Right now, employees make generous use of social media platforms, from LinkedIn to TikTok, to share their experience with an employer, especially if it is negative. And recruitment tech company Xref (ASX: XF1) can do little about it. However, what if it could nip the complaint in the bud before it becomes social media-worthy?

It could conduct a survey to understand employee experience and pass on the info to management. To give employees a voice at every stage from “hire to retire”, the Company has acquired the employee engagement platform Voice Project for $4 million. 

Over the past few years, Xref has attempted to cover all its bases with regard to AI reference checking. It can verify a potential employee’s social media happenings and now, give them a voice through surveys. Last year, it launched its exit survey product and, with the acquisition of Voice Project, the Company is accelerating the launch of its Pulse and Engagement Survey offering to complete the hire-to-retire product portfolio.

Voice Project Founder and Director, Dr Peter Langford, commented, “Employers develop such a plethora of important staffing information right from the moment an applicant contacts them, all the way through to that employee retiring or moving on. Until now, the solutions for harnessing this data have been fragmented and have almost always resulted in lost or incomplete employee information. Not anymore.” 

Xref will pay $2 million cash from its existing cash reserves at completion, along with up to $2 million in script on the first and second anniversaries following completion, depending on the performance. The acquisition will add approximately $4 million to Xref’s revenues and increase staff from 85 to 100. 

Voice Project is forecast to be EPS (earnings per share) accretive to Xref. Still, as per Xref Chairman, Tom Stianos, the more significant benefits are that it completes the Company’s product portfolio (hire-to-retire strategy), provides cross-selling opportunities—by giving Voice Project’s 944 clients access to Xref’s complementary services and offering Voice Project’s services to Xref’s 1,300 enterprise clients and 15,000 users—and accelerates growth. 

Voice Project customers include HammondCare, Hungry Jacks, 236 community service organisations and 70 universities and research institutes. Through this acquisition, Xref will integrate the Voice Project portal into Xref’s platform, allowing all clients to view every single piece of information about a candidate, employee or ex-employee in one place and identify actionable insights. 

Langford will join Xref along with his team of 14 and continue developing the Voice Project platform and business as General Manager, Xref Engage. 

Xref CEO and Founder, Lee-Martin Seymour, said, “This acquisition is an important step towards Xref’s goal of becoming the leading global hire-to-retire employee feedback platform and is a great example of two profitable and credible Australian technology businesses uniting to be more competitive in the global market. Xref will now offer a complete hire-to-retire engagement service for employers that is more comprehensive than most other well-known brands, and we will be the only one covering 195 countries.” 

According to Seymour, this is a “win-win for all involved”, from clients to employees. Maybe a survey could reveal if the employees really feel so.