Employee Referral Program or a.k.a A Win-Win Situation

At work we have an employee referral program. Here is how the program works: if you refer an applicant and the company hires the applicant, you receive $250-500 (depending on the grade level of the employee) when the applicant/ now new employee reaches their 90-day anniversary and $250-500 (again, depending on the grade level of the employee) when the new employee reaches their 6-month anniversary. It is a pretty good deal. Refer good employees like yourself to work for a great company and receive a little extra spending money for yourself. I think this is a win-win situation.

Over my eleven years of recruiting and working for different companies, my best hires have been (for the most part) the hires that were referred by current employees. I think this process works for because when your employees are happy at work, they want other people to be happy with them and they refer their friends. It also works because employees are not going to refer just anyone. They are going to be careful who they refer because they think that the applicant/employee’s performance is in a part, a reflection on them.

So, my question is, if an employee referral program works so well for filling my open positions at work, why can’t it work for my love life? Ok, stay with me for a moment, take this example, if my friends, family members, co-workers happened to keep my singleness in the back of their minds, then they might know or meet someone that could be a referral/match for me. I am not saying this is about blind dates. This isn’t just a date where your friend happens to know someone single and they know you are single so therefore, they think you the two of you must be a match. (Because as we know, being single is not enough to have in common to keep a relationship going). In fact, this is about knowing two people who you think might a) have fun together b) be a resource for each other so they can each meet other singles c) be a match for a more permanent long-term relationship (marriage). Someone might say to themselves, “My single, unattached male friend likes x, y and z and I think his likes and his personality might work with my single, unattached female friend’s likes and personality.” Voila- we have a potential match!

I know this sound easier than it is and I know that this process isn’t a guarantee but we should try it. We should actually try it for all singles we know. You never know when, where or how you could make a match. Dating referrals can be successful. They say, “Every member a missionary”, why not also, “Every member a matchmaker”? It’s not a bad idea. You might not get any referral money but you will be the hero in some couple’s fairy tale story when someone asks them the question, “So, how did you two meet?” and that really should be quite satisfying. Like I said it is a win-win situation so get out there and make some matches!!

There is no I in Team

I started to write this post two months ago about Girls Camp. I went up for skit night and I had a great time. However as I started to write, the post turned from a commercial for Girls Camp to a post on marriage. How you might ask? I would have to say that one reason is that I have a crazy mind and the other reason is that I am interested in relationships and how they work. Church activities, camp, parks, the grocery store, etc. are all places where I like to observe relationships and I see many positive and negative interactions. I am not naive to think that a brief observation on my part can show me the depth of any relationship but I do think that I see a glimpse.

So what does any of this have to do with Girls Camp? Well, when I first got to Girls Camp the first thing someone said to me was about the Girls Camp Leader's husband. She said, "Scott hasn't stopped working since he got here." My friend told me that Scott decided to take three days off of work to come to camp because he told Linda (his wife & the Stake Camp Director) that she wouldn't order anyone else around so he was coming so she could get what she needed done without feeling like she had to do it herself. My friend then said, "Linda and Scott just make a good team."

Here is Scott (he is a doctor) performing minor surgery on Alicia to get a deer tick out of the back of her knee.

I started thinking of this concept of a marriage as a team sport. So, I looked around at some of my friends in the ward and I thought of what made their teams successful. Lately, I have just heard of marriages failing so it is nice to see some relationships actually do well.

For example, Teressa's husband went on the fourth year high adventure. This is his 3rd year in a row doing this. Two years ago, it rained so hard that Richard stood over the fire with an umbrella just so the girls could have a fire. At every stake young womens activity, you can find Richard, Nick, and Brent (my friend's husbands) setting up early and cleaning up late. When I asked Teressa about this, she said that is just how they work together. She supports him and he supports her and to watch them it is really true.

Richard & Teressa

My friend Jennifer's husband makes the family breakfast almost everyday. My friend Kolette's husband is willing year after year to teach certification lessons and help her with camp. My friend Kelley's husband comes home from work and plays with their three very active boys. He is also the person at every party who is out playing with the kids and keeping them happy. My friend Jill's husband does my taxes:) He also helps Jill with the kids, the house, etc. My friend Natalie's husband helps the kids get off to school. I could go on and on. I have amazing friends and even though I know that there marriages are not perfect, I admire the fact that in these relationships, both the husbands and wives work together to make good teams.

Here is a picture of my friend's husbands at the father's day picnic.
(Matt, Rob, Eric, Chief, Matt, Nick, & John)

Thanks for the good examples. I hope one day to find someone who will be willing to start a team with me. For now, I am happy being a bench warmer and observing the good plays on the field.