The expanding business world has seen organizations and institutions switching to the referral-based method of hiring new employees. For instance, this practice has a vast effect contributing to up to 50% of the current new hires globally. This hiring approach is quite a simple process. It involves the hiring manager establishing their selection decisions regarding a particular job candidate, from recommendations of an acquaintance mostly fellow employees The article “compromised ethics in hiring processes? How referrers’ power affects employees’ reactions to referral practices” sheds light on the referral-based practices and the effects of a referrer’s power on an organization.
Research support in the article shows the effectiveness of the theoretical model through the application of a multi-method approach involving two experimental studies and two field studies. These approaches made use of power and ethic lenses to drive out different employee reactions to the same hiring practice depending on the moral attributions of the manager. Referral practices are cost-efficient and may accrue positive benefits for the organization as well as the new employee. Findings have shown that employees who are fruits of these practices have landed on more extended organizational contracts, high levels of performance and job satisfaction (Derfler-Rozin, Baker & Gino, 2018). Despite the method providing suitable candidates for existing job positions, the employee reactions confirmed that the process in itself rarely undergoes an ethical examination.
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Employee reactions from their encounter with the referral-based approach are explained through one major factor that affects our current ethical issues facing organizations. The relational power of the referrer to the hiring manager who accepts and makes the decision of hiring the referred candidate (Derfler-Rozin, Baker & Gino, 2018). Despite the fact that getting referrals from a higher power individual is more effective than those from low-power individuals in an organization, these hiring approach paves the way for the hiring manager to be subjected to being perceived as engaging in immoral activities. Moral attributions, however, may not be tested or grounded, therefore, it is somehow difficult to identify if the hiring manager acted out of self-interest or against organizations ethic values. It is, therefore, of great benefit that such moral attributions are monitored for the organizations to limit the leverage present in the referral practices.
According to my personal experience and viewpoint, referral-based practices have a great potential to outsource new and qualified candidates. Yet, they are still prone to give an ethical issue for the organization. I am a beneficiary of a friend's referral to a particular organization, and I happened to be well qualified, suitable and effective in the job position. This did not, however, hinder ethical issues that rose from other employees questioning the hiring manager's credibility. My experience further proved that referrals generally cloud the hiring manager's judgement leading to the employment of unqualified or unsuitable candidates. Considering the article in question, this hiring approach serves as an ethical grey area where referral practices can be seen as a morally murky territory, in which special interests and the exchange of favors dominate, above and beyond merit (Derfler-Rozin, Baker & Gino, 2018). Besides, organizational and employee support for hiring referrals are based on the referrer's status, level of power within the institution. If the referrer is of a higher level or status, the employees will tend to view the hiring manager as being opportunistic for the improvement of the organization.
In conclusion, current events on the referral-based hiring approach have led to the need to set up systems that have temporary anonymous referrers. This transparency supported by reasons for the choice of referral will enable a shift of focus from the moral attribute and characteristics of the referrer to the candidate being recommended hence noticing their validity in regards to the position at hand. Furthermore, higher power referrers should be conscious that their referrals will be subjected to scrutiny and, therefore, should be careful in their choices.
Reference
Derfler-Rozin, R., Baker, B., & Gino, F. (2018). Compromised Ethics in Hiring Processes? How Referrers’ Power Affects Employees’ Reactions to Referral Practices. Academy of Management Journal, 61 (2), 615-636. doi:10.5465/amj.2015.1355
