How to Drive Real Value From Reference Checks

Reference checks are an important part of the hiring process, which is why so many companies make them a requirement. But, if you're relying on reference checks only for compliance purposes, you're missing out on huge opportunities to gain valuable insight about your potential new hire. Let's explore what it takes to move beyond compliance and get real value from your reference checks.

The Benefits of Going Above and Beyond Compliance

Reference checks don't have to be all about compliance - they can also provide you with invaluable information about how a new hire will perform in different contexts. When done correctly, checking references can give you an idea of how a new hire might work within your team’s culture; something that’s often overlooked by startups who haven’t yet established strong values or teams. It's also much easier for employers to spot red flags during the reference check process than it is during the interview stage when candidates have been coached on how best to present themselves.

Customised Onboarding Plans

Another benefit of utilising talent intelligence is that it can give employers an understanding as to what type of management style works best for each individual employee. This helps managers understand what kind of guidance each employee needs in order to stay engaged and motivated, as well as helping them understand how best to communicate with each team member. Knowing this information ahead of time can make managing a team much easier if managers use this knowledge to create customised onboarding plans, that help new hires ramp up to maximum productivity faster.

Long-term potential over short term

Finally, using talent intelligence helps employers get an understanding as to which candidates have the most potential for growth within the organisation. By looking beyond just experience and qualifications, employers can get an idea as to which candidates are likely to be able take on additional responsibilities over time, or who may be able to move up the ladder if given the opportunity. This helps ensure that you are bringing on board individuals who have long-term potential instead of just short-term hires who may not be around for very long.

The right hire can mean success for any company, however the wrong fit could lead to hefty monetary losses. Every day that an employee leaves or their position remains open means more money out of the company’s pocket – so getting it right from the start really pays off! And it’s not just the cost of the vacancy itself, but also the cost of lost productivity, training new hires, and so on. According to HR Magazine, the cost of a bad hire can be 3x higher than the salary paid, demonstrating the responsibility for HR of getting hiring right. Some reports even put the average cost as high as $240,000 in expenses. Keeping the right people in the right positions can be the difference between success and failure. In order to retain talent in this environment, recruiters can help by focusing on quality over quantity by taking a data-driven approach to hiring.

How To Get The Most Out Of Reference Checks

The key to getting real value from reference checks lies in the ability to confirm a candidate’s suitability against role expectations. Reference checks can be a tedious and often fruitless task when done the traditional way. However, with platforms such as Screenloop, obtaining more meaningful information with just one click! Not only does this save you time but also help ensure that you don’t miss out on top talent by quickly confirming their suitability against role expectations.

Using Quality of Hire is a great way to of making better hires, but also reducing the time and cost associated with recruiting. Screenloop allows recruiters to identify ideal candidates based on a scalable framework of success attributes. This works by cross-referencing an applicants self assessment against the attributes highlighted by references, and further validate those against the role expectations. This subsequently calculates a quality of hire score, which can then be used to objectively compare candidates side-by-side. This capability allows for a more unbiased comparison, so that you can make an informed decision on who will be best suited to join your team.

Conclusion

Reference checking is an important part of any hiring process but it's too often viewed as nothing more than a formality. However, if done properly it can provide startups with invaluable insight into their potential new hires – far beyond mere compliance issues. To get real value from your reference checking process, you need to identify and compare success attributes of candidates in order to draw meaningful conclusions from the data gathered during this process. Doing this will help ensure that you're making solid decisions when it comes time to bring on board new members into your team!

The business world is facing a raft of challenges, particularly in sourcing and retaining talent as candidate expectations grow and the economic outlook darkens. In order to meet these challenges, senior leaders and hiring teams must re-examine their approach to talent acquisition and begin focusing on employees’ business impact over other metrics via Quality of Hire measurements.

Screenloop's modern referencing solution takes all the guesswork out of finding the best candidate. By measuring candidates' quality of hire score, you can objectively compare them and make an informed decision about who to hire.

To learn more about how Quality of Hire can help your business, click the link.

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