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Referral program rewards employees

	When Kevin Haynes, Main Operating Room inventory tech (center), referred Latasha Jenkins and Dave Best for available jobs in the OR, he helped Children’s fill important positions with great employees. He also earned two referral bonuses.

year ago, Latasha Jenkins was working as a supervisor at Home Depot and Dave Best worked for Cingular Wireless. Both were looking for something better.

Kevin Haynes, inventory technician in the Main Operating Room, knew there were positions available as nurses’ assistants—a position he held until being promoted last March. Haynes told Jenkins and Best about working at Children’s. "I told them about the benefits here, and how there are always opportunities for advancement," says Haynes. "I also told them that it’s exciting to work in an operating room and see everything that goes on there."

Both Jenkins and Best applied for the jobs, and after his friends were hired, Haynes was rewarded for helping the hospital with recruitment, receiving two referral bonuses.

That was a year ago—now, with Children’s New Research Building open and the Clinical Expansion set to open its doors next year, the drive to recruit excellent staff and employees is even greater. Gayle Farnham, manager of Employment, estimates that with the expansion, the hospital needs to fill 130 clinical and research positions this year. And with a national shortage of nurses that won’t be resolved anytime soon, the need to recruit is even higher.

To address the recruitment challenge, the hospital is making several changes to its employee referral program that will make it even more rewarding to tell friends and colleagues about the benefits of working at Children’s. Among the changes are higher bonuses for referring multiple successful candidates for "strategic hires" (that is, hard-to-fill positions such as nursing) and quicker bonus payment (see details below).

Of course, the rewards of referring someone for a job at Children’s are not just financial—it may also open the door to a great career for a friend. "This job is definitely number one," says Best. "You’re doing something good and you’re always learning something new."

 

How does it pay to refer a friend? Currently, most Children’s employees who refer a successful candidate get a $500 bonus. Starting in with a kickoff event in March, however (exact date TBA), referrals of successful candidates for jobs considered “strategic hires”—including all nurses—will be paid higher bonuses: $1,000 bonus for the first successful RN or other strategic hire referral $1,500 bonus for the second successful strategic hire referral $2,000 for each additional successful strategic hire referral Also, employees who refer a new hire won’t have to wait as long to see the payoff. The referring employee will now receive half of the bonus in his or her first paycheck following the new employee’s start date. The remainder will be paid after the new employee has worked at Children’s for 90 days. In addition, successful referring employees will be entered in drawings for additional rewards, including two $1,000 American Express gift certificates and one prize of $5,000 cash. And even employees whose referrals don’t end up being hired will be eligible for smaller prizes, including gift certificates to movie theaters and restaurants. For more details and restrictions, e-mail Gayle.Farnham@childrens.harvard.edu.