Home Care Recruitment: Top Examples of Employee Referral Programs

In a previous post we discussed the tenants of a successful employee referral program as part of a CNA recruitment strategy. Things like keeping the program simple and immediacy of payment lead to better results. Recently I’ve been asked about some of my favorite referral programs I’ve seen for agencies hiring Caregivers and CNAs, and below are a few my team and I have encountered.

Early bird gets the worm:

Any Caregiver who refers a new hire gets a $50 bonus after the new hire works 10 hours. This program is utilized by an agency who touts 40% of all new hires coming from employee referrals. This goes to show how a simple program with quick payment helps agencies who are hiring CNAs.

Rule of threes:

Any Caregiver who refers a new hire gets $200 after 30 days of work, then another $200 after 60 days. After the new employee works for 90 days both Caregivers receive a $300 bonus. This program is also tied to quality performance, which hasn’t been an issue according to the owner.

Get ‘em in the door:

A $20 referral bonus goes to any current employee who refers a new candidate after they show up to the interview; regardless of whether or not they hire the candidate. They also mention any current employee who has made referrals in their email newsletter and highlight them on social media. For most agencies getting good people in the door is the hardest part of recruiting Caregivers, so why not reward your current staff for helping?

Keep it coming:

For every 90 hours worked, both the new hire and the referring Caregiver get a $25 gas card for as long as they’re with the company. Since we know how expensive it is to recruit and replace an employee who leaves, incentivising them to stay for as long as they’re with the company can pay dividends!

These are just a few examples of successful programs we’ve seen that embody the key elements. If you liked this article, check out our post on key elements to a successful referral program here as well as our post on broadening your market when recruiting CNAs. Looking for help recruiting Caregivers you aren't reaching today? We'd love to have a conversation about how we can help with Caregiver recruitment.

Recruitment & Retention Trends