The studies of employee referral have shown that employee referral is one of the most cost-effective recruiting methods. However, few studies focused on the background and cause of its occurrence; and the guanxi between the introducer and referral could also provide as a good resource to referral and result in a great effect to both of the introducer and referral. Therefore, this research aimed at the cause of employee referral; the effects of employee referral on introducer, referral and organization; relationship development between introducer and referral after employee referral; and the effects of guanxi on referral¡¦s job performance, job satisfaction, organization commitment and resignation. The major conclusions of this research are as following: 1. If introducer voluntarily recommends referral and pedals his/her influence, the referral can have a good chance to get the job offer. 2. Positive influences which results from employee referral on introducer, referral and organization are more effective in comparison with negative influences. 3. Both of the introducer and referral take psychological pressures of employee referral, including guarantee of referral¡¦s performance and return introducer¡¦s favor. 4. To avoid being classed as the same type or group without an appropriate understanding, the introducer and referral would decrease the personal contact with each other in the office.

Problem: För att skapa ett starkt employer brand ska arbetsgivaren inneha positiva associationer hos potentiella medarbetare, vilket bidrar till att mindre resurser krävs för att finna den efterfrågade kompetensen. Då en rekommendation handlar om att yttra sig förmånligt blir betydelsen av medarbetares rekommendationer viktig för företagets employer brand. Resultaten av att använda sig av medarbetares rekommendationer i rekryteringsprocessen är känt inom forskningen. Däremot har underliggande faktorer och motiv som ligger till grund för att medarbetare rekommenderar personer i deras sociala nätverk inte adresserats i samma utsträckning. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka underliggande faktorer och motiv som finns hos anställda vid rekommendationer av personer i deras sociala nätverk. Studien ska analysera hur företag med rekryteringsbehov kan utveckla deras employer brand som i sin tur gynnar rekryteringsprocessen. Studien kan fungera som vägledning i utvecklingen av företags employee referral program, då en allmän förståelse kring rekommendationer saknas. Utifrån resultatet kommer förslag att ges om vad som bör tas hänsyn till vid en utveckling av ett employee referral program. Metod: Den insamlade data är av kvantitativ karaktär och samlades in genom en enkät som skickades ut till anställda på ABB. Resultat: Studien visar att respondenterna i undersökningen motiverades av en prosocial motivation då de rekommenderar någon till att söka anställning hos arbetsgivaren främst för att hjälpa en bekant följt av att hjälpa organisationen. Respondenterna motiverades minst av yttre motivation i form av belöningar samt att rekommendationen ska bistå med ett stärkande av deras position. Hinder och osäkerhet upplevdes till viss del hos respondenterna vid en rekommendation, men i de flesta fall var detta inte en orsak till att inte rekommendera. Det främsta hindret som upplevdes var att respondenterna inte har kunskap om hur de rekommenderar via digitala hjälpmedel och den främsta osäkerheten grundades i att personen som rekommenderas inte ska passa ihop med ABB. De flesta respondenter svarade däremot att inget hinder eller osäkerhet fanns vid en rekommendation. / Problem: In order to create a strong employer brand it requires that the potential employees hold positive associations towards the employer. When this exists, fewer resources are required in order to find the right expertise. A recommendation could be defined as: to speak favourably about something or someone. The importance of employee referrals is vital for the company's employer brand. The results of the use of these types of referral programs in the recruitment process are already known in research. However, the underlying factors and motives for employee referrals and why the employees recommend people in their social networks is not addressed to the same extent in research. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the underlying factors and motivations held by employees when they recommend people in their social network. The study will analyze how companies employer brand and employee referral program can be developed. Based on the results, suggestions will be given on what should be reviewed in a development of an employee referral program. Method: The collected data is of quantitative characteristic and was extracted from a survey, which was sent to ABB employees. Results: The study shows that most of the respondents were motivated by a prosocial motivation, as they mainly recommended someone to help an acquaintance, followed by helping the organization. The external motivation was the motivation the respondents were least motivated by, in regards to rewards and that a referral would assist with a strengthening of their position. Barriers and uncertainties among respondents were perceived to some extent when making a referral. For some respondents this was perceived as a factor for not making a referral, however not for most of them. The main barrier experienced was a lack of knowledge about how to make a referral by using digital tools. The main uncertainty was found in the perception that the person who is recommended make a suitable organisation fit. Most respondents experienced that barriers or uncertainties would not prevent them from making a referral.

Abstract Title: Recruiting Through the Grapevine - The relevance of employee referral programs within the field of employer branding   Date: 2016-06-03   Authors: Mikaela Löjdqvist & Isabella Nilsson   Course: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration (FOA214), 15 HP   University: Mälardalen University   Academia: School of Business, Society and Engineering   Supervisor: Magnus Hoppe   Examiner: Eva Maaninen-Olsson   Co-assessor: Konstantin Lampou ____________________________________________________________________________   Research question: How do employee referral programs, as a part of the recruitment process, connect to the employer brand of a company?     Purpose: Understanding the correlation and connection between the two concepts, employer branding and employee referral programs, may help companies recognize the importance of using such programs as a stable foundation of their recruitment process. Thus concurrently, identifying the consequences that the employer brand presents, has on the employees and their willingness to recommend. This leads to the purpose of this thesis, which is to examine the connection between employee referral programs and a company's employer brand.     Methodology: Answering the purpose and research question was approached by using a mixed method, based on the qualitative and quantitative approaches. The qualitative method was used in the two semi-structured in-depth interviews, while the quantitative approach was used in construction and analysis of the survey. Both methods provide a foundation to strengthen the arguments not only for the results of the survey, but also for drawing conclusions when trying to answer the research question. By using a case company, a real-life understanding of how the connection between employer branding and the employee referral program correlates.     Conclusion: A connection between employee referral programs and the employer brand can be denoted from the conducted research within the chosen case company. However, if this connection is true for all companies, needs to be further investigated.     Keywords: employer branding, employee referral programs (ERP), employee value proposition (EVP), recruitment, staff-word-of-mouth (SWOM), word-of-mouth (WOM)