Co-optation program, the ideal recruitment strategy for companies

By Nathalie Pouillard

Published: November 15, 2024

Recruiting through co-optation can be a great way of finding well-hidden talent that fits in well with your business, and benefits from the validation of your employees.

But when is it appropriate? Are there any conditions for its implementation? What are its advantages and disadvantages?

Before soliciting recommendations from your employees, we recommend you read this article on how to successfully implement your sourcing strategy 😉

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What is co-optation in recruitment?

Cooptation: HR definition

Co-optation is an innovative way of finding talent outside the traditional recruitment process.

To avoid missing out on :

atypical profiles,
rare talents on the market,
or even experts who are not actively looking;

the company offers its employees the chance to take part in a co-optation program, i.e., recommending a candidate to meet a specific recruitment need, often in return for a bonus or gift.

In a way, it's a sponsorship or collaborative recruitment operation, where the employer leaves it up to its teams to source relevant profiles.

Co-optation accounts for around 37% of executive recruitment in France, and is the 3rd most common recruitment channel for these profiles, after job advertisements and candidate hunting.

APEC

A whole program

Co-optation involves involving your human resources and tapping into their professional or private network.

To do this, it's essential to establish the conditions of the co-optation program in advance, as well as the clearest possible job description or job offer, so that the recommendation is made on the basis of well-defined search criteria.

The recommended candidate will nevertheless have to follow the usual recruitment procedure, i.e. go through the interview and testing stages, which are open to all candidates.

The co-optation bonus

How much is a co-optation bonus?

In many cases, the employee receives a referral bonus or gift in return for the recommendation and referral.

But some companies don't offer any remuneration for cooptation, just the benefit of participating in the selection of personnel - a real token of trust - and the recognition of employers and colleagues.

It all depends on the profile you're looking for, how rare it is, and how much you estimate you'll save.

What format should a co-optation bonus take?

A co-optation bonus can be :

fixed, communicated in advance,
variable, in addition to or instead of the fixed bonus, depending on the quality of the co-opted profile (experience, seniority, contract in place, etc.),
a benefit in kind, such as a travel voucher,
participation in a special corporate event, such as a major product launch gala,
a donation to a charitable organization.

☝️ As an example of a bonus, Capgemini pays a co-optation bonus of €1,200 for an inexperienced profile and €2,000 for an experienced one.

How and when to pay the co-optation bonus?

The bonus or reward can be paid :

directly from the next paycheck,
via an investment in a company savings plan (PEE), etc.
at the very beginning of the co-optation process, with no performance conditions,
when recruitment is completed,
at the end of the trial period,
or in instalments, part at the time of co-option, part at the time of final recruitment.

Advantages and disadvantages of co-option

For a company's employees, the benefits of taking part in a co-optation program are mainly financial, when there is a quid pro quo.

But it also involves helping to select future colleagues.

Nevertheless, they inevitably take on a degree of responsibility towards their superiors and acquaintances, and run the risk of losing credibility.

For the HR department or general management, co-option also offers a number of advantages:

increasing the number of qualified candidates,
reducing the time and expense involved in finding candidates, particularly the cost of a specialized recruitment agency ,
staff commitment and recognition,
recruitment of profiles with skills and interpersonal skills adapted to the corporate culture,
reduced turnover: according to a Careerfy study, a co-opted recruit is 23 times less likely to leave his or her post.

According to Softy, implementing a co-option policy would reduce recruitment time by 90% and increase the quality of applications by 60%.

In some cases, co-optation is even used as an argument for recruiting, as shown by this example of a Gan Prévoyance campaign:

Beware, however, of the risk of cronyism and internal conflict. With the lure of money, some employees sometimes go into " headhunting " mode. It's a good idea to limit the number of eligible candidates per employee, and the amount of the bonus.

Another potential disadvantage is the brake on diversity. An employee who recommends a former colleague or classmate, with a background too similar in terms of training or professional experience, can prevent the company from breathing new life into its business.

Last but not least, you'll save a great deal of time in the recruitment process, but you'll have to waste some of it in defining the conditions of co-optation, so as to anticipate any conflicts that may arise if a candidate is turned down or a bonus is paid.

How do you set up a co-optation program?

1 - Define the relevance of co-optation

First and foremost, your recruitment strategy needs to be clearly defined, particularly in terms of when co-optation is appropriate.

What are your objectives? If it's to recruit different, rare profiles, to develop participative recruitment or to save time and money, cooptation may indeed be the right solution.

2 - Framing the co-optation program

Once you've decided on the type of recruitment you want to carry out, define which employees (managers, teams) and even which partners can take part, and how:

amount of the bonus,
bonus format,
payment conditions, etc.

Setting a deadline can turn the program into a real challenge! A system for awarding points for each candidate proposed and for each stage in the recruitment process can also make it fun, especially if there are no rewards.

Finally, if you're looking for very rare candidates, co-optation can also go beyond the internal framework, as in the case of this recruitment firm specializing in BigData and DataScience, which fills its candidate pipeline with an open online co-optation campaign:

3 - Use a suitable recruitment tool

Software specialized in recruiting and tracking candidates offers a cooptation module, such as Softy. This allows the recruiter to monitor ongoing co-optation processes and identify co-opters eligible for bonus payments, depending on the co-optation policy in place at the company.

It also enables employees to propose candidates directly on its platform, in a dedicated space.

And if you're looking for ATS software to encourage internal referrals, softgarden is for you. Secure and personalized, the solution offers native integration to receive feedback from former employees on a job sheet, an integrated reward system and multicasting to reach a maximum number of people on social networks.

☝️ Another tool not to be overlooked is LinkedIn. It enables a form of indirect, digitalized co-optation. In fact, by asking your employees to link their profile to your company, and relay your job offers, for example, you encourage contact with their network, through their intermediary.

4 - Communicate the co-optation program

Well established, it's time to communicate the co-optation program to your employees, all its rules and benefits, to motivate them to participate.

In addition to the criteria for possible rewards, don't forget to explain :

job offers open to co-option,
priority positions,
skills and profiles sought.

Don't hesitate to keep them informed of recruitment progress to keep the program alive, for example on the company's social network. It's also the right place to praise the co-opters, even those whose candidates didn't make it to the end of the process. Otherwise, you risk their disengagement.

💡 Why not provide a small reward for employees who get involved in your search for candidates but don't make it to the bonus, with a consolation prize? Valuing their involvement in one way or another is essential.