Dear Workforce Why Should We Give Cash Incentives to In-House Recruiters

Dear Incentive to Succeed:

Certainly in-house recruiters should have incentives. The challenge that many companies encounter with recruiting incentives is that they are not balanced out. Corporate challenges make successful recruiting difficult. Incentive pay for in-house recruiting rarely works because most plans include rewards but no consequences. It makes sense that in-house recruiters who achieve their goals should receive incentives, but your company must also put in place consequences for failing to achieve those goals. Encourage success and eliminate incompetence.

Another obstacle for an incentive pay plan is that in-house recruiters are not typically rewarded for their own work; it simply isn’t the norm in business. The employees they bring on board are rewarded and receive incentives on a wide scale, but only about a quarter of recruiters nationwide are awarded incentives by their own companies. In this respect, you don’t have a lot of successful models on which to base your plan.

But incentivizing your in-house recruiters is a good idea. To achieve it, you need to put in place a method or process for tracking recruiting activity. Ensure that recruiting doesn’t become a numbers game by incentivizing post-hire performance on the part of recruits and longevity of tenure with your health care provider as well as the number of successful recruitments. In the end, cash is king with recruiters. Make sure, however, that they are rewarded for the quality of the recruit as well. Patient evaluations and referrals of recruited physicians and dentists can be taken into account, as well as patient loyalty.

When crafting an incentive plan, consider long-term as well as short-term goals.

SOURCE: Deborah Millhouse, president, CEO Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina, May 3, 2010

LEARN MORE: For a counterpoint, please read “Employers Move to RPO for Scalability and Cost Savings.”

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The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.