02/14/22 Company Confidential – VistaPrint © 2007 1 Austin Cooke Vice President, Global Recruiting April 1, 2008 Employee Referral Program Case Study
05/03/23Company Confidential – VistaPrint © 2007 1
Austin CookeVice President, Global Recruiting
April 1, 2008
Employee Referral ProgramCase Study
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The CompanyTarget Market• 40 million “Small Office & Home Office” (SOHO)
micro-businesses in North America & Europe• Estimated $19 billion annual market
Powerful Advantages• Technology• Internet direct marketing• Huge order volume• Lower costs
Global Presence• US Technology and Marketing Operations
• Lexington, Massachusetts
• European Marketing• Barcelona, Spain
• Manufacturing• Windsor, Canada• Venlo, Netherlands
• Customer Support Operations• Montego Bay, Jamaica
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What We DoVistaPrint makes it easy for small businesses to get great looking design, print and marketing services at unbelievable prices
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Helping Small Businesses Market Their Business
Business Cards
Stationery
Envelopes
Presentation Folders
Postcards
Websites
Note Pads
Sticky Notes
Checks
T-Shirts
Rubber Stamps
Logos
E-mail marketing
CreativeServices
Pens
added in last two years
2003 2007
Business Cards
Business Cards
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30 Quarters of Hyper Growth“VistaPrint is experiencing a secular growth
phase that is allowing it to grow through the cyclical challenges of its competitors, which is one of the greatest signs of the emergence of an enduring and transformational business institution.” Stifel Nicolaus & Co., February 2008
“[VistaPrint’s] growth rate beat Google’s. … a “category killer,” like Home Depot for its potential to reshape an industry.” Rob Gavin, The Boston Globe – May 18, 2007
“More and more, VistaPrint looks like a classic supercompany, destined to rank with Dell, Starbucks, Amazon or eBay.” Motley Fool – January 2007
“VistaPrint offers a classic case of disruptive innovation.”InfoTrends/CapVentures in an un-sponsored white paper on VistaPrint, May 2005
$mill
ions
U.S.U.S.Non-U.S.Non-U.S.
2001 2008
Quarterly Revenue
$0
$20
$40
$60
$80
$100
$120
Sept Mar
Sept Mar
Sept Mar
Sept Mar
Sept Mar
Sept Mar
Sept
March
Sept
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Our Challenge (7.15.06)• Hire the right people with the right skills to fuel the “hyper growth” engine
of VistaPrint.
• Keep the bar “ridiculously” high and don’t lower it!
• Hire world-class engineers, analysts, and direct marketers globally
• Recruit talent from top companies (Amazon, Microsoft, Capital One, etc.)
• Hire from the best schools (Harvard, Princeton, MIT, CMU, etc.)
• The team consisted of 1 full time recruiter and 4 contractors in Boston
• Less than 19% of all hires came from employee referrals
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The IdeaWhat if everyone in the company referred one person a year?
• We would grow the Recruiting Team from 5 to 740 recruiters overnight!
• We would create a culture that encourages everyone to be responsible for recruiting (not just HR)
• We would double the company’s headcount every year
• We would empower our employees to be our culture gatekeepers
• We would challenge our employees to find people they want to work with
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Our Roadmap• We received enthusiastic support from VistaPrint leadership (CEO)
• We developed trust with our people
• We named the program
• We offered clear & creative incentives
• We aggressively marketed the program internally
• We made the process easy & clear
• We publicly recognized the people who participated
• We started tracking and publishing referral metrics weekly
• We got “spouses” and “significant others” involved
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The RoadmapWe got leadership support• Letter from the CEO announcing the importance of the program
• Presentation at quarterly all-staff meeting
• Managers talk about the program at staff meetings
• Announcements at the “holiday party”
Everyone here is a recruiter!Employee Referral Program
Lexington program launched October 19, 2006Barcelona program launched January 23, 2007Windsor, Venlo and Jamaica launching soon
Since the Lexington program launchNumbers reflective of Lexington only.
• We have received 322 resumes
• We grew our company with 51 employee referral hires
• We increased the referral rate from 19% to 42%
Program MVPs with the most referralsChris GrassoRachel HickeyTom Giannini
Employees with Multiple hiresDave Miller
Mark AndersonTom GianniniAustin Cooke*Janet Holian*
*not eligible for bonus or prize
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The RoadmapWe developed trust with our people• We followed up with all referrals
• We kept employees informed of their referral status
• We provided open & honest feedback on all referrals
• We dedicated significant time to recruiting internally
• We created the 1 week rule within our team
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The Roadmap
We named the program• ERP means different things to different groups within our company
• We chose a name that was easy to remember
• We chose a name that was easy to refer to
• We created a buzz with the name
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The RoadmapWe offered clear and creative incentives• Monetary bonus
• $1,500 flat fee (we experimented with a “hot jobs” list)
• Monthly raffle
• iPod Nano
• $100 Visa gift card
• Special incentives
• 2 tickets to Red Sox opening day
• Recruiting team hosted, cooked and served breakfast
• Grand Prize
• Trip to Hawaii
• 54” Plasma TV with Bose Surround Sound
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The RoadmapWe marketed the program internally
placed posters around the office
desk drops for the launch
hosted a company party
sent postcards to employees’ homes
sent weekly emails
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The RoadmapWe made the process clear & easy• We clearly communicated open positions on a weekly basis
• We provided clear & easy steps on how to submit referrals
• We provided 1 point of contact for questions
• 1 full-time marketer manages the program
• We provided clear & easy steps on how to submit referrals
• Given to new hires in orientation
• Sent out weekly in email
• Rules and submission instructions are kept on the company intranet
• Flat fee by geography
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The RoadmapWe publicly recognized people who participated• Each week we sent out an email with the names of people who had made
referrals that week
• We recognized new hires that were a result of a referral and named the employee who made the referral
• All prizes were given away at high profile company events
• We promoted the program with a DVD that featured employees who participated in the program
• We displayed a running chart in the café that list all of the people eligible for the grand prize
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The Roadmap
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
Q3 07 Q4 07 Q1 08 Q2 08 Q3 08
Referrals AgenciesNetworking Job Boards
Hire Sourcing Mix– January 07 to date Referral Program Starts (% of Total) July 06 to date
We started tracking referral metrics
Referrals AgenciesNetworking Job Boards
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Program Killers• Lack of follow-up
• Not knowing who to talk to
• Not knowing how to submit
• Not knowing what’s open
• Making employees seek out their prize or bonus
• Bad experiences
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Our Results
We increased our referral rate from
19% in July ‘06 to 46% to date