How do referrals compare to Indeed on placement rate at WSI?

38.9% of referrals get placed versus 10% from Indeed.

WSI

Light industrialMichiganAvionté

WSI reset its referral culture and let the data do the rest.

A Kalamazoo light-industrial agency rebooted referrals with consulting and the Avionté integration. The placement math wasn't close: 38.9% of referrals get placed vs. 10% from Indeed.

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20x

ROI in just over three months on their Staffing Referrals investment.

20x

ROI in just over three months

38.9%

referral placement rate (vs. 10% from Indeed)

$1,100

ROI per referral placement (vs. $300)

346%

longer on the job (58 vs. 13 days)

Results at a glance · 2024 rollout

The short version.

20x in just over three months.

38.9% versus 10%.

$1,100 ROI per referral placement versus $300 from job boards.

The challenge & the reset

A good idea, the first time, that didn't stick.

WSI, a multiple-time Best of Staffing winner, had made referrals part of their strategy. But an early 2020 attempt, before the Avionté integration existed, underwhelmed. Logging a referral meant updating the Avionté profile and re-entering everything into a spreadsheet. It was tedious, and referrals never got the priority they deserved.

Referral Culture Consulting

For their Q4 2023 rollout, WSI surveyed talent and recruiters, set goals and KPIs, and aligned the whole org on benchmarks.

The Avionté integration

Then the integration tracked referrals and hours worked automatically, cutting the admin that had killed the first attempt.

Referrals vs. Indeed

The math wasn't close.

Placement rate

38.9%referrals

vs. 10% from Indeed

ROI per placement

$1,100referrals

vs. $300 from job boards

Tenure on the job

58days, referrals

vs. 13 days (346% longer)

Referrals as a share of starts

From 15% to almost 20% of all starts.

After the Q4 2023 rollout, referrals grew as a share of every new start WSI made.

Q4 2022~15%

~15%

Q4 2023 · after rollout~20%

~20%

“

We get a $1,100 ROI from every referral placement, compared to $300 from job board placements. We can spend less time and money recruiting into the ever-revolving door of turnover.

John Johnstone, Account Manager · WSI

Your firm, your numbers

See what your network
can place.

We run the model on your own data, not a generic pitch. 30 minutes, and you leave with a number you can take to your CFO.