Are the constraints placed on companies by legislation and fear of litigation so strict that references are yesterday’s concept? Taking up references used to be a key part of recruiting at all levels, but you may wonder what the practice is now. The answer is that although things have changed in some ways, reference checking is still a valid part of a rigorous recruitment process, as Stuart Spindler will explain.
The simple way of using references is to regard them as a means of checking factual information and ensuring that the candidate has not fabricated elements of their career history. Approached correctly, the majority of companies will still confirm for a potential employer (or their recruitment partner) that ‘Ms X was the HR Director from October 2006 to February 2010’.
The benefit of doing these checks is similar to the principle behind qualifications checks; it doesn’t catch many people out, but it does prevent fraudulent candidates getting a job on false pretences. When we conduct qualifications checks, every now and again we find that a candidate who otherwise seemed very interested suddenly withdraws from the process – in some cases they are pulling out before their deception is uncovered. The requirement for references from previous employers is a similar check of authenticity.
References can be used in a much more sophisticated way, but this needs planning, appropriate timing and a trained person to do the reference checking. The key is to think beyond the conventional questions such as ‘what does her ex-boss say about her?’ Most executive jobs require effective relationships with a range of internal and external contacts; use these to get a rounded picture of your candidate.
With the candidate’s assent, it is quite reasonable to contact for references people who used to work for the candidate and see how they were managed. References from external contacts can also be very powerful. The relevant contacts will differ according to function: ask the auditors if you are recruiting a finance director; ask customers and their buyers if hiring for sales and account management jobs. The FileFinder database that we use at Spindler identifies overlapping periods of work experience, thus making it easy to highlight potential referees. LinkedIn can be used in a similar way.
Do not expect written requests to provide anything beyond factual statements, as outlined earlier. The key to gaining more detailed and meaningful information from references is to make contact by telephone - or even meet and take the reference face-to-face. Just as with interviews, structured questions with second and third level follow-up queries can unearth really meaningful information.
Undertaken seriously, it is possible to build a composite picture of a candidate from several referees. If this is added to information gained from competency-based interviews, psychometric assessments, presentation or other role-playing tasks, then a very comprehensive picture of the candidate’s fit to the role, and their strengths and limitations, can be compiled.
One final, important point - if you are going to take references after you have made a job offer, or ask us to do so, make sure that you include a clause in the contract that the offer is subject to satisfactory references. It is highly unusual for a senior executive appointment to be stopped in its tracks at this late stage by negative references, but if the person that you are trying to hire does turn out to have told untruths in the selection process, you had better be able to cancel the contract without recriminations!
