August 30, 2018

Remember this iconic scene from “Jerry Maguire?” https://youtu.be/FFrag8ll85w Sure, they happen to be talking about football, but it’s a fitting sentiment for the recruiting industry as well. Because in the final analysis, what do your recruiters want? They want to see the money. They want to be rewarded for doing well. Ours is a target-driven industry, and giving incentives for meeting and exceeding those targets is standard practice. The three most common metrics used to track a recruiter’s performance are: Cost per hire Time to fill Quality of the new employee The average target bonus for recruiters in 2016 was 4.7 percent of their annual salary, according to the Society for Human Resources Management. But cash isn’t the only motivation you can—or should—give your team. Think about it: You want your recruiters to go above and beyond; shouldn’t you do the same when it comes time to reward them? Yes, you should. Let’s look at 15 ways to reward your recruiters for beating their targets. 1. Do a monthly raffle Create several mini targets along the way to their ultimate target and award raffle tickets as they reach them. Then, once a month draw a handful of tickets to win prizes. They could be gift cards or anything on this list. 2. Extra PTO Give them a bonus day on the house—and tell them they can use it anytime they like, no notice needed. 3. Prime parking spot Award them a VIP parking spot for a week or a month. 4. Name someone ‘Recruiter of the Month’ Start this in your firm; top performer gets named Recruiter of the Month, which comes with some kind of informal ceremony and perhaps a plaque, trophy or whatnot. The idea is to provide public recognition. 5. Boss for a day Yes, you have to give up your corner office for this one, but it’s just for a day. You could also empower the recipient to make a decree for the day, such as it’s jeans day, it’s bring your dog to work day, etc. 6. Gift cards Get several gift cards with anywhere from $10 to $25 on them and dole them out on the spot, as recruiters meet a mini goal or otherwise do excellent work. Always good choices: Amazon, Starbucks, Target, iTunes, and gas cards. 7. Sports or concert tickets How about a pair of sideline seats for the next home game? Or a big show coming into town? Throw in a parking pass to make it complete. 8. Work-from-home day Let them tackle a day from their home office (or couch). To help them be more productive when working remotely, read this post. 9. Breakfast or lunch for the whole company Order enough for everyone in the office, making sure to point out that everyone can thank so-and-so for the free food fest. The idea is, again, a little public recognition. 10. Give them an experience Skydiving, a hot air balloon ride, a museum membership, an escape room experience, theatre or symphony tickets, a local amusement park, rock climbing, a helicopter ride — these are all solid ideas. Cloud 9 Living and Under 30 Experiences are two services that can help you pull this off. 11. Spa/massage Treat them to a massage or trip to the spa. You could also hire a massage therapist to come into the office and give chair massages. 12. Airbnb Buy them an Airbnb gift card. They get to pick where they want to go, you get to foot the bill for lodging. 13. Half-day Friday Send them packing early on a Friday with pay. 14. House cleaning There’s no one who wouldn’t love this. Pay for maid service to come clean their home while they’re at work. 15. Meal delivery service Relieve them of the “what’s for dinner?” quandary for a week. Reward them with a meal delivery service such as Blue Apron, Sun Basket or Hello Fresh. Make appreciation part of your culture Competition is good, and these incentives go a long way to motivating your recruiters and making them feel valued. They’re part of what makes up the employee experience, which enables you to hire and keep top recruiting talent. We’ve written about employee experience before.

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15 Ways to Reward Recruiters for Beating Their Targets