Entrepreneurs: Reference Checking
by Miki Saxon
Continued from last week
Reference checking is where a lot of bad hires happen.
The three major factors that negatively affect reference checking are
- unskilled or inept reference checking;
- assumptive reference checking; and
- procrastination.
The first is the easiest to overcome, since reference checking is a learnable skill.
The second is a matter of overcoming selective hearing.
The third is more difficult, because procrastination is part of MAP.
It is also of critical importance to check all levels, not just bosses.
Some managers completely skip reference checking or delegate the responsibility to a third party either because they can’t be bothered or consider the time spent wasted; others may do it, but they are careless or sloppy for the same reasons.
Believe it or not, I know of managers who check “likes” and “followers” rather than references.
Yet these managers are usually the biggest complainers when a hire goes wrong.
In short, just as preparation is the key to most things it is definitely the key to successful hiring.
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