SMALL BUSINESS 101 WITH CFIB

d4

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

With many employers hiring additional help, it is important to protect your business and avoid hiring the wrong person.

Reference checks should be an important part of the hiring process because they can help avoid costs associated with failed probation periods and poor performance issues, all of which impact your business.

Careful reference checking will require extra time on your part, but it is one of the most useful sources of information about a potential employee’s past performance that can be used to corroborate and/or add to information that has already been gathered in the interview process.

Here are a few points to keep in mind when performing reference checks:

• Ask the applicant to provide at least three job-related references. Checking with several people will offer a more comprehensive picture.

• Do your reference checks in person or by phone and explain what you are looking for in terms of the duties and responsibilities of the position.

• Make sure you have the candidate sign a waiver permitting you to contact references and anyone else who may have knowledge of his or her prior work performance. Do not contact someone from the candidate’s current place of employment unless expressly given permission to do so. It is also important that reasonable care be used, i.e.

conversations must be job-related and confidentiality must always be respected.

• Consistently ask the same questions.

Having a checklist on hand will help make this much easier.

• Find out how long they have been acquainted and the nature of the relationship.

• Confirm the period of employment.

• Confirm positions held and any promotions given.

• Ask questions that relate to the skills needed for the position you are hiring for.

• Learn whether, if the opportunity arises, the reference would rehire this candidate.

• When in doubt, ask more questions! Remember, no matter how positive you are about the people you have interviewed, it is better to know everything up front than to look back and regret not digging a little deeper.

Always ask for and check references!

CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses.Encouraging the development of good public policy at the federal, provincial and municipal levels, CFIB represents more than 105,000 business owners (4,500 of whomarelocatedinNewBrunswick)who collectivelyemploy1.25millionCanadians and account for $75 billion in GDP.