![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-01.cms-eu-v2i.applyflow.com\/identifi-global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/References.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\tReferences. <\/span><\/p>\n \n\tAs things currently stand, they\u2019re a completely pointless exercise. By the time the referencing stage comes around, the hiring company has generally decided that they\u2019ll hire the candidate anyway. <\/p>\n \n\tThis means that referencing is a waste of both time and money – especially if the interview process isn\u2019t watertight too. And with 15% of employers <\/span>realising they\u2019ve hired the wrong person<\/a> in the first week (and 39% in the second week) – and a bad hire costing businesses<\/a> anywhere from \u00a330,000 to \u00a3130,000 – something needs to change. <\/p>\n \n\tHere, we outline the current issues with references and the way they\u2019re collected and used – as well as how they could be approached differently to make them really count. <\/p>\n \n\tThe problem with references today\u2026<\/p>\n \n\tYou may be surprised at the number of companies that don\u2019t follow up on references listed on candidates\u2019 CVs. Or you may not – it might be that you don\u2019t collect references, as you don\u2019t see the point either. <\/span><\/p>\n \n\tAs things stand, an employer needs only to give <\/span>the most basic of references<\/a>: a statement that confirms that the candidate worked at the company, and the dates between which they were employed. Any more than that is at the discretion of the employer – or is down to the prospective employer, who may not ask the questions that really matter. <\/p>\n \n\tWith the majority of candidates today having an up-to-date LinkedIn profile that lists their employment history, is it worth the time and effort spent on contacting a former employer just to discover that the dates match up?<\/p>\n \n\tThere\u2019s a common assumption that a previous employer is forbidden to give a bad reference – if they don\u2019t want to give a positive reference, they should just state employment dates. <\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s rubbish. <\/p>\n \n\tThe law states<\/a><\/span> that if a reference is given, it \u201cmust be fair and accurate – and can include details about workers\u2019 performance and if they were sacked\u201d. <\/p>\n \n\tHowever, many employers are scared to give a bad reference in case it leads to court action from the employee. Sarah Veale, senior employment rights officer at the TUC, <\/span>says that as a result<\/a>, \u201cemployers won\u2019t include anything that is seen as subjective. They stick to objective information such as job title and days absent\u201d. <\/p>\n \n\tWhile slander is out of the question, <\/span>it\u2019s perfectly justified<\/a> to give an accurate, factual review of a former employee\u2019s work. This can be made easier by better questioning from the recruiter\u2019s side: specific requests for concrete detail, such as \u201cplease rate their skills as a C# developer\u201d can make references more useful. <\/p>\n \n\tJust how integral a part of your recruitment process is referencing? For some businesses, it\u2019s an element of the process that\u2019s set in stone – and this can create a barrier to hiring. With referencing, you\u2019re at the mercy of a third party: an individual (generally a manager, who will often be short of time) who you\u2019re relying on to provide you with information about an individual who no longer has any relevance to their business. <\/p>\n \n\tFor this reason, it could take a while for that reference to come back. And if your process is such that your HR team will avoid sending contracts until it\u2019s in their hands, this could mean a lengthy delay before filling a vacant position. This isn\u2019t ideal at the best of times – but it\u2019s even more of an issue if the reference that <\/span>does eventually come back is of no concrete use. <\/p>\n \n\tWe\u2019ve given four reasons why the current employment referencing process falls short – but that\u2019s not to say it should be scrapped altogether. Done right, it\u2019s a great way of removing the likelihood of poor hires, or nasty surprises down the line. <\/p>\n \n\tHere\u2019s what we propose. <\/p>\n \n\tIf you\u2019re going to just check that a candidate was employed by their claimed former company, you\u2019re better off looking at their LinkedIn profile. At the moment, referencing is a pretty redundant exercise for most businesses: a task conducted purely for compliance. <\/p>\n \n\tYou\u2019re better off asking competency-based questions where the former employer is forced to deliver a substantive answer. These should take the form of more direct questions: think those preceded with phrases like \u201cTell me about\u2026\u201d, \u201cDescribe when\u2026\u201d, and \u201cHow did\u2026\u201d. <\/p>\n \n\tIn this way, you\u2019ll discover whether Dave really did deliver a new IT system to the company, or whether he was the office cleaner. You\u2019ll find out whether Ian really was solely responsible for a \u00a35m budget, or whether he was in charge of the office social fund. <\/p>\n \n\tUse this questioning to confirm the responsibilities, skills and achievements that the candidate has listed on their CV. After all, CVs are rarely checked for accuracy. Use these questions (or request a P60) to prove that a candidate really was on a \u00a3100K salary in their former role, or if they\u2019re a \u00a350K worker looking for an incredible pay rise. <\/p>\n \n\tUltimately, it\u2019s up to you whether you decide to undertake the laborious task of referencing when hiring new candidates. If you <\/span>do, though, remember that its key benefit is quality control. While it can be tempting to try NOT to uncover a problem because you\u2019ve already hired that candidate in your mind, the fallout from a candidate lying about their skill set or responsibilities or being unaware of major issues can cost you more – in terms of money, time, staff morale and business reputation – than you may think. <\/p>\n References. As things currently stand, they\u2019re a completely pointless exercise. By the time the referencing stage comes around, the hiring company has generally decided that they\u2019ll hire the candidate anyway. This means that referencing is a waste of both time and money – especially if the interview process isn\u2019t watertight too. And with 15% of… Read More »References: The most crucial and pointless exercise in recruitment<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-management"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/14202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.identifiglobal.com\/af-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\t1. They aren\u2019t being collected at all.<\/h2>\n
\n\t2. Only basic information is being collected.<\/h2>\n
\n\t3. Former employers are afraid of giving a bad reference<\/h2>\n
\n
\n\t4. References are <\/span>too embedded into the recruitment process<\/h2>\n
\n\t“This could mean a lengthy delay before filling a vacant position.”<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\tGetting a good reference<\/h2>\n
\n\t“You\u2019re better off asking competency-based questions where the former employer is forced to deliver a substantive answer.”<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n\t <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"