Workplace: Overlooking Bad Employment References

Every employer has had one — a candidate they love who interviews perfectly, but doesn’t get great references. Recently I received a question from a reader who asked me what risks they would be taking if they hired someone over the advice of a reference, and what they could do to determine if a negative reference is just sour grapes or if there’s really something to it?

There are lots of reasons that an employee may receive a bad reference. Among them are:

* The employee behaved badly or worked badly.

* The employee is a liar and narcissist and doesn’t realize or is in denial about the bad work/behavior.

* The employer is vindictive.

* The employer placed the employee in an impossible situation forcing the employee to quit or be fired.

* The employer was rebuffed by the employee when sexual advances were made.

REGARDLESS of the reasons for the feedback, an employer should ALWAYS check with the former reference for clarification.

And the employer should ALWAYS check with the employee about the bad reference — why hide it? It serves no one.

Any time an employer hires someone they take a risk. People are not robots. A lot about them is unknown and/or changes for a myriad of reasons. Use common sense. Do your homework, and hope for the best. If things don’t work out, you can always hire someone else!