Quest Global is in the business of engineering, building a brighter future. What makes them different is not what they do but why they do it. Quest Global believes engineering has the unique opportunity to solve the hardest engineering problems of today that stand in the way of tomorrow. For 25 years, they have strived to be the most trusted partner for the world’s hardest engineering problems. As a global organization headquartered in Singapore, the organization is spread across 17 countries, with 56 global delivery centers, driven by 17,000+ extraordinary employees who make the impossible possible every day.

Quest Global brings deep industry knowledge and digital expertise to deliver E2E global product engineering services. They bring together technologies and industries alongside the contributions of diverse individuals and their areas of expertise to solve problems better and faster. This multi-dimensional approach enables them to solve the most critical and large-scale challenges across the Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Energy, Hi-Tech, Healthcare Medical Devices, Rail and Semiconductor industries.

Attracting & Retaining high-quality talent in a competitive market

As product engineering service companies such as Quest Global continue to expand and evolve, they face several challenges. One of the biggest challenges is hiring and retaining expert talent. The need for more highly skilled and experienced engineers combined with the intense competition not only drives up salary but also causes revenue drain. This situation compels them to actively seek passive talent.

The leadership at Quest Global team took the challenge head on. Married their vision of building high-quality talent pipelines with systematic data driven execution driving these outcomes.

Quest Global delivered 2.5M topline impact through a 10X improvement in employee referrals

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Challenges in building a strong talent pipeline

One needs to have a strong talent pipeline in order to solve tough engineering problems. Realizing this, the leadership at Quest Global took a close look at how they attract new and right talent. Their evaluation led to interesting discoveries, challenges and limitations.

Discoveries:

Changing Workforce: Millennial and Gen Z candidates who form a substantial talent pool prioritize social and digital engagement. They prefer companies with strong online presence and a positive reputation.
Traditional Methods: Job fairs and conventional referral techniques fall short in attracting the desired quantity and quality of candidates. This could stem from increased competition and evolving candidate preferences.
Diversity and Inclusion: Quest aims to enhance workforce diversity. This requires a fresh recruitment approach and concerted efforts to connect with underrepresented groups.

The biggest challenge in front of Quest Global was attracting top talent, especially passive candidates. The traditional methods were not enough to attract top notch talent. That is when the TA function started drilling down on their employee referral channel. While this program had proven effective in the past, it came with its own limitations.

Limitations with previous referral process:

Technology & User-Friendliness: Lack of a central tool for promoting, tracking, and gamifying the referral program. The manual process was time consuming.
Transparency & Engagement: Communication delays, tracking errors, and limited visibility dampen employee enthusiasm. Identifying duplicate referrals was complex.
Reward System: The entire referral process was reactive. Employees tend to refer candidates only when a new opportunity arises or when someone in their network reaches out to them for a job opportunity. Moreover, determining to incentivize (monetary or non-monetary) employees remained a bigger challenge.
Referral Quality: Quest Global was receiving a high volume of applications. However, the lack of data and actionable insights made it difficult for the TA team to handle this process efficiently. Identifying suitable candidates took longer, extending hiring cycles and costs.
Visibility: Employees lacked clear details about available positions. Even in cases where they managed to find out available positions, they lacked visibility on the status of referrals. All of this was leading to uncertainty within the organization and reduced interest in the referral process. Inadequate guidance and confusion on whom to contact or how to submit referrals also contributed to the problem.
Reach: Choosing between a targeted referral approach for specific roles or opening every position for referral presents a dilemma. Selective referrals attract top talent for crucial roles but could narrow the program's reach. Conversely, opening all positions to referrals could create a broad pool of potential candidates, yet it might also result in more lower-quality referrals and a less focused hiring process.
Referral Database: The Talent Acquisition (TA) team was exploring ways to utilize their current employee referral database for staffing various roles.
Referral Definition: What qualifies as a valuable referral? How to ensure employees understand the program clearly?

Quest Global recognized that solving this complex challenge, involving multiple stakeholders, required adopting smart and adaptable Talent Acquisition technology.

Transforming Talent Acquisition by Leveraging Technology

To address these challenges, Quest Global planned to create a centralized and structured referral program. Their goal was to tap into their employees' vast network and attract high-quality candidates efficiently, leading to better retention rates, and increased employee engagement. They believed that involving employees in the recruitment process would foster a culture of collaboration and teamwork, driving the organization's overall success.

Quest Global partnered with RippleHire, a market leader in Talent Acquisition (TA) technology to drive innovative campaigns and reward employees who referred potential candidates, thereby also boosting the referral culture within the organization. By using RippleHire's user-friendly interface, employees could participate in fun contests, easily share job openings through social media platforms like WhatsApp, and refer candidates effortlessly. The referral engine provided the TA team with the ability to run special campaigns and reward employees for referring talent to niche job openings.

Building a Dynamic Employee Referral Program

The TA team initiated a comprehensive approach to build a dynamic employee referral program. They launched an employee survey to gather feedback. Employees voiced their displeasure on the complicated referral process on the ATS, the struggle to identify right roles and lack of regular updates on referred applications.

Here are a few step by step things they did well to ensure the program runs effectively as planned:

Launching the program on the RippleHire platform, Quest Global introduced an intuitive dashboard with essential elements like referral status updates, contests, and gamification features to ensure a smooth user experience.
The TA team fostered active participation through engaging emails, and innovative referral contests. They also promoted top referrers both on social media and internal channels.
Attractive incentives, including cash bonuses and paid weekend getaways, motivated employees to participate.
The program's integration into employee induction and the appointment of a dedicated program manager further enhanced engagement.
Targeted efforts in specific locations and the use of a business intelligence dashboard allowed data-driven decision-making and optimization.
Lastly, seamless integration with the larger talent management strategy and Single-Sign-On (SSO) functionality improved the employee experience.
Additionally, critical process improvements and leadership involvement, along with recognition for top recruiters, strengthened the program's impact and encouraged ongoing participation.

Goals Achieved

Goals	Overview
Building a proprietary sourcing channel	Collaboration with RippleHire helped Quest Global build a proprietary sourcing channel, a channel that streamlined the referral process. Fostered better communication between recruiters and employees. Facilitated regular evaluation and measurement of the program's effectiveness.
Reduced candidate ghosting and no-shows	Leveraging their employees (“Questians”) as brand ambassadors significantly reduced candidate ghosting and no-shows, resulting in an impressive joining ratio of over 70%.
Improved hiring speed / Turn-Around-Time (TAT)	Pre-filled details in job applications helped recruiters efficiently assess and qualify candidates. Streamlined process helped speed up feedback collection from hiring managers. Ability to quickly identify if referrals were fungible across different functions A comprehensive system that oversees the complete lifecycle of recruitment – from promoting the program to the receipt of applications to the final selection of candidates.
Maximized referral sources	New Employee Onboarding: Introduction of a structured program in the first week for new hires helped them understand company culture, values, and the employee referral program. Encouraging Social Media Engagement: Providing employees with branded content and encouraging them to share it on their personal social media networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, and similar platforms) to reach a wider audience for attracting potential candidates. Empowering Ambassadors: Identifying and supporting social media champions to promote the company's brand and referral program. Referral Rewards: Offering rewards like signing bonuses or extra vacation days to new employees who refer successful candidates.
Tracking and analyzing referral data	Efficient dashboards which makes the employee referral program truly data driven. Providing insights to enable the TA personnel and business heads to track and analyze referral data over time. Identifying trends and patterns. Like which employees or functions are making the most referrals or which sources are providing the highest quality referral leads. Using this data to optimize the program and improve its effectiveness.
Governance and global rollout	Scaled and rolled out the program across 17 countries, adhering to the local laws and regulations.

Evolution into a Reliable Ally for the World's Toughest Engineering Problems

Quest Global's employee referral program has surpassed all expectations. Establishing itself as a resounding success by contributing to an impressive 23% of their hiring, exceeding the initial goals set by the company. By leveraging the company's strong culture and employer brand, coupled with its positive ROI, the employee referral program continues to play a pivotal role in shaping Quest Global's talent acquisition and retention strategies.

The program's remarkable achievements align seamlessly with the organization's core objectives of building a high quality talent pool which helps them solve the world's toughest engineering problems. Looking ahead, the program has set its sights on an even more ambitious target of achieving 40% of all hiring. To accomplish this feat, Quest Global is prepared to expand its reach to new talent pools in different regions, while remaining acutely mindful of cultural nuances.

Quest Global: Establishing Trust as a Go-To Partner for the World's Most Challenging Engineering Problems through Talent Acquisition Excellence