Employee References – essential guidance

Character references are often supplied from someone the new employee has known for some time, perhaps a teacher or family friend, with professional references usually being previous managers or colleagues.

The referees are depended on to use integrity and supply honest information about your potential employee, and confirmation that they do indeed know who they are, with professional referees confirming when they worked together and in what capacity.

Companies often rely they can rely on to supply confirmation of their capabilities within the working environment.

If your company depends on results of references in order to make a job offer to a potential new employee, administratively this can be a long and arduous process where previous offices or people have moved or are just plain difficult to get through to and maybe do not have the personal time to entertain a reference form.  An alternative is to make the offer subject to references.

It is also important to verify CV or Resume content.  Candidates frequently feel pressure from less ethical recruiters or CV writing agencies to 'dress things up' and thus there is a real risk that some of the gloss is not supported by real delivery.  Validating CVs can be done in part through good behavioural interviewing techniques and also through judicious referencing.

Telephone References

There are a few ways in which you can obtain references. Depending on your company policy and if you are able to accept a verbal reference, then of course a telephone call is often the fastest way to get a response.

Written References

You can also send out a form asking for the information you need or simply requesting a reference for employee ‘x', giving start and finish working dates - this helps if it's a large company you are writing to, who may have to refer to archives in order to find past records of the employee. Enclosing a stamped addressed envelope is recommended.

If you have confirmed the fax number of the person you wish to get a reference for, then fax is a cheap alternative to posting out your form, and you can instantly follow up with a phone call to ensure your fax is in the right hands.

And of course the final method is to email the person directly.

Once references have been obtained some companies, as a matter of course, obtain security details on the new employee. A driving licence, passport and birth certificate are often the best ways to confirm a persons identity, ensuring any copies are locked away in your personnel files.