Analysis of the impact of referral-based recruitment on job attitudes and turnover in temporary agency workers
| Published date | 02 January 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-11-2016-0212 |
| Date | 02 January 2018 |
| Pages | 89-105 |
| Author | Luis González,Lorenzo Rivarés |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
Analysis of the impact of
referral-based recruitment on
job attitudes and turnover in
temporary agency workers
Luis González
Department of Social Psychology and Anthropology,
Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain, and
Lorenzo Rivarés
EULEN Corporate University, Madrid, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to analyse the referral-based recruitment process in temporary work
agencies (TWA) and its influence on workers’attitudes and turnover.
Design/methodology/approach –By means of a quasi-experimental design with equivalent groups and
repeated measures, differences in attitudes -group commitment, task commitment, group satisfaction, general
job satisfaction and job involvement- and turnover in a group of workers recruited by the TWA through the
“bring a friend”procedure based on employee referrals and in another group comprising workers not
recruited through employee referrals are studied.
Findings –The results obtained show that workers recruited through employee referrals by the TWA are
characterized by having greater group commitment, task commitment, task satisfaction, general job
satisfaction and turnover than employees not recruited through employee referrals. These differences are
explained on the basis of expectations and the feeling of obligation generated in the recruitment process.
Research limitations/implications –The sample size is an element to take into account when valuing the
obtained results. Moreover, the effects of the recruitment programs with employee referral on the TWA
should be analyze on more qualified jobs. Furthermore, they should be also evaluated if the effects on the
attitudes stay the same in longer periods.
Originality/value –This is the first paper to examine the impact of the employee-referral-based recruitment
method known as “bring a friend”on attitudes –group commitment, task commitment, group satisfaction,
general job satisfaction, and job involvement –and turnover of employees when used by TWA. Likewise, we
want highlight the fact that this is a longitudinal research study.
Keywords Turnover, Temporary agency workers, Employee referrals, Group and task commitment,
Job and group satisfaction, Job involvement
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The growth of emerging forms of non-traditional or contingent employment (Subramony,
2011), among which temporary agency workers can be found, has been a constant in the last
few decades (González and Rivarés, 2013; Liu et al., 2010; Stanworth and Druker, 2006).
In this regard, it is worth mentioning that, in 2015, temporary work agencies (TWA)
(e.g. Adecco, Manpower, Randstad) employed 67.2 million people throughout the world
(CIETT, 2016). Studying temporary agency workers is necessary not only because of their
importance within the labor market, but also because most explanatory models of behavior
in organizations have been raised from the standpoint of permanent workers (Connelly et al.,
2011). This perspective has proved insufficient to explain the behavior of temporary agency
workers, and, as stated by Wittmer and Martín (2011), it is necessary to conduct more
thorough research to enable knowing which variables and processes influence the
behavior of temporary agency workers and how they are affected by human resources
management practices. The goal of this study is along these lines: to analyze the impact of
Employee Relations
Vol. 40 No. 1, 2018
pp. 89-105
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-11-2016-0212
Received 7 November 2016
Revised 16 August 2017
Accepted 13 September 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
89
Temporary
agency
workers
the employee-referral-based recruitment method in TWA and its influence on attitudes and
turnover of workers.
The special circumstances of the TWA market make the response time required by their
client companies very short. This time pressure implies that attracting and retaining
workers stands at the core of their strategy to obtain and maintain a sustainable competitive
advantage. Recruitment systems are one of the key elements of this strategy. Among the
different recruitment methods, obtaining candidates through employee referrals is one of
the most commonly used (Yu and Cable, 2012). The employee referral method is an informal
person-to-person communication between a perceived non-commercial communicator and a
receiver regarding the company’s demand for a position available (Harrison-Walker, 2001).
One of the employee referral methods is the so-called “bring a friend.”In order to
understand this recruitment method better, it is described in sequence below. First,
TWA follows traditional recruitment procedures (e.g. web portals, people attending
temporary agency to seek employment, databases). Second, candidates are subjected to
different tests by the TWA (e.g. curriculum vitae assessment, professional tests,
psychometric tests, interviews), and successful candidates that are considered suitable for
the job will become worker-recruiters. Third, recruiting workers are asked the following
question: “By any chance, have you got a friend who would be interested in this job?”
TWA has no incentive to make referrals. Fourth, the recruiting worker recruits, among
his/her friends those he/she deems fit to perform the job and the TWA apply the selection
process needed to ensure that they match the professional profile required. Finally,
the TWA hires the group of workers, comprised by the recruiting worker and the recruited
workers, and supplies them temporarily to the client company.
The explanation of the effectiveness of employee-referral-based recruitment systems lies on
two hypotheses. On the one hand, the one claimi ng that the origin of effectiveness is the effects
of a previous realistic perception of the position and, on the other hand, the hypothesis based on
the differential behavior of the method in terms of thecharacteristics of theworkers recruited
through it (Breaugh, 2012; Yu and Cable, 2012). According to the first hypothesis, candidates
recruitedthrough the referralan employee makes of thecompany would have a moreaccurate
previous perception of the position and the organization. This explanatory hypothesis is not
suitable in the “bring a friend”recruitment system in TWA, since the recruiting worker is
unable to provide previous realistic information of the position and the organization, as he/she
does not belong to and has not worked for the user company. Therefore, the explanation should
be based on the second hypothesis, which argues that the recruitment process associated to
this method would attract candidates with certain characteristics generated by the process.
The analysis of the “bring a friend”recruitment system in TWA should account both for
the mechanisms the recruiting worker used to take the decision to make the referral of the
position to a friend or relative, as well as for the processes that may determine the highest
organizational performance of recruited workers. In this respect, the recruiting worker
making a referral of a position reflects intrinsic motivation, where a self-confirmation
process reinforcing the decision to work for the TWA and a process of involvement and
helping other workers play a significant role (Bloemer, 2010; Shinnar et al., 2004).
Furthermore, the recruiting worker conducts a candidate screening process of potential
candidates to whom he may make the referral, discarding workers whose performance
he/she may have doubts about (Breaugh and Starke, 2000). That is to say, as stated by
Fernandez et al. (2000), a reputation protection mechanism that entails positive screening
process and expectations over the performance of recruited workers is involved.
Additionally, intrinsic motivation in recruited workers is centered on what Castilla (2005)
names a feeling of obligation. They will show a feeling of obligation toward the recruiting
worker, as he/she gave them the job opportunity, and will be aware of the positive
expectations that the recruiting worker has on their performance. If anything, this
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