Checkster Blog

Checking with a potential candidate’s references is by no means a new practice when it comes to hiring. Traditionally done manually, recruiters don’t look to revise the reference check process to keep up with modern times-- many are looking to dismiss the practice altogether. However, Allan Schweyer, Executive Director of TMLU argues that reference checks matter more now than ever.

The past weeks until even now reveals nothing but an apparent history of ongoing harassment, abuse and scandals throughout Hollywood. Why is this the case particularly against highly worshipped celebrities, actors, and directors?

Think references never say something negative about a colleague or you for that matter? Think again.

As a father of 3 kids, the recent harassment and assault scandals in Hollywood proved disturbing. It is difficult to understand the degree of pathological behaviors exhibited by those who abuse their power. But as part of the great social fabric which is our society, we reject those behaviors. For us the question is how can we be better at preventing them? What can we do?

It’s understandable why companies hold a policy against employees completing reference checks—it can waste productivity and result in a potential liability. However, people are not perfect and when asked, 99% of the 742 employees we surveyed said they would still participate in a confidential online reference check.

A study done by Oxford University called “THE FUTURE OF EMPLOYMENT: HOW SUSCEPTIBLE ARE JOBS TO COMPUTERISATION?” lists 702 occupations and ranks them by opportunity of being replaced by AI.  Where does HR stand?

Recently Checkster was featured in Lester S. Rosen’s, The Safe Hiring Manual, a guide for employment screening, background checks for employers, recruiters, and jobseekers. Rosen recognizes online automated reference checks as a new resource in the pre-hire spectrum. With this online self-service candidates select references, such as former co-workers and supervisors, who then receive a survey to fill out online. Rosen points out that Checkster allows for a significant time savings from the traditional method of checking references over the phone.

We had a great webcast  this week with the Executive Trends & CEO of Culture Co-op, Melissa Lavigne-Delville. Our focus, how HR and TA can leverage generational differences and macro trends. We discovered what Millennials and Gen Z'ers really want in the workplace!

An image is worth a thousand words, so if you want to see what a TA Healthcare dashboard would look like, see below (this version is slightly adapted from the good work of Tony Blake).