I recently acted as a reference for someone I’d hired and managed for 2 years before his line management changed.  Unfortunately he didn’t thrive under his new manager.

Acting as a reference for a job seeker is a big deal.  The job seeker is trusting you to represent them in a positive light as a job offer hinges on your input.  While the potential employer is looking for honest input into a hiring decision.

Joe (not his real name) had become “stale” in his role and needed some new challenges.  He looked to his line manager for new work assignments and career development but lost trust when he was overlooked for opportunities due of his “poor attitude”.  He felt unappreciated, grew frustrated at the lack of support from his manager and became cynical.  This effected Joe’s relationships with some of his peers.  His motivation dropped and so did his job performance.  This behavior continued for about a year before Joe secured a new role with a new company.

As a reference I had plenty of material to talk to, both positive and negative.  My challenge was positioning the feedback to be balanced while weighted in his favour.  This was important for a few reasons:

• As a Hiring Manager I’ve been skeptical of “glowing” reference checks as they’ve left me wondering what was omitted from the feedback and why.
• I needed to maintain my personal integrity.  I was essentially vouching for Joe and telling the Hiring Manager what they needed to know to successfully manage Joe.
• More selfishly, if Joe didn’t get the role because of my feedback he would have been impossible to work with…

The reference check with the HR recruiter went well and Joe is happily employed in his new role.  So how did I manage the juxtaposition of “balanced while weighted in his favour”?

• I talked through the new role with the Joe to get an understanding of the role itself and the important points to communicate.
• I took some quiet time to reflect on the key projects Joe had been involved in that mapped to the duties of the new role.
• I worked on my phrasing.  I needed to communicate the negative aspects while not raising too much alarm.
• I walked through my feedback within a trusted peer who was able to poke holes and help tweak the phrasing.

For me the job wasn’t quite done as I wanted Joe to be aware of the feedback I’d provided.  For me, this would be the true test of my integrity.  I met Joe at the pub and talked him through the questions the HR recruiter had asked and my feedback.  Joe asked a lot of questions about the feedback I’d given.  He took in both the good and the bad; I’m hoping he used this as a learning experience to get insights into himself.

I recently found myself in a position where I need references to speak for me.  What would they say…?

Photo: Time to mow the lawn…