Editor’s note: David Gardner, a serial entrepreneur, investor and the driving force behind Cary-based Cofounders Capital, is a regular contributor to WRAL TechWire.

David Gardner

CARY – I have written a lot about the importance of hiring superstars and today, I’d like to drill down some on how to vet those potential hires.   Some of the most promising candidate interviews I’ve ever conducted ended up months later with me having to fire that new hire.   Just because a candidate is pleasant and articulate does not mean that they have the work ethic, manageability or organizational skills to be one of your top performers.

As important as good interviewing techniques are, I believe reference checking is even more critical to the process of consistently making good hiring decisions.  It remains a truism that past performance is always the best predictor of future performance and reference checking is the single most accurate way to assess a candidate’s previous performance.   So, let’s talk about how to conduct a good reference call.

The most telling references will be from managers to whom your candidate directly reported.   I typically don’t bother with co-workers and customer references.  Everyone can find someone to speak well of them but you don’t typically get to choose your boss.  You want to talk to the persons that were directly responsible for your candidate’s performance.   Just because you get along with and like a candidate does not mean that you are going to like his or her performance.

Some of the best hires I’ve ever made were people who were not so much fun to hang out with.   I may not go out drinking with them but when the stakes are high and the pressure is on, there’s no one I’d rather have on my team.   Hiring is not about who you like.  It’s about whose performance you are going to like and the people who already know that best are those to whom your candidate has previously had to report.

Reference check calls

Don’t delegate your reference check calls.  They are too important and require skills similar to the ones you use while interviewing candidates.   Managers, like most people, usually don’t like to say negative things about others.   Some are dealing with a little guilt for firing the employee and feel that they owe it to the person to help them get another job.   You’ve got to dig down and keep asking questions until you are satisfied with the reference’s responses.

Start out by confirming what the candidate told you as to dates, responsibilities and percent of time doing various tasks then start digging into character attributes.

So, would you hire this person again today to do that job?

                On a scale from one to ten, what overall performance score would you give this person?

                That’s good.   But tell me, why not a ten?

                In the last evaluation, in what areas did you suggest improvement could be made?

                Tell me about a time when this person exceeded (did not meet) your expectations.

                Tell me about a time that you recall this person having a conflict with a co-worker.

 You get the picture.   The referral interview is very similar to the candidate interview.    If you have concerns about an attribute from your candidate interview then spend extra time digging into that attribute during the reference interview.   Vetting great hires takes time but it is a mere fraction of the time required to hire, train, fire and replace a poor choice.

Guilt trip psychology

Some managers, especially at very large companies, adhere to an HR policy of not providing references other than to confirm dates of employment.   You can often get around this using a little guilt trip psychology.  First, confirm that your reference check and all information provided will be kept in complete confidence. Tell the manager that you cannot hire a candidate without his previous manager’s recommendation interview.

If a manager insists that he or she is not allowed to provided additional information then say something like “Well, I’ll let Mr. Smith know that he is not eligible for our position because you were unwilling to provide a reference.”   Pour it on if you have to, “You know, I receive reference calls from your HR department in the past regarding one of our previous employees…don’t you think it’s rather hypocritical of them to ask for references on their candidates while not providing them to others?”  How do you feel about that policy?

There is another big benefit to doing your own reference checking.  I always ask the previous manager for advice, “If I’m going to be managing Mrs. Smith, what suggestions might you have for me?”  How did you most effectively coach and get the best out of her?”   Some managers will answer this question even if they refuse to respond to all others and the answers can be very enlightening.  If you think you are leaning towards hiring a candidate then listen intently to what previous managers discovered worked well or not so well with that direct report.  Some employees like a lot of hands on involvement while others prefer more autonomy, etc.  You’ll learn which management style is most effective with a new hire in time, but a discussion like this with previous managers can really help you shortcut that process.

Ultimately, your company will be no better than the people your recruit and how well you vet those candidates before making an offer.   There are dozens of great interviewing techniques and questions in the Recruiter’s Hat Chapter of The Startup Hats.