Zao Adds Social Gamification Layer to bring Coherence, Structure and Results to Employee Referral Programs

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., Aug. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- HR experts and business professionals alike agree – trusted referrals are the fastest, most efficient way to find and hire quality candidates. But until now, the employee referral process was too long and disjointed to catch and hold many employees' interest. Companies often offer a reward and expect the ideal candidate in return, but employees are left on their own to figure out everything in between. Enter Zao, a unique technology platform that helps employers structure and manage social referral programs: The company announced today the launch of groundbreaking new analytics and gamification features that make employee referral programs social and engaging, while encouraging participation and providing both a clear actionable participation guidelines, and the ability to offer appropriate incentives at every phase.  

Zao helps businesses save time and money by giving them the quickest, most effective tools to generate and manage employee referrals. Zao's platform integrates Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter contacts for referrers, using an advanced algorithm to suggest potential candidates within the referrers' social networks and enabling one-click recommendations. It also eliminates referral rewards management hassles, providing an easy way to track and disburse rewards. Now Zao introduces an element of fun and competition for employees into the process with its social gamification feature set.

"Zao's gamification features solve two of the biggest problems with typical employee referral programs: First, that it usually takes around three to six months from the time a referral is made, until the candidate is hired and stays on long enough for the referrer to be eligible for a reward, and second, that most employees that make an effort and bring in quality candidates that don't end up getting hired are left with nothing to show for their effort, and may feel left behind with no reward, and perhaps more importantly, no recognition for their efforts," notes Ziv Eliraz, Zao's founder and CEO. "Zao's leaderboard changes that by instantly recognizing the efforts of employees that proactively participate and engage in the recruiting process."

The leaderboard provides users with real-time status updates on the employee referral program, showing the number of referrals made and the referring employee as entries come in. Rather than wait months, referrers get instant gratification for their efforts, and feedback which is crucial to help them improve and focus their efforts. Zao also provides detailed metrics HR and administrative personnel can use to track program participation and distribute rewards. With the leaderboard, a company looking to make high-quality hires quickly can offer interim rewards or incentives to the top employees on the leaderboard to generate competition and engage employees companywide. Managers can foster interdepartmental competition by rewarding the department that makes the most referrals.

Zao, which breaks a long, complex referral management process down into short, easy-to-understand steps, provides an intuitive dashboard that keeps employers informed while telling employees where they stand. The result? Higher levels of employee engagement at every step of the process – not just at the beginning and end – and more referrals and qualified candidates for employers who are seeking qualified staff.

Zao's gamification features give employers a way to make the entire process fun and exciting for their employees, driving higher levels of engagement and rewarding employees who refer candidates even if their referral isn't ultimately hired. By making the employee referral process enjoyable and competitive, businesses that use Zao benefit from reduced hiring costs, and the fastest, most effective method to get quality hires on board quickly. Find out more at www.zao.com.

About Zao
Zao helps companies hire well, fast by providing a platform that enables hiring professionals to create a job opening, set a reward amount and forward the posting to their entire network or specific individuals and track referrals and applicants on an intuitive dashboard. Zao enables potential referrers to automatically search their social networks for qualified candidates and make a referral in just one click. Zao makes it easy to reward internal and external contacts who assist companies in making successful hires. Learn more about Zao by visiting www.zao.com.

SOURCE Zao