Why are references so important for talent search?

Reference checks are a critical component of the hiring journey. They help you avoid mistakes and hire the right person to support your organisation's goals.

When you understand the importance of appropriate reference checks, you can set yourself up to find great talent. You can create a hiring workflow that minimises risk and allows your team to grow meaningfully. 

Want to understand why references are so important for effective hiring? Here’s what you need to know.

Predicting performance and suitability

Effective reference checks are the key to predicting a potential employee’s performance and their suitability to your team.

When you speak to someone who can vouch for an employee’s skills and experience, you can develop a clearer understanding of what to to expect from them at work. 

This can support better decision-making by helping you strategically evaluate a candidate’s ability to complete professional tasks, and face the challenges they will navigate at your organisation.

Talking to a candidate’s referees can provide you with the insight you need to identify their strengths and weaknesses. You can verify a person’s professional claims and get an accurate picture of what they can do. 

Even major companies state that references are an important part of their hiring process. Former member of the Google leadership team Marissa Mayer says that references and background checks are among the most accurate performance predictors.

Reducing bias in hiring

No matter how fairly you approach your talent search, unconscious bias can influence your decision, without you realising its impact. In fact, 79% of HR professionals agree that unconscious bias affects their talent decisions.

Reference checks can help you look beyond biases to assess candidates equitably. By conducting a thorough reference check, you can evaluate talent based on the value they can bring to your organisation.

A robust reference checking process allows you to seek objective opinions that will either support your assumptions, or call them into question.

When you hire in this way, you can avoid hiring a candidate who is just like you based on affinity bias, or letting go of the right person based on a negative bias. Reference checks help you remain as fair and impartial as possible.

Making informed decisions and avoiding mistakes

Similarly, reference checks can help you make an informed decision for the good of your team, avoiding potentially costly mistakes. 

Using character references, you can effectively collect and analyse candidate data, allowing you to validate the information you’re working with. In a market where 25% of Australians include inaccurate information in their CVs, references help you catch half-truths when they occur.

By looking beyond what a candidate tells you in an interview and listening to what their references say, you can develop an honest assessment of who they are and what they can offer as an employee. 

This allows you to think in logical, factual terms instead of relying on instinct that could steer you in the wrong direction. This is essential if you want to avoid hiring the wrong person, a mistake that could cost your organisation more than 50% of the person’s salary. 

Want to learn more?

Want to learn more about the importance of references checks and how to conduct them effectively? This is such a critical topic, we wrote a book about it! Download the Reference checks: Why they’re critical and what you should ask eBook now.