Apparatuses, methods and systems for an employee referral facilitator

• US 9,405,799 B1
• Filed: 10/15/2010
• Issued: 08/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Iqor US Inc. (IQOR Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: IQOR Holdings Incorporated, Iqor US Inc. (IQOR Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Kapoor, Vikas, Madhavarapu, Abhilash
• Primary Examiner(s): Pulliam, Christyann
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ohba, Mellissa M
• Application Number:
  US12/905,169
• Time in Patent Office: 2,118 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24561 Intermediate data storage techniques for performance improvement
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24564 Applying rules; Deductive queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1053 Employment or hiring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1057 Benefits or employee welfare, e.g. insurance, holiday or retirement packages

Abstract

The APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR AN EMPLOYEE REFERRAL FACILITATOR (hereinafter “ERF”) implement efficient and scalable monitoring, regulation, and allocation of computational processing, data, labor, and/or the like resources within an enterprise. The ERF may track and administer the provision of referral bonuses and/or other rewards associated with employee referrals. The ERF may receive and store candidate referrals from an existing employee; monitor, receive, and/or store a candidate hiring indicator; evaluate a referral rule based to determine a referral bonus eligibility, amount, timing, and/or the like; and instruct provision of an appropriate referral bonus.

Claims

1. An employee referral facilitating processor-implemented method, comprising:

receiving a candidate referral from an existing employee, the candidate referral including at least a referred candidate identifier;

receiving a candidate hiring indicator including at least a hired candidate identifier;

querying a database using the referred candidate identifier to obtain a data-structure-tracking syntax-configured string associated with a referred candidate data, wherein the syntax-configured string consists of a plurality of component parts delimited by syntax separators, and where each part of the string tracks a separate data structure;

querying a database using the hired candidate identifier to obtain a data-structure-tracking syntax-configured string associated with a hired candidate data, wherein the syntax-configured string consists of a plurality of component parts delimited by syntax separators, and where each part of the string tracks a separate data structure

utilizing the obtained data-structure tracking syntax-configured strings, the referred candidate identifier and hired candidate identifier to generate a request to at least one business grammar rule database containing a plurality of business grammar rules for an enterprise in relation to hiring and referral bonuses;

obtaining and evaluating at least one business grammar rule pertaining to rules for the enterprise concerning referrals of employees and compensation for the referrals from the business grammar rule database, and determining a plurality of additional data sources and table fields that need to be accessed based on the evaluated business grammar rule;

selectively evaluating and obtaining a plurality universal variables, wherein the universal variables are based on the referred candidate identifier, hired candidate identifier and the additional data sources identified after the evaluation of the business grammar rules for the enterprise and based on a presence of user-defined associated universal variables for at least one table field, and wherein said universal variables comprise user-defined intermediate data objects that allow access and mapping of logically interrelated table fields in a plurality disparate relational databases and external data sources containing enterprise-specific data, and wherein the universal data variables are organized into a hierarchical structure following the business grammar construct for the enterprise, where each segment of the hierarchy follows a user-defined business grammar token type, and wherein the selective evaluation and use of the universal variable for mapping and access is also dependent on the evaluated business grammar rules for the enterprise;

accessing and storing the referred candidate identifier in a first table field in a first database in association with an existing employee identifier, wherein the first table field is linked to a first evaluated universal variable;

accessing and storing the hired candidate identifier in a second table field in a second database, wherein the second table field is linked to a second evaluated universal variable;

obtaining and evaluating employee and referral data based on the table fields and additional table fields that need to be accessed based on the evaluated business grammar rules for the enterprise;

evaluating a referral business grammar rule that is accessed and processed using a delimited descriptive grammar string and table tracking syntax, the first evaluated universal variable and the second evaluated universal variable, to determine a referral bonus amount; and

instructing provision of a referral bonus equal to the referral bonus amount for payment to the existing employee.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the candidate referral further includes a candidate resume.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a candidate referral from an existing employee further comprises:

receiving the candidate referral as an input to a web form from the existing employee.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a candidate referral from an existing employee further comprises:

extracting the candidate referral from an electronic message sent by the existing employee.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the electronic message is addressed to the existing employee.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first database and the second database are the same.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first database and the second database are different.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first database is remotely located with respect to the second database.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the referral business grammar rule further determines a referral bonus timing instructing provision of the referral bonus at a particular time based on at least one enterprise-wide policy rule.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the referral business grammar rule utilizes at least one a lookup table.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a referral bonus request for approval to an approving administrator; and

wherein instructing provision of a referral bonus equal to the referral bonus amount for payment to the existing employee occurs if the referral bonus request is approved.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

querying an employee title based on the existing employee identifier;

determining if the employee title corresponds to an approval requirement, and

wherein providing a referral bonus request for approval to an approving administrator only occurs if the employee title corresponds to the approval requirement.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the referral business grammar rule is further based on a third universal variable linked to an existing employee title table field, wherein each of said first, second and third universal variables is further organized into a hierarchical structure comprising a family, a subfamily and a field name components.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the referral business grammar rule is further based on a third universal variable linked to a candidate title table field, wherein each of said first, second and third universal variables is further organized into a hierarchical structure comprising a family, a subfamily and a field name components.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the referral business grammar rule is further based on a third universal variable linked to a number of referrals, wherein each of said first, second and third universal variables is further organized into a hierarchical structure comprising a family, a subfamily and a field name components.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the referral business grammar rule is further based on a third universal variable linked to an existing employee location, wherein each of said first, second and third universal variables is further organized into a hierarchical structure comprising a family, a subfamily and a field name components.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

querying a descriptive business grammar configured string based on the existing employee identifier; and

wherein the referral business grammar rule is further based on the descriptive business grammar configured string.

18. An employee referral facilitating apparatus, comprising

a memory;

a processor disposed in communication with said memory and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to;

receive a candidate referral from an existing employee, the candidate referral including at least a referred candidate identifier;

receive a candidate hiring indicator including at least a hired candidate identifier;

query a database using the referred candidate identifier to obtain a data-structure-tracking syntax-configured string associated with a referred candidate data, wherein the syntax-configured string consists of a plurality of component parts delimited by syntax separators, and where each part of the string tracks a separate data structure;

query a database using the hired candidate identifier to obtain a data-structure-tracking syntax-configured string associated with a hired candidate data, wherein the syntax-configured string consists of a plurality of component parts delimited by syntax separators, and where each part of the string tracks a separate data structure;

utilize the obtained data-structure tracking syntax-configured strings, the referred candidate identifier and hired candidate identifier to generate a request to at least one business grammar rule database containing a plurality of business grammar rules for an enterprise in relation to hiring and referral bonuses;

obtain and evaluate at least one business grammar rule pertaining to rules for the enterprise concerning referrals of employees and compensation for the referrals from the business grammar rule database, and determining a plurality of additional data sources and table fields that need to be accessed based on the evaluated business grammar rule;

selectively evaluate and obtain a plurality universal variables, wherein the universal variables are based on the referred candidate identifier, hired candidate identifier and the additional data sources identified after the evaluation of the business grammar rules for the enterprise and based on a presence of user-defined associated universal variables for at least one table field, and wherein said universal variables comprise user-defined intermediate data objects that allow access and mapping of logically interrelated table fields in a plurality disparate relational databases and external data sources containing enterprise-specific data, and wherein the universal data variables are organized into a hierarchical structure following the business grammar construct for the enterprise, where each segment of the hierarchy follows a user-defined business grammar token type, and wherein the selective evaluation and use of the universal variable for mapping and access is also dependent on the evaluated business grammar rules for the enterprise;

access and store the referred candidate identifier in a first table field in a first database in association with an existing employee identifier, wherein the first table field is linked to a first evaluated universal variable;

access and store the hired candidate identifier in a second table field in a second database, wherein the second table field is linked to a second evaluated universal variable;

obtain and evaluate employee and referral data based on the table fields and additional table fields that need to be accessed based on the evaluated business grammar rules for the enterprise;

evaluate a referral business grammar rule that is accessed and processed using a delimited descriptive grammar string and table tracking syntax, the first evaluated universal variable and the second evaluated universal variable, to determine a referral bonus amount; and

instruct provision of a referral bonus equal to the referral bonus amount for payment to the existing employee.

19. An employee referral facilitating non-transitory processor readable computer medium, comprising:

a plurality of processing instructions stored in the medium and issuable by the processor to;

receive a candidate referral from an existing employee, the candidate referral including at least a referred candidate identifier;

receive a candidate hiring indicator including at least a hired candidate identifier;

query a database using the referred candidate identifier to obtain a data-structure-tracking syntax-configured string associated with a referred candidate data, wherein the syntax-configured string consists of a plurality of component parts delimited by syntax separators, and where each part of the string tracks a separate data structure;

query a database using the hired candidate identifier to obtain a data-structure-tracking syntax-configured string associated with a hired candidate data, wherein the syntax-configured string consists of a plurality of component parts delimited by syntax separators, and where each part of the string tracks a separate data structure;

utilize the obtained data-structure tracking syntax-configured strings, the referred candidate identifier and hired candidate identifier to generate a request to at least one business grammar rule database containing a plurality of business grammar rules for an enterprise in relation to hiring and referral bonuses;

obtain and evaluate at least one business grammar rule for the enterprise pertaining to rules for the enterprise concerning referrals of employees and compensation for the referrals from the business grammar rule database, and determining a plurality of additional data sources and table fields that need to be accessed based on the evaluated business grammar rule;

selectively evaluate and obtain a plurality universal variables, wherein the universal variables are based on the referred candidate identifier, hired candidate identifier and the additional data sources identified after the evaluation of the business grammar rules for the enterprise and based on a presence of user-defined associated universal variables for at least one table field, and wherein said universal variables comprise user-defined intermediate data objects that allow access and mapping of logically interrelated table fields in a plurality disparate relational databases and external data sources containing enterprise-specific data, and wherein the universal data variables are organized into a hierarchical structure following the business grammar construct for the enterprise, where each segment of the hierarchy follows a user-defined business grammar token type, and wherein the selective evaluation and use of the universal variable for mapping and access is also dependent on the evaluated business grammar rules for the enterprise;

access and store the referred candidate identifier in a first table field in a first database in association with an existing employee identifier, wherein the first table field is linked to a first evaluated universal variable;

access and store the hired candidate identifier in a second table field in a second database, wherein the second table field is linked to a second evaluated universal variable;

obtain and evaluate employee and referral data based on the table fields and additional table fields that need to be accessed based on the evaluated business grammar rules for the enterprise;

evaluate a referral business grammar rule that is accessed and processed using a delimited descriptive grammar string and table tracking syntax, the first evaluated universal variable and the second evaluated universal variable, to determine a referral bonus amount; and

instruct provision of a referral bonus equal to the referral bonus amount for payment to the existing employee.

20. An employee referral facilitating processor-implemented system, comprising:

means to receive a candidate referral from an existing employee, the candidate referral including at least a referred candidate identifier;

means to receive a candidate hiring indicator including at least a hired candidate identifier;

means to query a database using the referred candidate identifier to obtain a data-structure-tracking syntax-configured string associated with a referred candidate data, wherein the syntax-configured string consists of a plurality of component parts delimited by syntax separators, and where each part of the string tracks a separate data structure;

means to query a database using the hired candidate identifier to obtain a data-structure-tracking syntax-configured string associated with a hired candidate data, wherein the syntax-configured string consists of a plurality of component parts delimited by syntax separators, and where each part of the string tracks a separate data structure;

means to utilize the obtained data-structure tracking syntax-configured strings, the referred candidate identifier and hired candidate identifier to generate a request to at least one business grammar rule database containing a plurality of business grammar rules for an enterprise in relation to hiring and referral bonuses;

means to obtain and evaluate at least one business grammar rule pertaining to rules for the enterprise concerning referrals of employees and compensation for the referrals from the business grammar rule database, and determining a plurality of additional data sources and table fields that need to be accessed based on the evaluated business grammar rule;

means to selectively evaluate and obtain a plurality universal variables, wherein the universal variables are based on the referred candidate identifier, hired candidate identifier and the additional data sources identified after the evaluation of the business grammar rules for the enterprise and based on a presence of user-defined associated universal variables for at least one table field, and wherein said universal variables comprise user-defined intermediate data objects that allow access and mapping of logically interrelated table fields in a plurality disparate relational databases and external data sources containing enterprise-specific data, and wherein the universal data variables are organized into a hierarchical structure following the business grammar construct for the enterprise, where each segment of the hierarchy follows a user-defined business grammar token type, and wherein the selective evaluation and use of the universal variable for mapping and access is also dependent on the evaluated business grammar rules for the enterprise;

means to access and store the referred candidate identifier in a first table field in a first database in association with an existing employee identifier, wherein the first table field is linked to a first evaluated universal variable;

means to access and store the hired candidate identifier in a second table field in a second database, wherein the second table field is linked to a second evaluated universal variable;

means to obtain and evaluate employee and referral data based on the table fields and additional table fields that need to be accessed based on the evaluated business grammar rules for the enterprise;

means to evaluate a referral business grammar rule that is accessed and processed using a delimited descriptive grammar string and table tracking syntax, the first evaluated universal variable and the second evaluated universal variable, to determine a referral bonus amount; and

means to instruct provision of a referral bonus equal to the referral bonus amount for payment to the existing employee.