#377 Which Relevance do Employment References have?

Which Relevance do Employment References have?

Insights, Opportunities, and Limitations

Someone is applying to your organisation – now what?

While organisations often struggle to find talent, the question arises as to how to assess applicants and the documents they submit. What can you rely on here? What guidelines are available that you can use? Which aspects provide reliable sources of insight, and in which cases might you be more, less, or not at all subject to misconceptions? According to recent surveys, many organisations still place high value on employment references. Is this the right approach? Which aspects should be considered in this context?

Pros

Employment references can provide good insight into past work experience and skills. It is important that references are detailed, multifaceted, comprehensive, ideally standardised, and presented with clear data. This way, references can also serve to verify the information in applications. Possible gaps and discrepancies can be addressed, discussed, clarified, or revealed. Accordingly, a decision or action plan can be derived from this. Well-written employment references usually also provide insight into a person's behaviour. Nobody works entirely alone, and a crucial aspect of modern recruitment decisions is often how well someone can integrate into and contribute to a team. Thus, there are certainly aspects that support the consideration of employment references.

Cons

However, there are also significant arguments against placing too much weight on employment references. Most of these references are not standardised, and particularly references from different organisations are barely comparable, if at all. A high degree of subjectivity is found in almost every employment reference, while a data basis is often not mentioned at all. As a result, what you have is a statement about people that is not very, or even not at all, valid and just as unreliable, being shaped by a high degree of subjectivity. However, the biggest issue is the lack of relevance in the level of detail regarding specific fields of action. When you are filling a position, you are looking for someone who is specifically suited to it. Employment references, on the other hand, usually contain general statements. Other organisations often do not want to provide you with details about processes, customer and operational areas, as well as industry-specific workflows, nor do they see themselves as a training ground for the competition. The negative aspects mentioned here are significant.

(For practical examples and more, listen to this week's podcast; links can be found below.)

Implementation

The high level of subjectivity makes it impossible to use a non-standardised and non-data-based employment reference as the sole basis for a positive or negative recruitment decision. Moreover, the codes often hidden in the text are either well known and therefore not accepted by individuals, or they are so encrypted that the other side does not perceive them at all, or, at worst, understands the opposite of what was intended as the core message. Social and legal aspects also play a role. If you like someone a lot, you often rate them better, even if what is written can only be reconciled with reality with a lot of imagination. An employment reference is often also the result of a legal settlement. Using a good or very good employment reference in exchange for a termination agreement is not an uncommon practice, especially as you know as an organisation that the damage caused by this will be borne by a competing organisation.

It is therefore all the more important to scrutinise employment references. Call organisations, ask critical questions, and pay attention to nuances without making deliberate overinterpretations. Use your network, but be aware that such use will only contribute positively if the network is diverse. Non-diverse networks lead to poorer, not better, decisions. Other measures such as excellent interviews, aptitude tests, assessment centres, etc., are also important measures for optimal recruitment. Always check whether a judgment is data-based or whether it is based on feelings, impressions, assumptions, or, at worst, conjecture. The more valid and reliable, the more truthfully data-supported and dependable your decisions are, the better your decision will be. The employment reference is one component here, but it can and must never be decisive on its own.

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More on this topic in this week's podcast: Apple Podcasts / Spotify

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Niels Brabandt: Professional Training, Speaking, Coaching, Consulting, Mentoring, Project & Interim Management. Event host, MC, moderator.