How to Change the Way You Think About Hiring References

How to Change the Way You Think About Hiring References

Does your organization seek out references as a matter of course during the recruitment process? Or have you long since abandoned this practice as contributing little in the way of value to your hiring efforts?

How significant references are, or are not, as part of the selection process is often a hotly debated topic within HR circles.

Many companies have even gone so far as to do away with requesting and following up on candidate references altogether for a couple of notable reasons:

1.     Skipping the act of validating references can speed up the hiring process for in-demand job postings

2.     There’s something to be said for the old argument that nobody is likely to provide a bad reference anyway

At AMWTW however, we still believe in the intrinsic value of hiring references – so long as they’re put to work in a meaningful way.

To help you think about references in an entirely new light, here are 3 tips for making them truly useful.

Tip #1: Shift your idea of what references are actually for.

Companies have traditionally thought about hiring references as a means to “check up” on a promising job candidate – almost as though the idea is to catch them in a lie.

You’ll get more from your references, however, if you start looking at them as an invaluable source of information that can help:

·       Improve the way your company onboards new hires

·       Set every new team member up for success

Naturally, one of the main reasons for checking references is to verify information that’s been provided on a CV or during an interview (you might think of this as the quantitative side of the hiring equation). But it’s also a great opportunity to uncover any trends around what people have to say about someone (aka the qualitative side of the equation).

By simply asking the right questions, for example (more about this in Tip #2), you can glean key information about a pending hire that may prove useful as you transition them onto your team.

Consider this process your chance to get a head start on understanding what someone is great at, and where as a manager you may need to provide more support.

Tip #2: Ask better questions.

It’s worth remembering that the quality of the questions you ask about a person is directly related to the quality of the answers you’ll get back.

If your company is still stuck on inquiring about a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses – or whether a former employer would hire them again – you’re not likely to hear much of value.

Instead, try asking the person you’re speaking with to rate your candidate’s previous performance on a scale of 1 to 10. Since there’s always room for improvement, very few people will ever assign the highest possible score. And that leaves room for you to follow up and ask what that individual might have done to rate a 10/10.

While many people are protective of others during a phone screen – and will often feel uncomfortable identifying specific weaknesses – most of us LOVE to give advice!

So we recommend asking “What advice do you have for this person?” as a way to dig deeper. In our experience, asking about someone in this way usually yields a very candid response.

Tip #3: Talk to a broad range of people.

To help put this tip in perspective, think about the way you approach customer reviews and testimonials when you’re considering a high-value purchase. Do you read one person’s opinion, and then base your decision on that – or do you (hopefully!) take a variety of buyer experiences into account?

Checking out a diverse (read: more representative) collection of hiring references isn’t all that different.

In our recruiting practice, we typically ask for the names of 5 to 7 people we can speak to (in addition to a prospective hire’s direct people manager). We want to hear from their colleagues, for example, and even from their subordinates when possible.

By gathering input from a broad range of voices, you’ll end up with a less biased view of the person you’re thinking of hiring - one that doesn’t stem from a single work experience. You’ll also gain a more well-rounded idea of that candidate’s fit for your needs and work culture.

One final thought: If you’re reconsidering the way you think about hiring references, don’t forget to also refresh your understanding around what is and isn’t permissible during an employment reference check.

Need help attracting and landing top talent? At AMWTW, we recruit for all industries and all roles, all across North America.

While you take advantage of The Modern Recruitment Method, we take care of all the administrative work on the back end - including screening resumes, conducting phone screens, booking your interviews, and more.

Contact us today to find out more about the success of our modern hiring strategy – and why it allows us to fill positions in an average of 6 weeks, versus the 8-10-week industry average.