PREPARE FOR THE INEVITABILITY, AND UNDERSTAND THE RESPONSIBILITY

IT IS likely you have been, or will be, contacted to provide a reference for a previous employee. These requests come in various levels of inquiry, from verifying work history, to a list of questions as to the employee’s experience and skills. Preparation is best, both for the prior employee and for legal reasons, and your responses can have a big impact on the final decision to hire someone.

Here are a few guidelines:

1 ENSURE PERMISSION

The previous employee should have asked you to be a reference. If you get a request out of the blue, ask the potential employer whether the employee gave permission to contact his or her references. If the answer is “no”, do not give out any employee information.

2 GET CONSENT

If you are comfortable with it, let exiting employees know you will be available for reference checks. A good policy would be to have exiting employees sign a consent form allowing you to release information only once they have contacted you to inform you of a potential reference check.

3 USE SPECIFICITY

When providing the reference, keep your answers specific and factual. Do not generalize or leave room for interpretation. To do so, keep good notes on all employees, and retain them for up to five years. When asked, refer to your notes, so you can give exact information.

For example: “This employee missed four days of work in the last calendar year he/she worked here. (It’s always good practice to check your state human resource laws on reference policies, or get professional advice from a lawyer.)

4 MAINTAIN PROFESSIONALISM

Maintain a professional tone and demeanor when dealing with a reference for an employee who has less than a wonderful history with you. Let the potential employer ask questions, and you answer with caution and facts.

He or she is likely to get to the important end question, which should say all that matters. (See No. 8.)

5 PROTECT PRIVACY

Don’t give out any confidential information, such as health history, personal crises and concerns the employee had during his or her tenure with your practice or any other information you should legally not be providing.

6 BE HONEST

This can be a small industry, and certified eye care staff tend to stay in the industry and move around. Think of what you would want to hear if you were the hiring employer.

7 ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION

If you’re not sure you should say something… Don’t say it.

8 KNOW THE FINAL QUESTION

Be prepared for, “Would you hire this person again?” If you say, “yes” or “no,” it should be an equally revealing answer to the new employer. He or she may ask you, “Why?” and you can say, “I would prefer not to add any additional comments.”

LAST THOUGHTS

Some large corporate businesses are not even offering references due to legal issues. Instead, they offer only to verify work history. I still believe in reference checks and, in some cases, have completely changed my hiring plans because of responses from previous employers. Know how you can impact a person’s ongoing career by being a reference. OM

MS. CHAREST is the co-founder of 4ECPs, a practice management resource company for eye care professionals. 4ECPs has six divisions, including eye care jobs, marketing, social media, payments, events and training. Visit www.4ecps.com , or email trudi@4ecps.com.