Referred Workers Are 20% Less Likely To Quit Their Jobs

There's a value to well-designed employee referral programs. Those who are hired through this method are 20% less likely to quit their jobs, and they are also more productive at their jobs.

According to a new report by Evolv — a data provider that uses analytics to study employee retention — having friends at work encourages a more productive work environment and is a "key contributing factor to decreased attrition."

The report said that in the first 200 days of employment, referred workers were more productive compared to other new employees, because the referred ones "had a more realistic view of what their jobs would be like." In the next 200 days, these workers continued to be more productive and happier in their jobs; they "experienced more positive social treatment on the job, had better knowledge of resources and had more help navigating the business compared to non-referred employees."

For these studies, Evolv collected and analyzed more than five million data points from nine large firms in the high-tech, call centers and transportation industries.