HR CONSULTING

The Importance of checking References

Why is it important to do a reference check on a potential new employee?

When you have been through the long process of finding that perfect person for your vacant role, it can be hard to delay offering them the position straight away. It’s exciting and you want to snap them up before someone else does.

However, as professional HR Consultants, we would always suggest you complete at least one reference check on your perfect candidate as a final check point before you confirm the offer.

Why go to the trouble?

• Although your screening, testing and interviewing process may have been very thorough, you are not getting a full picture of the employee.
• Performing behaviour-based reference checks with people who have managed and worked closely with the candidate provides you with information from someone else’s point of view about how they have reacted and worked in certain situations. 
• You can gain vital information about how your perfect candidate likes to be managed and what motivates them, what they do and don’t do well, any areas which you might need to watch out for.
• The first-hand experience of others might help you understand them a little better, even before they start working for you.
• Basically, it gives you an external view of the person from someone else and this can be really valuable.
• Also, it’s important to consider that people don’t tend to give the names of references who won’t say nice things about them. Nonetheless, by asking the right questions you can gain a lot of information quickly and at very little cost.    

If you need further assistance around how to manage an employee reference check, please book your obligation free consultation with an Impact HR expert