Why References Are Critical in the Hiring Process

References remain the only real means to assess who's got the skills to take your company where you want to go. They represent your opportunity to separate fact from fiction, and the sincere candidate from the professional interviewee.

This guide has been produced to level the playing field and teach you, the employer, how to properly reference check to help ensure you actually hire the person you want.

References are the key to guaranteeing quality hiring—but only if done correctly. Résumés and interviews, the other two major hiring variables, are unreliable by themselves. Referencing is the glue that binds the process. Résumés aren't reliable because they can be intentionally misleading, and interviews are a crapshoot for most people. If those last two statements sound worrisome or even shocking to you, you're not alone. So let me elaborate on those points for a moment.

Why Résumés Are Unreliable by Themselves

The recent proliferation of résumé factories, coupled with higher levels of unemployment, have led to a situation that some of us call “credential creep.” Credential creep is the fine art of exaggerating. Sometimes it even means out-and-out lying on a résumé on the off-chance an employer won't or can't reference check to verify the details. But the fact is, people do lie and exaggerate on paper when they're looking for a job. In a tight economy—heck, even in a booming one—the slightest edge is often what makes the difference between securing an interview or being filed away in the circular cabinet.

Credential creep can range from a candidate claiming they had greater responsibilities than they actually did, to claiming they worked for a company when in fact they didn't. To illustrate that fact, let me tell you about the experience of one of my clients:

This may be an extreme case but nevertheless people do fudge, embellish, augment, and incorrectly describe their credentials. Take, for example, the former president of Lotus, Mr. Jeff Papows, who got in trouble several years back for misunderstandings surrounding his education and military service record. According to the Wall Street Journal as reported through The Register (www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/4047.html), Papows is:

Granted, these are unusual cases you aren't likely to run into. But résumé creep happens at all levels, and with great frequency.

Heather Bussing, California employment attorney and legal editor of the HR Examiner, says, “Most résumés have the basic information right. The rest is a matter of interpretation. Candidates often claim qualifications or experience that they don't really have in order to get the interview. They think if they can just meet the hiring manager, they will ‘wow’ them; they can learn the rest when they get there. This not only wastes everyone's time, it damages the candidate's credibility. Even if the person is hired, lies on résumés can be used to justify firing the employee down the line, even if they were fired for something else.”

And an article in Maxim magazine titled “How to Lie on Your Résumé” actually does exactly what the headline promises, harnessing the guidance of Jim Petersen, author of How to Lie on Your Résumé—and Get the Great Job You Want! (Ariza Research Press, 1998):

As you can see, a little effort is all that's required.

Why Interviewing by Itself Is Unreliable

There are innumerable books and success coaches nowadays to help coach or train a candidate in how to perform during an interview, which means most jobseekers are more skilled at interviewing than the interviewers themselves. Interviewing is now just as much an outright gamble as it is a tool in the hiring process, and the odds are stacked in favor of the jobseeker.

For most hiring managers who occasionally interview, the process is a farce. It reminds me of a gentlemen's tennis match with everyone dressed in white and careful to remain immaculate. Questions are asked and answered: back and forth, forth and back, with very little in-depth discussion. The mood is light and congenial, nothing like real life.

Reading this book and following our process gives you two benefits when reference checking:

1. The interview process is rigorous and focused on finding facts; and
2. If you take notes during the interview of the names of the people, places, and projects the candidate mentions, you can easily follow up later.

Interviews rarely reflect real-life situations or real-life people. For this reason alone you need to reference people thoroughly. We North Americans live in a world where gregarious extroverts often win out over the quiet, steady performers you should be hiring. As they say, “bullshit baffles brains”—and it's far too often true, I'm afraid.

Reference checking is often the last and, indeed, sometimes the only way to separate who's really got the skills and who's just a fast talker. Frequently interviewers extend offers based on their first impression, gut feel, or chemistry with little regard for the hard evidence that proves which candidate is the right one for the job. If this isn't enough to convince you of the necessity to reference check every candidate, then let's talk about your legal obligations.

Negligent Referral

Can you be held liable if you give a false reference or bury the truth? Yes. In a widely publicized example of a negative referral case, a lawsuit was brought against Allstate Insurance Co. that was settled before going to trial. But a Florida judge ruled that Allstate could be sued for punitive damages for concealing the violent nature of a former employee who killed co-workers at Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.:

This is of course another extreme example, but is one more good reason for doing references.

In the United States, 35 states have passed laws that protect employers by granting them immunity from civil liability for truthful, good faith references. While the laws vary by state, the statutes specify that an employer will be “presumed to be acting in good faith unless the current or former employee can prove that the reference provided was knowingly false, deliberately misleading, malicious, or in violation of civil rights laws.”

As a professional recruiter with more than 1,000 successful projects under my belt, I assure you most employers want to follow the Golden Rule: “Do for others as you would like them to do for you.” Many employers will answer your reference questions, and provide more than salary verification and dates of employment, if you ask the right way.

Bottom Line

There are two main reasons you need to check references:

1. First: You have to make sure the star candidate you're about to hire really can do the job. References can help to substantiate or nullify the facts and impressions you have gathered from your interviews; and
2. Second: You need to protect your employees, customers, and yourself from a negligent hiring suit.

To reference effectively you need to do much more than casually call the people on your candidate's list of references. Personally, I always find the composition of a candidate's reference list fascinating. When it's full of people who can't directly talk about his daily work, I know immediately there's a problem. I likely have a candidate who's trying to hide something. So whom should you call?

How to Determine Who to Talk To

You likely already know that most candidates stack the deck in their favor when asked for references, but this bears repeating: Unless you specify with exactly whom you want to speak, their list may be filled with people ready to sing their praises. And can you blame them? If you really, really, REALLY wanted a plum role like the one you've been recruiting for, wouldn't you do the same thing? Okay—maybe you wouldn't, but many people would. Many candidates don't want to risk having someone tell the truth, but this can't stop you from getting at that truth.

So where can you obtain the most objective information? Like most people you probably realize a person's past job performance is a good predictor of their future performance. The theory is that a star will perform well regardless, and for the most part, this is true. If the candidate did a great job at “ABC Company” chances are he or she will do a good job for you.

So who can tell you the truth about the candidate? It's not his or her priest, best friend, or drinking buddy. It's probably not his or her spouse, either. Rather, you need to talk to the people who can judge the candidate's ability to do the job for which they're being recruited. The best references are people who have recent, first-hand experience with the candidate on the job. Most often, direct supervisors, peers, and subordinates are best placed to have observed the candidate's performance in the level of detail we require. Typically, these will have to be former supervisors, peers, and so on.

Back in the interview chapter, we told you one of the main reasons for interviewing in pairs is so that one of you can scribe notes (of course, both of you are taking mental notes as well). Remember when you asked about their accomplishments during the interviews? You noted the names the candidate mentioned who were also involved and you should have been fact checking, unobtrusively through LinkedIn and other means, as you were going.

The purpose of the reference check is to obtain comments and observations about the candidate's performance and experience related to the job. It's of little value to obtain a reference's opinion, unless you're very confident in their judgment. And if you don't know the reference personally, which is most often the case, you have limited opportunity to clarify their credentials or capacity to make sound judgments. To assist in this, I suggest you always make sure you ask about and thoroughly understand the professional relationship between the candidate and reference.

Relatives and Other Useless References

Don't use personal references. Relatives and friends are of very limited if any value to you as a reference. Their opinions can't possibly add any insight into the candidate's work habits on the job. His buddies don't know what he's like to work with. Character references have their place, but it's not here.

The Human Resources Department

The most frustrating and, I would contend, irrelevant references are those from the human resources department of the company where the candidate last worked or currently works. Why? Two reasons: because they don't work with the candidate on a daily basis so they can only comment with second-hand knowledge or anecdotal information. They won't be familiar with the candidate's day-to-day performance, either, unless he or she is a superstar or a complete dud. Most HR departments are also hesitant to reveal anything, no matter how true, which might lead to legal action. If they choose to comment, it's usually just to tell you that “Yes, he or she worked here.” That isn't what we're looking for. And, by the way, if the candidate is actually a superstar or a dud, they may try to intentionally mislead you anyhow.

Useful References

The best references to check fall into two major categories: direct and indirect.

Direct

The most useful references come from people who are, or have been, professionally involved with the candidate's day-to-day work: past supervisors, peers, and subordinates. Make sure you clearly understand each of the relationships between the candidate and his or her references before you begin. Obviously the reference questions you'll ask his or her former CEO aren't the same as those you should ask a former peer or subordinate.

360-Degree Feedback

Bear in mind, no one person will be able to give you all the information you'll need to make an informed decision. You need to check the candidate's references slightly differently, from boss to peers to subordinates, to get a complete picture of his or her competencies. Each reference offers another perspective, and another piece of the puzzle.

• The candidate's direct boss assigns responsibilities.
• The candidate's peers know what an overachiever the person is.
• Most importantly, the people who work directly for this person—the candidate's former subordinates—know everything the candidate's former boss and former peers don't.
• For better or worse, a candidate's clients (such as a sales executive would have) may be able to tell you things about that person that people back at his office would have no knowledge of.

This type of 360-degree feedback is enlightening, to say the least. And frankly, next to this person's boss, the candidate's subordinates will provide the most insight into his character.

Here's what you do when the candidate hands you his list of references. First, determine if the people on the list are who you need to speak with, then ask the candidate the following questions to assess the suitability of each reference:

Questions to ask a supervisor about a reference:

1. Did/do you report directly to him or her? For what length of time? (Less than one year is too short a period to form a valid impression).
2. Did/do you complete or contribute to his or her performance appraisals? How many?

Question to ask a peer about a reference:

1. Did/do you work directly with the candidate as part of a team? For what length of time? (Longer is better).

Note: If you clarify the relationship at the start with the candidate and find the reference unsuitable, simply explain the situation and ask for a more suitable reference. However, most candidates aren't used to this degree of rigor when they get to the end of the interview process. We'll explain exactly how to set this up during the interview stage so it isn't a problem.

Referencing Supervisors

The best possible information on how life will be with the candidate will come from the candidate's boss—who should be the ultimate hiring authority at his or her current or former employer. Generally speaking, your peer at the candidate's place of employment is more likely to be truthful with you if you call them directly rather than someone else doing it for you. After all, you're in a better position than anyone else to drill down on specific concerns you may have, or to query them on the finer points of the candidate's role.

We always insist that clients check at least one reference personally—always with their counterpart—and double-check two or three others. Often that even means having the client call and redo references we've already done. As well, the candidate's former boss's boss may provide a different perspective on how he or she performed.

We'll talk about this in greater length later, but in the meantime remember that even if you don't do any other references personally, you as the hiring manager must do the reference on the candidate with your counterpart at the candidate's old firm. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Peers

The qualities most in-demand today are the ones the candidate's peers are probably in the best position to comment on—leadership skills, communication skills, a bias toward action, and passion. We typically do at least two peer references for every supervisory one. The same ratio applies with subordinates. A candidate's peers can give you a true picture of his or her strengths and weaknesses as they pertain to his or her job function and how he or she supports that executive's business unit. We even ask them to rate the candidate against his or her peers and the former people who have held that position, just in case there's someone better I should be recruiting.

Subordinates

No one understands better whether the candidate is pulling his or her weight than his/her direct subordinates. Failed projects, blown budgets, poor management skills can all be fixed by a hard-working team stranded below a poor manager. Subordinates also know where all the “dead bodies” are buried … you know, those projects that were never quite completed properly, or the one that cost the company a million dollars to fix. Likewise, it might be good to know that a few dedicated subordinates followed the candidate over from his last gig and are likely to do it again when he or she moves.

Clients (When Appropriate)

Talking with your candidate's clients can be most interesting. Clients know what this person is like when not in the office. They can tell you if this person makes promises that he or she (or the company) could not possibly keep, just to close a deal. They can tell you how he or she handles conflict resolution over a product or service when there has been a problem. They'll tell you if your candidate is a good ambassador for their current employer, and so on.

Indirect References

Did you know you're not limited to only checking the names the candidate gives you? Well, you're not! It takes a bit more work on your part at the front end of the interview process, but it's often not what you know, but whom you know that makes the difference in getting a clear picture of a candidate. The stakes are high but always worth the time, effort, and expense (think insurance instead) to go beyond a candidate's prepackaged list.

In many cases, unless you've done some advance work we'll talk about later, you're better off not taking the references given by the candidate. You can often find excellent reference sources through your industry and professional associations. By doing a little of your own research, you may tap more objective sources with less or no coaching from the candidate—not that the candidate would do that, of course.

The higher the candidate's visibility in the industry, the easier this is to finesse. Indirect references can be a treasure trove of insightful information. If your industry insiders know the candidate by reputation only, you'd better find out if it's a good reputation or not. Often, contacts at firms that are direct or indirect competitors of the candidate's firm can provide useful information.

You can even keyword search Google to uncover nuggets of information. If you can, try this on LinkedIn, too. And remember to make certain you put the candidate's name in brackets, and realize that there are a lot of “Bob Smiths” in the world, so don't automatically assume you've found information on your Bob Smith without deeply scanning your results.

Before talking to any reference, inform the candidate of your intentions and have them sign a waiver, which allows you to verify information and absolves you of any legal actions resulting from your research. Ask your human resources department to have the waiver drafted by your corporate lawyer in compliance with your local state or provincial labor legislation. Don't attempt to do this yourself because litigation is costly and it might cost you your own job. We'll talk more about the specific how-to tactics and questions to ask later in the chapter.

Referencing Is a “Do It Yourself” Project

We're often asked who should check references and, simply put, it's a DIY project. This is the one job that shouldn't be delegated. If the candidate is going to report directly to you, you need to do the reference checking personally. No matter how thoroughly you prepare someone else, you are in the best position to drill down on answers that appear vague or off the mark. You understand the intricacies of the job, so you'll be able to think of additional questions that won't occur to others. All in all, it's in your best interest to get the facts directly.

If you don't have the time to do a thorough job yourself, and feel compelled to assign the task, then compromise by assigning just part of the reference checking to your most trusted assistant, but reference check the candidate's former boss yourself.

As a general rule it's not a good tactical move to call the candidate's current boss unless the candidate has expressly indicated permission. As I said before, your counterpart at the candidate's present firm is likely to be more open to speaking with the ultimate hiring authority personally than some third party who's simply going through the motions. CEOs should speak to CEOs, presidents should speak to presidents, managers to managers, and so on. The camaraderie afforded by your respective positions will prompt a more honest response. Be prepared for real candor because the higher up you go in the company hierarchy, the more candid the responses.

The Complete Reference Check Process

If you're like most people, you may not appreciate the specific steps you should take before and during the interview process to make reference checking an easier and more successful exercise. To most people references are what you do AFTER you decide whom you want to hire, but an integrated interview and reference process is your best bet against a dishonest candidate.

Clarify Your Hiring Objective

You must understand clearly what you're looking for before you interview even your first candidate. You of course already have the job description, Position Profile, and the candidate's CCB. If you haven't already done so, list in order of importance the top six functional tasks to be performed, the desired personality type, and direct experience the position requires. Use these to decide what you need/want, along with knowledge from references to validate your assessment of each candidate. Working from our database of 400 reference questions, we handcraft a reference guide for every search we perform. Our questions reflect the KPIs of the role, related accomplishments the candidate revealed, and the impressions and unresolved concerns (if any) noted by anyone involved in the interview process.

For example, if systems thinking is an issue, make sure you focus on it during the interview. Jot down whom they worked with and what they accomplished so you can verify the candidate's story later. Most companies don't take note of the specific details, and later on find it nearly impossible to verify the details of the candidate's accomplishments. That's often a fatal mistake. You don't want to put yourself in a situation where you have to call the candidate back later and say, “Your reference doesn't remember…” or “Who can verify?” At best, you look incompetent. At worst, your hard-won candidate might think you're questioning their honesty and turn down your magnificent opportunity.

An excellent way of reinforcing to a candidate that references will indeed be checked is to start the interview by casually remarking, “Ms. candidate, obviously we're very interested in speaking with you about this opportunity. If you become interested in accepting the role we'll check your references and, by the way, we want you to feel free to check us out, too.” You can also tell the candidate that you won't make them a job offer without unfettered access to their references. The result is that most candidates are likely to stick to the facts during the interview, and will later provide you references that will talk to you.

Throughout the interview ask one or two key questions you intend to ask their references. Jot down their responses—the “who, what, when, where, and why” of their accomplishments. Drill down on their accomplishments to get real specifics. For example, if they “increased efficiency by 100 percent,” ascertain if they did it alone or as part of a team. This is an especially useful exercise. Later you will compare answers with references, and if there's a difference between what the reference says and what the candidate said you'll be in a position to clarify.

Conducting the Reference Check on Your Ideal Candidate

After weeks of intense interviews you've concluded that candidate X is the one. His or her experience, attitude, and skills are exactly what you want. He or she is your ideal candidate. Now it's time to get down to business and find out if your candidate is the real deal. What are your options for reference checking the candidate (Figure 6.1)?

Here's what you should be thinking about.

What was the nature of the reference's relationship to the candidate? Was it business, personal, or both? If they worked together, was there a reporting relationship? Was the reference a superior, peer, or a subordinate? If there was no direct reporting relationship, in what capacity did they work together? What was the nature of their last contact? When was it?

What was the reference's title and responsibilities at the time the two worked together? What is the reference's current title and responsibilities? (This helps establish the reference's credibility.) For example, if the reference was previously the corporate controller and is currently the president of the company, the reference's comments should be weighted appropriately. This also helps us view their comments in the proper context.

Ask the reference to describe the business, revenues, number of employees, lines of business, and anything else about the business that may be an important measure of the candidate's accomplishments. For example, for a sales manager one such parameter might be the amount of sales growth (expressed in both dollars and as a percentage) and whether this growth could be attributed to a price increase, or real growth in the number of units sold.

If the reference is a former subordinate, what kind of a boss was the candidate? Ask him or her to comment on the candidate's skills as a manager, interpersonal skills, and skills as a motivator in terms of fairness, consistency, willingness to defend, promote, and/or mentor his or her people, keep promises, and develop staff.

Ask the reference to comment on strengths and weaknesses, keeping in mind the candidate's relationship with the reference. This is an important question, which should consistently be asked, regardless of the candidate.

Dead Trees

Be wary of all letters of reference provided directly by a candidate. Pre-written references can be very misleading. Many are written at the time of termination. Firing a person is a very sensitive task and there is a tendency on the employer's part to be full of praise with few, if any, negatives. Experts will tell you that candidates may even have written such letters themselves.

Several years ago I was suspicious of some so-called reference letters a candidate provided from his overseas employers. At the time I remember being concerned over the resolution of the photocopies: They were quite hazy. (So was he, frankly.) I actually sneaked a peak at the file this candidate left on my desk, only to find the “originals” he'd been down the hall photocopying for me contained signature blocks cut and pasted onto corporate letterhead. He'd simply written his own letter and pasted the president's signature in the appropriate place. Quite ingenious—not!

I don't know if this fellow was betting that I wouldn't call his former employer in the United Kingdom or that, if I did, the chairman of this multibillion-dollar company wouldn't take my call. In any event, he bet wrong. I did a full background check on him, and it turned out he truly was a thief and a liar. Needless to say, Interpol was informed of his whereabouts. You just can't make this stuff up!

The Hard Way

Writing to companies to request a reference is usually ineffective. It takes too long and there's little or no degree of candor. Too often, your letters won't be answered even after multiple follow-up calls.

Face-to-Face

An in-person visit isn't always practical, but when you're hiring an executive it's worth the effort. They're often difficult to set up, but will produce the most candid responses and give you the opportunity to detect nuances—raised eyebrows, limited eye contact, dubious expression, or hearty belly laugh. References are also far less likely to lie straight to your face, especially given the recent legislation around negligent hiring. Face-to-face references are very effective if you have any nagging doubts about a candidate. And if all else fails, you can Skype.

The Best Way

The telephone is a wonderful tool. Phones are fast, inexpensive, and nearly everyone has one—or two. I guess you can tell I use the telephone 90 percent of the time. As far as I'm concerned, if you're well organized and focused, it's the best tool. It's been my experience that references are far less guarded over the phone than when you see them in person. The telephone also allows you to ask spontaneous follow-up questions, and if you listen closely and pay attention to the tone of the reference's voice you can often detect enthusiasm (or a lack thereof).

Ease Them into Your Process

You must respect a reference's time. Planning is important. If you ramble on, the reference will cut the conversation short long before you get the information you need. It's important to know which general questions you'll ask all the candidates' references, and also determine which specific questions will help clarify any concerns you have with each of the candidates.

It also helps if you can give the reference a brief overview of the basic functions of the job you're trying to fill. This makes it easier for the reference to compare your job to the one the candidate held with them. Call ahead to schedule the reference call, and send them the Position Profile to review as a reference. When you're ready to begin talking with references, establish rapport first. Describe your role and your potential interest in the candidate.

The questions you ask a reference should be virtually identical to the questions you'd ask the candidates themselves. Indicate that an important reason for your inquiry is to obtain guidance on how to supervise the person most effectively. A future focus and a little flattery will go a long way toward getting a reference to speak freely.

You'll get more effective responses to your probing questions if you start with simple ones. The first few sample questions below are easy to answer—just facts, so there's no pressure on the reference. You'll notice the reference is also not challenged to give their opinion. After briefly introducing yourself, begin with these basic questions.

Qualifying Questions

For Supervisors

• “Did/does the candidate report directly to you? For what length of time?” (Less than one year is too short a period to form a valid impression. If that's the case, find someone else.)
• “Did you complete or contribute to his or her performance appraisals? How many did you do?”

Peer or Subordinate

• “Did/do you work directly with the candidate as part of a team? For what length of time?” (Longer is better.)

Are their answers consistent with the candidate's? Are they qualified to act as a reference and comment on the candidate for this role? If you determine they are indeed a good reference, then follow with these warm-up questions before launching into your full reference check:

• “I'd like to verify the dates of employment, from ____ to _____.”
• “What was his/her function (title)?”
• “How long did he/her work for you?”
• “Were his or her earnings $_____ per _____?”
• “Did that include bonus? Overtime? Incentives?”
• “Who did he or she work for prior to joining your company?” Always ask this question just in case your candidate had a short stint somewhere else he or she neglected to tell you about. You need to know, because there may be other things that slipped his or her mind.

These are simple questions. They're supposed to be. Many hiring managers don't even ask the basic questions we've already asked, but we're just getting started. These questions will help put your reference at ease and establish a congenial tone from the start. In fact, because the reference is likely to have given references for other people they may rest easy on the assumption you're finished, it doesn't hurt to lull them into a relaxed state before bringing out your “big guns.”

Basic Subjective Questions

Next, get the reference openly talking by asking how long and in what capacity they've known the candidate. Now you're ready to lead into more complex, subjective questions requiring their opinion.

• “What were the candidate's strengths on the job?”
• “Were there areas in which he or she should improve?”
• “Was he or she dependable, a team player?”
• “How would you compare his or her work with others who held the same job?”

Cross-Referenced Interview Questions

Ask them about specific projects the candidate discussed, and compare the reference's answers with those the candidate gave during the interview for consistency. For example:

• “What was this person's biggest accomplishment at ABC Corp. in your opinion?”
• “What do you anticipate I will find to be this person's real strengths, and what areas would benefit from constructive coaching or mentoring?”
• “This position interacts with X types of coworkers or customers in Y types of situations. How does that compare to what this person did for you, and how well do you think he or she will handle these interactions for me?”

Don't be afraid to ask pointed questions regarding your areas of concern. You want to know about the very areas you're testing for in the interview process: flexibility, interpersonal effectiveness, organizational stewardship. You'll also want to know about his or her adaptability to the corporate structure, general pleasantness to be around, potential for leadership, and suitability for periodic promotion. If applicable, ask about the candidate's relationship with vendors, customers, and professional colleagues.

Some of the most awkward questions may prove to be the most useful. It's not fun to ask these questions, but you need to know—so ask!

• “Why did the candidate leave your company?”
• “Are they eligible for re-employment?”

Discover the Real Reason for Leaving

You need to discover the real reason a candidate left each of their previous jobs. Not just because you're afraid of a negligent hiring suit, but because the candidate may have a negative employment pattern of which you need to be aware. This can range from violent behavior, as in Allstate's case, to simply self-promoting their abilities beyond their real competencies.

Getting the answer to this question is almost always difficult, because the word “fired” is rarely used. It's often couched in different terms such as, “We agreed to disagree,” or, “We mutually agreed to part ways,” or, “He was reallocated to a more suitable department.”

You need to understand the circumstances behind each move. Was the candidate moving up? Is he or she always being moved around? You need to know the truth before you make a decision, especially if the candidate was not forthcoming with the information during the interview process.

Here are a couple of reasons I have been given by references more than once for an employee's leaving that are pure hogwash, along with the quick retorts that may prompt them to fess-up.

Be Realistic and Objective

Neither longevity on the job, promotions, or raises are necessarily proof that an employee was much more than adequate—and remember, most people are average. Sometimes incompetent people who were very well liked have been known not only to survive on the job, but also to advance. At some organizations it's a “last man standing” situation. This is more often true in the public sector than the private sector, and very often the case in family businesses.

Carefully question the validity of comments made by former employers, especially negative information. It's not uncommon for employers to let negative feelings show through when an employee resigned for a better position, especially if it's a salesperson or key engineer who went to a competitor. People have long memories.

Likewise, employees terminated for poor performance may have worked out a deal with former employers to ensure a positive reference. So you can see why the peer and subordinate references may be critical for an accurate assessment.

It's Good to Be Paranoid

Don't overlook the obvious telltale signs. If a candidate can't come up with several contactable references—if all their former employers have “gone out of business,” or every former supervisor is “no longer with the company”—you've got a problem. Don't hire the person. Those are clear indications of danger. At the very least, thorough reference checking will become mission impossible.

Be ruthless. You've just run the candidate through a rigorous interview process on purpose, so as to not make a mistake. Surprise! You and the candidate are still talking. So you need not be overly anxious to hire, yet you need to keep the momentum going. Complete your homework, always, in every way! Reference checks are the surest way to secure your company's future—to keep out the cons and attract the leaders who have the talent you want.

The end result is that, after talking to the references, you should have information on:

• The candidate's significant accomplishments.
• The depth of others' feelings, positive or negative, about the candidate.
• What management guidance or further professional development is required.
• Leadership and personal style.
• Relationships—internal and external.
• Depth of technical and professional skills.
• Career progression and career interests.
• Reasons for changing jobs.
• Problem solving skills.
• Predominant leadership style.
• Strengths and weaknesses.

Behind the Scenes

Hiring greatness requires an aggressive pursuit of the very best—the top people whose skills mean the difference between victory or vanquished. This requires real detective work, the willingness to encounter dead ends, solid research skills, and the persistence to unearth the information you need to find about your candidates.

With the reference data at hand, does everything indicate that the candidate will fit into the job and your company? Think through the information you've collected. Use it in conjunction with your interview impressions. Read between the lines. Consider what the people you've talked to are really saying, and take action accordingly. In his book The Art of the Steal, Frank W. Abagnale tells the remarkable story of how he parlayed his knowledge of cons and scams into a successful career as a consultant on preventing financial foul play—that is, after he got out of prison.

This story had a happy ending for Frank. Make sure your story does too, for your sake, your organization's future, and your employees.