taking

A well-established rationale for increasing diversity in the workplace, in general, and particularly in the corporate world, is that it makes good business sense.

Based on a new study, there may yet be another compelling reason for diversity companies to grow their diversity efforts and strengthen their commitment to it, as it is beneficial in decision-making. Diversity is found to play an essential role in reducing corporate risk-taking.

The Science Daily reports the finding of a study by researchers at Wake Forest University that corporations with more diverse boards of directors are more likely to pay dividends to stockholders and are less prone to take risks than firms whose boards are more homogenous.

The SD report quotes Ya-wen Yang, assistant professor of accounting at the Wake Forest University School of Business as saying,  

"We found strong evidence that board diversity significantly curbs excessive risk taking. We find that firms with more diverse boards are more risk averse, spending less on capital expenditure, R&D, and acquisitions, and exhibiting lower volatilities of stock returns than those with less diverse boards." 

Several factors help explain why this is so. 

According to a NYMag article, the researchers think, because diverse groups have a bit more social friction, and this friction can be good if you're trying to throw up roadblocks between a board and hasty, ill-conceived decisions. "Compared to diverse boards, homogeneous boards form consensus more easily and quickly, and thus are more likely to experience diffusion of responsibility, reach the 'let's try it' mentality, and exhibit risk taking behavior," they write. Diverse boards, on the other hand, "face greater challenges in communicating and accepting one shared decision."

A previous study conducted by MIT found that socially similar groups reach conclusions that are less accurate and consider fewer options than a diverse body of decision makers. In other words, the "social friction" produced by a range of views from people of different backgrounds causes us to become more objective, a report by Mainstreet says. This gives credence to views that diversity contributes to greater group creativity.

The latest study, according to Mainstreet, considered a range of dissimilarity well beyond gender, including race, age, experience, tenure and expertise. Risk was defined by examining a company's capital expenditures, research and development expenses, acquisition spending, the volatility of its stock returns, as well as the variability of accounting results.

Clearly, bringing more diversity to the corporate world reaps intangible benefits as well as financial profits, making it indeed a good business idea.