"We’re thinking of scrapping reference checking"

That fateful line is not something I, as an employee of an online reference checking tool love to hear. Not just because it makes my conversation about the value of automating the process that little bit harder, but mainly because it’s such a risky move on the employer’s part. 

But it is, unfortunately, becoming an increasingly common response to my initial conversations with potential new customers. My views about the value of conducting, and automating, reference checks boil down to the following four key observations. 

Data is king 

References can be a powerful tool for understanding your candidates’ motivating factors, work habits, and potential areas for development, they can tell you not just whether they’re suitable for the role, but also how you can support your new hire and what they need to succeed. When combined with the data from other recruitment processes, references become an even more insightful decision-making tool, offering one data point among the many you already have to make an informed decision on the most appropriate applicant. 

We’re dealing with crafty candidates 

By scrapping references, recruiters and hiring managers have no way of vetting their candidates and knowing if they are who they say they are, and have done what they say they’ve done. But phone-based references aren’t enough to protect us from fraudsters. Xref research found that 38 percent of candidates had been named by a friend to provide an employment reference and close to 7 in 10 (68 percent) of the HR professionals surveyed were confident they’ve been lied to when conducting phone references. 

Sometimes lies are subtle, including stretching dates of employment, covering up employment gaps or exaggerating job titles but on the more extreme end, there have been many instances where we find candidates having control of an email address and are posing as a reference to try and provide their own responses. We just can't spot these cases when conducting traditional offline reference checks and that opens up a lot of risks.

Asking the right questions is key 

Organizations usually decide to scrap reference checks because they don’t see value in the process. The secret to finding that value lies in asking the right questions and making it quick, easy, safe and convenient for the reference provider to respond. We analyzed over 17 million reference responses shared via Xref to determine which questions delivered the highest volume and value of responses. Using the insights gathered, we developed a tool called Template Builder, which allows you to create high-performing, compliant and reliable reference questionnaires, for free. So whether you’re still taking references by phone or you’re automating the process, you can at least be sure to get the most value from it. 

There are only so many hours in the day 

Often, right before scrapping it, organizations will attempt to have one member of staff dedicated to the reference checking process to keep it consistent and save time in other staff members’ diaries. But that employee can only work so many hours - usually 9-5. By automating reference checks, hiring managers can offload a lot of the admin to focus on finding great candidates. In fact, statistically, more than 60% of all references we obtain, in all languages and all parts of the world, are provided outside of normal business working hours, it's more convenient for references to provide information in their own time, on their own terms however they chose to do so.

So, if you think it’s time to say goodbye to reference checks, maybe take a few moments to think again and consider how, rather than ditching them altogether, you could improve the process to provide the value and insights you need.

If you’ve not yet tried automated reference checking, you can also now sign up for a single-user account and take your first reference for free using the latest Xref platform release - Xref Lite. Check it out and give the power of Xref a go!

Or contact me directly for Enterprise options [email protected] 437-345-2442