To some employers, conducting reference checks seems like a tiresome activity, not worth their time. But do you know that the best performing companies conduct thorough reference checks of their candidates before hiring them? If you want to get the best employees who will work selflessly towards achieving your company’s goals, conducting these checks is one of the steps you should never skip.
These checks help you know your potential employee’s previous work history, which you can use to determine whether they are a good fit for you or not. Resumes are not enough.
Employees might talk about their capabilities in them, but have they managed to do a similar job in the past? You can only get the answer to this question by talking to someone they have worked with before. It’ll even be better if you spoke to several previous employers, for a more detailed report. Here are the top reasons why conducting reference checks is critical.
1. Verify the Information Given by The Candidates
Candidates looking for employment opportunities will write any positive thing that crosses their mind in their resume to increase the possibility of getting hired. Sometimes, they might not be sincere. Verifying information concerning their experience, roles they have handled, and work history ensures you get honest feedback about your potential hire. You will also get more information and honest feedback regarding their employment dates, job titles, and work habits.
2. Know Your Candidate More
The qualifications and experience are not the only things you should know about a potential candidate. It’s always good to know their work style, areas of strength, and some of their weaknesses. Hearing this from a person they have worked with before is even better.
Do they demonstrate empathy when working? Do they do better when working alone or as a team? Do they require supervision when working, or they can do things on their own? Do they portray excellent leadership skills? How do they handle conflicts? These are some of the questions to ask and make decisions based on the answers given.
3. Select the Most Suitable Candidate
As a hiring manager, you want to get the most suitable candidate for a job. Reference checking gives you more information about the previous experience of a candidate, how they handled issues during some situations, and their general past behavior.
Are they self-driven and motivated? What’s their ability to achieve both short-term and long-term goals? You can even ask them if they would consider re-hiring the candidate in the future. The answers they give should tell you more about your potential employee.
Many employers are usually honest with the answers they give, and they will always back them up with some explanation. Asking some of these open-ended questions from the references provided will help you determine whether a candidate will be a perfect fit for the job or not.
4. Protect Your Company from Negligent Hiring
Hiring a bad employee can cost your company money and create a bad image of it. Conducting a reference check helps ensure you don’t hire employees who have had troubled pasts at previous job positions. Most of the time, a candidate will not disclose any misconduct when you are interviewing them.
By asking questions about their past behavior and if they have been involved in any form of misconduct from other sources, you save yourself from the risk of hiring someone who might bring troubles to your company in the future, such as fraud, theft, or workplace bias. This also lowers the liability that may arise from negligent hiring lawsuits. This is because it is your responsibility to conduct background checks for all employees before bringing them on board.
Some employers forego reference checking due to the time it takes, not knowing the benefits this crucial step can offer to their companies. Conducting thorough reference checking before hiring any candidate ensures you get qualified candidates who are in a better position to help you achieve your goals.
This prevents frequent hiring since you’ll not have to post a job vacancy any time soon, saving time and money. It also prevents hiring people who will bring in legal problems in your company which might ruin your reputation and cost you money in dealing with lawsuits. Doing these checks should not feel like you are wasting time.
