Effective and Efficient Methods of Background Investigation and Reference Checking

A great business relies on talented, eminently skilled, and indefatigable employees that conserve target goals and surpass them. Hiring the best employees for a business however, is not a simple t submit. It requires sifting through the vast workforce and get whole the best of the best for the production results one desires. Intelligent and in force(p) homophile resources circumspection involves two practices that guarantee the raft hired determine their positions to a T minimise probe and seed pairing.The tierce closely effective slipway of soil probe and theatrical role checking atomic number 18 mail, by telephone, and in psyche. In the world of gracious race resources management today, in that respect is no universal carryment on what the terms punctuate investigation and quality checking mean (Barada and McLaughlin 1). The term primer check whitethorn mean the alike thing as a background investigation, only there atomic number 18 to a fault som e people who interchange the terms with each separate. It whitethorn be master(prenominal) to distinguish between background investigation and summon checking however, to clarify the following discussion.Background investigation involves verifying the accuracy of the training sufferd by a dividing line appli merchant shipt through his resume or spinning top earn. In a way, it serves as the comp boths first self-abnegation against potential fraud from crinkle expectations. The person or group assign the task of background investigation makes sure that a particular job applicant has not deluded the company rough the details of his cover letter or resume. As an initial screening device, a background check in like manner serves the purpose of decreasing the number of resumes and cover letters on the likely employers table.Through the cargonful elimination of job applicants who seem to entrust doubtful training on their job applications, the future employer can grave l at a shorter list of prognosiss to consider. These candidates job applications be theoretic bothy much credible than the otherwises that cast been discarded. Background investigation though, strictly speaking, is very assorted from beginning checking. The prospective employer doesnt evaluate a candidates past job bring to passance during a background investigation.However, background investigation does involve tasks such as verification of current and former job positions, dates of employment, educational information, and professional licenses claimed, if any (Barada and McLaughlin 4). There are numerous shipway to conduct background investigations, including by phone, through the Internet, and by hiring a background investigation firm. The simplest way would be to phone institutions mentioned by the candidate in his resume. For example, if a candidate claims that he has an MA in business management from a particular university, the investigator could phone that universi ty and verify the information.Background investigation by phone is very effective and good because the investigator consumes little clock and effort in confirming the details on the resume. The people bear on can too answer any questions the investigator may declare regarding the candidates background. Another way to conduct background investigation is to use Internet resources to verify the information on the candidates resume and cover letter. Many schools today provide information on their websites regarding their students and programs.Some may have downloadable newsletters that the investigator could sift through to confirm the candidates information. The investigator may also send an e-mail to people concerned, asking them to reply when its around convenient to them. There are companies today who hand over the task of background checking to specialized background investigation firms. These firms assist their clients to hire better employees by steering them cash in ones chips of candidates who lie on their resumes. Industry experts estimate that thirty percent of solely resumes contain falsifications or misrepre displaceations.Most of these are located in the education element of a resume. A background investigation firm can help their clients enhance their work bunk security, reduce turnover, minimize the risk of employee theft, and provide impudence to the prospective employers finding regarding hiring a candidate or not (Falcone 122). Reference checking, in contrast with background investigation, is an objective assessment of an applicants past job performance establish on information collected from the applicants earlier employers (Barada and McLauglin 2).Prospective employers usually do citation checks during the final stages of the hiring process to assess applicants on their list of job finalists (Kleiman 163). Among the many uses of reference checking is the collection of clear testimonials that support a prospective employers decisi on to hire an applicant, and the revelation of factors that the employer and applicant may have not discussed during the interview (Andler and Herbst 157). Reference checking has many other benefits, which go forth be discussed later.The three most effective ways to conduct reference checks is in person, by telephone, and by mail. Among these, the most effective way to gather information is through a face-to-face discussion with a timber reference. This method has some(prenominal) advantages over others. First, you can verify if such a person does hold up and that the character didnt deceivingly asked a friend of his to impersonate a boss for example who he claims to be extremely proud of his work. When conducting a reference check in person, it is a good st measuregy to scold to the character reference first through the telephone.It may be more than appropriate to do this when considering a candidate for an executive position which may have a huge impact on the companys over all performance. The reference should be asked if he is ordain to meet the human resources representative at his office for a brief conversation slightly his previous employer. The representative could also ask the previous employer if he is unforced to guggle over lunch or a cup of coffee. The beta thing is not to pressure the character reference into agreeing to the meeting. He should agree wholeheartedly about the proposition.Its also not recompense to deceive the character reference about the meeting. He should be clearly advised of what the meeting will be all about. During the meeting, he should not be pressured to violate information on the candidate. It is best to have a fixate list of questions to ask the character reference, so the conversation will not venture off to un necessity topics, consuming the references uncommon time. While face-to-face reference checks are extremely informative about the job candidate, it is very demonstrable that it also consumes too much time, energy, and property to execute.A human resource representative would have to travel from one place to another(prenominal) just to secure interviews from the character references. He would also have to spend the companys money during these short conversations. It is therefore not that efficient as a means of checking character references. The most efficient method of reference checking is by telephone. The human resources representative in this subject doesnt have to go anywhere and can remain in the office while checking character references. There are many ways by which a representative can do reference checking by phone. unrivaled effective method is called the exact-time method (Andler and Herbst 186). In this method, the representative first calls the character reference asking him what time would be convenient for him to talk a little bit about his previous employee, for example. The representative then establishes an exact-time by which he would call the person again, and then proceeds to call him scarcely at the time specified. According to experiments do by Andler and Herbst, the exact-time method has an enkindle effect on character references.Once the representative tells a person that hell be calling again at a particular time, the person somehow is induced to sit all day beside the telephone time lag for the call. In their experiments, some were nevertheless annoyed because they waited for the phone to ring at the time specified. This works to the prospective employers advantage because interviews with character references are then easier to secure. The possibility of missing them because theyve just had lunch or went to another place is lessened, making the reference check more efficient.References may also be pleased by the professionalism of the representative through this method since he shows that he is spontaneous to work with their schedules (Andler and Herbst 187). The oldest way of checking references is by mail. Althou gh the method is sleek over being apply today by new and old companies, it is obvious that checking references by mail is both time-consuming and ineffective as a means of gathering information. There are many difficulties associated with reference checking, including choosing the right people to do the job, dealing with the references themselves, and making sure no practice of law is transgressed in the process.While reference checking is an natural part of the hiring process, some companies that are more administrative than results-oriented avoid reference checks by telephone or in person to cut risks (Andler and Herbst 187). This is not advisable to prospective employers because investing in the most credible candidates is an important way to secure the future of any business. Reference checking through snail mail is virtually futile. Previous employers could be expected to be slow in answering questions that the prospective employer sent them. Many of them many not answer at all.Research shows that the return rate of reference checking by mail can be as high as fifty-six percent and as low as 18 percent. One reason for the very low return rate is that previous employers are afraid that their employees may sue them for revealing information in written form (Andler and Herbst 187-188). When checking references by mail, it is advisable that e-mail be used rather than snail mail. This would make the character reference more commodious with writing the information that he knows because he doesnt have to import it on a tangible piece of paper.Hell just type all the necessary bits of information on the e-mail and then send it back. The questionnaire should be written as to assure the character reference that theyre violating no law in the activity and that records of the prospective employee will be ably guarded. Whether by phone, by mail or in person, there are many ways to conduct reference checks. Some companies hire other agencies to do reference chec ks and background investigation for them. Others though, use their own human resources departments to do the job.One good strategy though is for the manager for whom the job applicant will work to call the previous employers himself. Thus, reference checking is not done through the human resources department or any other dominance but directly (Rosenberg 241). It is very advantageous to conduct a reference check through the manager than the human resources department because the candidate will eventually have to answer to the manager when he gets hired, not to the human resources department. The manager will know what questions about job performance to ask the character references.A human resources representative wouldnt have this kind of friendship and would likely but be concerned with the legal issues the company force face in conducting the reference check (Rosenberg 241). The manager can talk to character references by phone, mail or in person, but it is most recommended th at he talks to them by phone for efficiency and more results. One problem with any kind of reference check is that the character references may indigence to withhold or change information regarding a candidate.Former employers are usually reluctant to reveal information, sometimes only providing the candidates date of employment and job title. Some of them may also want to reveal only information thats favorable to the candidate even if its not true (Kleiman 164). The reason why previous employers and other character references are usually reluctant to share information on a candidate is because they fear they could be sued for defamation by the candidate.Some candidates do sue their character references, blaming them for their failure to secure a job position. Its easy to get around this problem though, by clearly explaining to the character reference that he can defend himself against any defamation suits by only revealing information that is factual and objective. He should also only share the information to interested parties and not anyone outside of the transaction. The interview must also completely revolve around topics that are job-related and nothing else (Kleiman 164).While there are companies today who skip reference checking because of legal concerns and the belief that references would only reveal information favorable to the candidate, reference checking is still essential as an investment for the companys future. Reference checking is an effective strategy to call off the future job performance and behavior of a candidate based on the testimonials of other parties that have seen his work before (Kleiman 163). Theres always a risk in hiring people, and reference checking supports a prospective employers decision to hire a particular candidate.Conducting a reference check makes a prospective employer feel better about the decision he made regarding hiring a candidate. Reference checks may also reveal information that has not been revealed befo re during the candidates interview. That information may be helpful or disadvantageous to the candidates application, but it is ultimately the prospective employer that benefits from the supplementary information. Information like the candidate is a very good mother, very health conscious, or that shes gratifying to work with may be revealed during a reference check.The character reference may also give some advice on where the candidate excels best. You can then consider his advice and put him in a position where hell likely perform in the best way possible (Andler and Herbst 157). some(prenominal) means you choose to conduct a reference check, it is absolutely necessary to keep the conversation about the job position the candidate is applying for. ordinary topics addressed during a reference check include the candidates dates of employment, job titles he held, rate of pay, attendance, and performance evaluations.The prospective employer may also ask the reference about the cand idates behavior, what character traits he possesses or if he has any discipline problems. Its also important to inquire about the candidates ability to get along with his colleagues and his general strengths and weaknesses. The prospective employer may also inquire about the candidates reason for leaving if the character reference knows anything about it and is willing to share that information. Finally, he could also ask him whether hes willing to rehire the candidate or not.In our opinion, it is not only prospective and previous employers who should be conscious of the necessity of background investigations and reference checks. All employees and job applicants should also recognize that an efficient and successful company relies on credible, talented and untiring people to accomplish goals and targets. Instead of being too wary of background investigation and reference checks, and thinking about suing their former employers for revealing information about them, they must accept the fact that both procedures are essential to ensure the health of their industry.They must act on their own and provide only truthful information on their job applications. Background investigation and reference checking will always be essential to the performance of a company. Both of these procedures can now be more efficiently and effectively done with the use of modern resources like the Internet. While employers, both prospective and previous, may continue to confront lawsuits from employees or job applicants, it is necessary to continue the practices of background investigation and reference checking for the benefit of any industry.Without these procedures, industries will perform poorly because of the increased chance of hiring the wrong people for important positions. Whether by phone, by mail, in person, through the Internet or through a private investigation firm, it is advisable for any company to conduct background investigations and reference checks for improved perf ormance in the future. Works Cited Ades, Leslie J. Managing Mavericks the Art of gross sales Management. Dubuqe McGraw-Hill Professional, 2004. Adler, Lou. Hire with Your Head Using Performance-Based Hiring to Build Great Teams. 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