Don't Hire A Liar
Don't Hire A Liar
Don't Hire A Liar
The Definitive Guide to Using Reference Checks to Prevent Liars and Thieves from Ruining Your Business
Steven Speilbergs film, Catch Me if You Can, Leonardo di Caprio portrays Frank W. Abagnale a master impostor and forger. Abagnale used false identities to work as a doctor, a lawyer, a college professor, even a co-pilot for a major airline companyall before reaching his 21st birthday. Its a very funny and entertaining movie but it begs the question, how did this guy ever get hired? Truthfully its not that hard. Con artists and masters of deception trick employers every day, robbing the economy and putting peoples lives at risk.
Fraud and violence in the work place can have a devastating effect that may leave permanent scars
The financial costs can sometimes be passed on to consumers but the human cost of violence in the work place is permanent: Over 85% of all resumes contain errors, omissions and false statements. 60% of college registrars regularly experience attempts to document false credentials. 33% of job applicants falsify employment applications. 40 million Americans have arrest records. 1 in 6 violent crimes occur in the work place. Workplace violence cost employers in access of $5 billion in lost work and legal fee. The workplace is the scene of approximately 3.2 million crimes and thefts every year. There are 1.5 million probationers. 45% of potential employees have; a criminal record, bad driving record, worker's compensation claim, or bad credit history. Persons with substance abuse are 10 times more likely to miss work, 3 times more likely to have an accident, 33% less productive on the job and file 5 times as many workers' compensation claims. 2
Its bad out there and its getting worse every day.
The compound effect of a bad hire: poor moral, high turnover and lagging sales are symptoms of a bad hire - a mistake that could have been avoided. As if things could actually be worse, theres always the cost to jettison the excess baggage. Firing isnt cheap. An entire industry called Outplacement evolved because firing extracts such a heavy toll on those who have t o do it. Then of course theres the endless litigation and God forbid, the whole negligent hiring aspect of improper hiring. Reference checking can help you avoid all that pain. Foresight and proper planning can help keep you out of trouble.
sterling. A little too good actually. We checked the references ourselves. It turned Reggie, as he referred to himself, had a deep rich fantasy life. None of the three presidents had even heard of him. When confronted with the lie more lies were told Thankfully a competitor snapped him up
Job hunters are often more skilled and better equipped at interviewing than interviewers
There are so many books and success coaches nowadays to help coach candidates on how to perform during an interview that most job-seekers are more skilled at interviewing than the interviewers themselves
For most hiring managers who do occasional interviews the process is a farce. It reminds us of a gentlemens tennis match where everyone is politely dressed in white and is being careful to remain immaculate. Questions are asked, questions are answered. Back and forth - forth and back, with very little in-depth discussion. The mood is light and congenial. Nothing like real life. Interviews rarely reflect real life situations or the real people involved. We North Americans live in a world where gregarious extroverts often win out over the quiet, steady performers. As they say bullshit baffles brains far too often, were afraid. Reference checking is often the last and indeed the only, way to separate out whos really got the skills and whos 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 isnt enough to convince you of the necessity to reference check every candidate then lets talk about your legal obligations.
To keep up to date with this developing area of the law, you should ask your legal department or seek outside council.
New rules can hold you liable for more than a bad employees severance
Can you be held liable if you don't check references? You bet. As a matter of fact, many companies have been held liable for crimes committed by their staff. These crimes have ranged from murder, to rape, and theft. This was all made possible because of a new concept called Negligent Hiring. Negligent Hiring varies from state-to-state but essentially it means a company can be held liable for failing to conduct an adequate pre-employment investigation into a job-seekers background. If an employee has a history of misconduct indicating a propensity for criminal behavior which an employer could have discovered through a background investigation, the employer could be held liable for any resulting injuries. Failing to adequately investigate before hiring can expose you and your company to liability for actual injuries, pain, suffering --- and even punitive damages. You put your whole firm at risk. Now do you understand the raging debate on Facebook profiles?
You Can you be held liable if you give a false reference or bury the truth.
In a widely publicized case a lawsuit was brought against Allstate Insurance Co. This is an example of a negligent referral case. The suit was settled before going to trial, but a Florida judge ruled 5
that Allstate could be sued for punitive damages for concealing the violent nature of a former employee who killed co-workers at Firemans Fund Insurance Co. In this case, the wrongdoing allegedly occurred when Allstate wrote a recommendation letter saying the employee was let go as part of a corporate restructuring. In truth, he had been fired for toting a gun at work. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. said it relied on the letter from Allstate when they hired him. In January of 1993 this man shot five Fireman Fund co-workers in the companys cafeteria. He killed three of them, before fatally shooting himself. One of the survivors and the families of those who were killed filed the suit against Allstate. One positive outcome from the tragedy was the resolve and subsequent legislation to ensure this didnt happen again. Granted, this was an extreme case, but its the most compelling example for seeing that references are done and done correctly I can think of. 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 professional recruiters, with more than a 1000 successful projects under our belts, we assure you that most employers will follow the Golden Rule, do for others as you would like them to do for you. Most employers will answer your questions and provide more than salary verification and dates of employment if you ask them the right way. We will show you how in the next section. Personally, we always find the composition of a candidates reference list fascinating. When its full of people who cant talk about his daily work we know immediately that theres a problem. We likely have a candidate whos trying to hide something.
Obviously the reference questions you will ask a supervisor are not the same as those you should ask a peer or a subordinate.
This type of 360-degree feedback is enlightening to say the least. And frankly, next to his boss, Candidates subordinates will provide the most insight into his character. Here is what do you do you do when the candidate hands you his list of references. First, determine if the people on the list are the ones who you need to speak to. Here are the questions you ask the Candidate to assess the suitability of each reference: Did/do you report directly to them? For what length of time? (less than 1 year is too short a period to form a valid impression). Did/do you complete or contribute to your performance appraisals? How many? Or if they were a per or subordinate you want to ask: 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 and find the reference to be unsuitable contact the candidate, explain the situation and ask for a more suitable reference. Well actually explain exactly you how to set this up during the interview stage so it isnt a problem.
function. We even ask them to rate the candidate against his peers and the former people who have held that position, just in case there is someone better whom we should be recruiting. No one understands better whether the Candidate is pulling his weight than his 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 etc., or the one which cost the company a million dollars to fix. Likewise, it might be good to know that a few dedicated subordinates followed Candidate over from his last gig and are likely to do it again when he moves.
For example if managing project complexity 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 candidates story later. Most companies dont take note of the specific details and later on they find it nearly impossible to verify the details of the candidates accomplishments. You dont want to put yourself in a situation where you have to call the candidate back later and say, your reference doesnt remember or who can verify.? At the best you look incompetent.
without references. The result is that most Candidates will stick to the facts during the interview and will later provide you references that will talk to you. During 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. D rill down on their accomplishments to get specifics. For example if they increased efficiency by 100% ascertain if they did it alone or as part of a team. This is an especially useful exercise to use with sales people. Later you will compare answers with references. If there's a difference between what the previous employer says and what the candidate said, you'll be in a position to clarify. Another useful interview technique which helps when referencing is to ask the candidate: "What duties did your boss perform?" And then immediately follow that question with, "What duties did your subordinates perform?" Later, when you want to pinpoint their personal contribution its difficult for t he candidate to take credit for the accomplishments of others. If the candidate cant recall a supervisor's name, or the specific details of an accomplishment you noted from their resume run ... you have a l iar in front of you.
At Perry-Martel for example, we would use our reference database to select the most appropriate questions for the role based on the references relationship to the candidate. Our standard reference check assesses every candidate on 10 need-to-know areas including leadership attributes, managerial skill, character, etc BUT, we still need to also include, role and fit specific questions. Despite having nearly 490 questions to draw from we still add a few new ones each year. A typical reference check done by anyone on our staff can include more than 70 questions and require more than an hour to work through. All this to say that you must customize your reference questions every time and take your time when you perform the reference check, listening carefully to every word. 11
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Keep the discussion conversational. If a reference senses a n interrogation is in the offing, theyll tighten up and not share as much as they might have otherwise. Speak with a smile in your voice to encourage references to be candid with you. It's wise to be friendly when you speak with them. Friendly, not familiar. Note: the stories the reference tells are as important as the tone of voice used to tell them. The calmer the reference, the more likely they are telling you the truth.
What to do next...
Perry-Martel International Inc. has developed a 20 Minute Talent Management Tune-Up which we conduct over the telephone with you and your top staff members. Here is what we accomplish together in this fast-paced, zero-nonsense session: 1. Executive Search is an investment like any other which should have a demonstrative ROI, clearly justifying the effort and costs involved. To realize the full benefit of a new hire necessitates connecting the established and agreed upon observable and measurable performance requirements into your search process . We will walk you through a six step process and show you exactly how. This will immediately enhance your effectiveness as an executive and guarantee your end result meets your expectations. Succession Management leaves some CEOs lying awake at night worried about who will take over critical positions? We have helped hundreds of clients clear this hurdle. There are steps to take which can guarantee a successful outcome.
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The 20 Minute Recruitment Tune-Up is conducted by David Perry our managing partner. Please be assured that this consultation is not a thinly disguised sales presentation; it will consist of the best intelligence we can supply in a thirty minute time span. There is no charge for this call. Please be advised that the call must be strictly limited to 30 minutes. This consult will typically take place within 1-2 weeks of your call. To secure a time for this consultation, please email or call Anita Martel at [email protected] or 613.236.6995 x113. She will advise you regarding available time slots. She will also provide you with a pre-consultation questionnaire that will prepare both you and David to get maximum value in the shortest amount of time.
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