Navigating Referral Hiring Challenges: How Should HR Justify This Situation?

Referral Hiring Issue

There has been an issue regarding referral hiring lately. Our company policy states:

"Besides the external job advertisements and considering the critical nature of our business, open positions may also be announced in-house by the HR department. Staff can refer suitable candidates for the vacancies. Staff cannot refer their immediate family members (parents, siblings, spouses, and blood relatives). Those candidates referred by the staff may be contacted directly, and they will undergo the rest of the hiring formalities completely."

One of our employees referred his friend to work under his supervision, who was later hired as an intern. Our CEO was unaware of this, but the HR department was informed. When it was disclosed to the CEO, he recommended hiring someone experienced and releasing the intern. Once released, the intern applied for an opening in another department and was selected for the position after an interview. Now, our boss believes that our policy was bypassed in this case, and the intern should not have been selected or even shortlisted for this position.

Please advise on how to justify this as an HR officer.

As per the policy stated above, the person hired is outside the given parameters for whom the person can recommend. So if he fits in the category, he can be hired.

Now, you will have to tell us the exact reason why the boss is saying that the policy has been bypassed or if he is referring to some other policy, where an employee who was earlier hired and then relieved cannot be rehired. Please check that out.

Regards,
Ashutosh Thakre

Thank you, Ashutosh, for your response. As mentioned earlier, the person was working as an intern for the first time in our company, and there is no other policy in contrast with this decision. It's possible that our Boss may have misunderstood and thought of this clause as an anti-nepotism policy, which, again, does not prohibit this intern from being rehired.

I am currently trying to explain the situation to upper management and am feeling very anxious due to confusion on all ends.

In addition to what Ashutosh Thakre mentioned, "the exact reason the boss is saying that the policy has been bypassed," the very fact that the CEO wanted someone experienced to be hired points to the lack of clarity while deciding or freezing the job description. On what basis was the intern hired?

Regarding your line, "Once released, the intern applied for an opening in some other department and got selected," did he get selected again through the Referral Hiring Scheme or directly? Maybe this is what your CEO is referring to?

Regards,
TS

I am not sure of the exact reason, but what he mentioned is keeping information from him and not disclosing the fact that the intern is being supervised by his friend or acquaintance. The second time hiring is done purely following the standard procedure while his ex-boss is working in the same company. I am not sure if it comes under referral hiring... It's complicated.

Here, this candidate was released only at the behest of the CEO in the first instance. When he applied again for a different post in the same organization, his candidature should not have been taken like the others. It should have been brought to the boss's attention before the final selection. Here, more than policies and procedures, there is also another element that needs to be considered while making decisions.

Regards,
Johnson