Motivators, barriers, and enablers of employee referrals: A sociomaterial perspective.

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School of Business | Master's thesis

Date

2023

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Management and International Business (MIB)

Language

en

Pages

56

Series

Abstract

Employee referrals have been widely recognized as a valuable source of new hires. Re-searchers and practitioners alike have also explored how to manage employee referral programs in a way that encourages employees to refer potential candidates from their social networks. However, little research has examined the interpersonal and system-level factors that influence the effectiveness of employee referral programs. This thesis aims to investigate these factors that influence the effectiveness of employee referral programs. I conducted 10 interviews with employees from large corporations to gain insight into these phenomena. Utilizing semi-structured interviews, I explored individuals' experiences and perspectives, focusing on identifying both visible and hidden factors that may affect the employee referral program. In my analysis, I mapped out all participants, including both material objects and human actors. I then examined the relationships between these objects and actors and considered how they may impact each other. The identified system-level factors included aspects such as location and accessibility of referral tracking, material representation of referrals, geographical proximity, the level of entanglement, and algorithms of software systems. These factors were further discussed by considering IT affordances theory and providing suggestions for managing employee referral programs. The implications of this research for practice include the potential for organizations to design and implement effective employee referral programs. My findings suggest that organizations should not only focus on the human aspects of the referral programs but also pay attention to the material aspects, such as the use of technological tools and the design of the programs. This thesis offers a unique contribution to the existing body of literature by incorporating a sociomaterial perspective to analyze the interpersonal and system-level factors influencing the effectiveness of employee referral programs. Further research is encouraged to delve deeper into these issues and explore possible solutions for the challenges identified in this study.

Description

Thesis advisor

Mäkkeli, Jori

Keywords

employee referrals, referral likelihood, sociomateriality, motivators

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