Betty Ann Gwatkin

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How to Improve Candidate Quality with
Reference-Checking
Betty Ann Gwatkin VP, Human Resources Northeastern
Vermont Regional Hospital Michael Bartkus Vice
President - SkillSurvey, Inc.
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What is the Problem?
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What is the Problem?

• Most candidates do a nice job presenting
  themselves during interviews
• All are team players
• All show up for work and dont text, or sit on
  Facebook all day
• Most are ethical and always do the right thing
• Most candidates are well rehearsed in the
  question/response mode
• Books, job seeker sites
• Experience interviewing all the time
• What happened to old fashioned reference
  checking?

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The Art of a Reference Check

• Historically
• One of the most important steps
• Hiring managers talked to previous managers
• How are they day to day?
• Nuances?
• What challenges do they have and what can I do to
  make them A players?
• The new millennium
• Legal issues
• HR cracks down and bans reference checking
• Outsource the process check the box
• Phone mail tag, email tag, phone mail tag, days
  and days of time.

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Impact of a Bad Hire

• Bad Hires have an Impact
• Varies by organization and by job role
• Hard dollar cost base salary, benefits, on
  board training, exit costs
• Internal team turmoil
• Customer satisfaction
• Compliance (HR and Finance as examples)
• For Sales roles
• Cost of lost revenue
• Asset is time time is lost forever

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A Unique Way to Look at Reference Checking
1 minute
5 minutes
2 seconds
10 minutes
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From Candidate Perspective Todays Approach
Phone interview
Face to Face
Candidate
Recruiter
Personality / Behavior Assessments
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From Reference Perspective Todays Approach
Phone interview
Face to Face
Reference
Recruiter
Personality / Behavior Assessments
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A New Perspective The New Paradigm
Phone interview
Face to Face
Recruiter
SkillSurvey Pre-Hire 360
Personality / Behavior Assessments
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Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital

• Betty Ann Gwatkin
• VP, Human Resources

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Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital

• Background on our Organization
• A 25-bed community, not-for-profit, acute care,
  critical access hospital located in historic
  Northeast Kingdom
• The only hospital in Vermont designated as Baby
  Friendly by the United Nations
• Approximately 200 hires per year
• People are our greatest asset at NVRH. Our
  employees are valued for their caring,
  compassion, knowledge, skills, and expertise.
• History of Reference-Checking at NVRH
• Requires 2-3 references
• Recruiting team performed the reference checks
• Process was time intensive with minimal value
  being derived from the information collected

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Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital

• Goals in seeking a new way
• Efficiency
• Eliminate phone calls, reallocate that time
  elsewhere
• Speed up turnaround of the reference check
  process
• Better quality information
• On-boarding and new hire development ideas
• Improve quality of hire
• Avoid potentially bad hires before we make them
• Why SkillSurvey?
• 12 years of experience
• Proven track record of measurable results
• Science (validated surveys and EEOC compliance)
• Ease of use

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Results Past 12 Months
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Results Past 12 Months
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Results Past 12 Months
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Results Past 12 Months
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Results Past 12 Months
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Business Impact

• 10.3 of Candidates Scored Medium Low or Lower
• 87.1 of References Responded!
• And in .72 Business Days
• 4.28 References Responded per Candidate

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Sample Reports
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Candidate 1 Validated(high scoring)
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Validated Candidate
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Validated Candidate
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Validated Candidate
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Validated Candidate
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Validated Candidate
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Validated Candidate
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Validated Candidate
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Validated Candidate
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Candidate 2 Developmental Needs(lower scoring)
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Candidate with Developmental Need
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Candidate with Developmental Need
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Candidate with Developmental Need
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Candidate with Developmental Need
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Candidate with Developmental Need
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Candidate with Developmental Need
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Candidate with Developmental Need
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Candidate with Developmental Need
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How Does it Work?

• Michael Bartkus
• Vice President SkillSurvey, Inc.

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1 minute
5 minutes
2 seconds
10 minutes
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Enter Candidate Data
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Step 1a Select Survey
Send email to candidate
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Survey Availability
Job Level ? ?Job Family Entry- Level Hourly Clerical Professional Supervisor Manager Executive
General ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Production ? ? ? ? ?
Sales ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Marketing ? ? ? ? ?
IT ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Operations ? ? ? ? ?
Customer Service ? ? ? ? ? ?
RD ? ? ? ?
Admin ? ? ? ? ? ?
Finance ? ? ? ? ? ?
Legal ? ? ? ? ? ?
HR ? ? ? ? ? ?
Engineering ? ? ? ? ?
Education ? ? ? ?
Healthcare ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
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Sample Libraries Sales, IT, Customer Service,
Healthcare, Finance, etc
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Sample Libraries Finance, IT, Customer Service,
Healthcare, etc
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Other Libraries IT, Customer Service,
Healthcare, Finance, etc
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Other Libraries Customer Service, IT,
Healthcare, Finance, etc
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Other Libraries IT, Customer Service,
Healthcare, Finance, etc
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Step 1a Select Survey
Send email to candidate
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Step 2 Candidate Enters References
From Your Company Name Recruiting Sent
Thursday, June 6, 2011To Patrick TSubject
Your Company Name Selection Process
Information   Dear Patrick T, Thank you for your
continued interest in the Major Account Sales
position with your co name. As already explained
to you, a critical step in the selection process
is reference checking. org name uses web-based
reference checking for this purpose.   Please
click on the link below. It will open a web page
where you will input your reference. You will
also be able to review a sample of the questions
being asked and the email that will be sent to
your references. Your references will be emailed
a reference survey and their responses will be
submitted directly back to SkillSurvey. No one
will see your references' individual responses
because all responses are electronically
aggregated together to produce one summary
report.   Note that all references will be
responding as individuals, not as representatives
of any company or organization.   Please click on
the following link (URL) to begin
http//eref.skillsurvey.com//CandidateUtilities/EO
C.aspx?  
Automated Email From Recruiter to Candidate
Explaining the Process
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Step 2b Candidate Inputs References
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Step 2c Candidate Confirms References and Signs
Legal Waiver
Proof of Consent I hereby release any such
person, their company, and any affiliated
officers, directors, agents, and employees from
any and all claims I may have arising out of the
disclosure of such information
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Step3a Automated Email Sent to All References
From Patrick TSent Thursday, June 6, 2011 To
Scott DaviesSubject Patrick T Reference
Request   Dear Scott Davies, I am pursuing a
professional development opportunity and I'd like
to use you, as well as several other individuals,
as a professional reference. All you need to do
is complete a short (less than 30 questions),
confidential, web-based survey regarding my
skills. No one will see your individual
responses because the system averages the
responses from all of my references together to
produce one summary report. To further ensure
confidentiality, no report will be produced
unless at least 3 people respond. Please note
that you will be responding as an individual, not
as a representative of any company or
organization. Also, I have executed a legally
binding agreement that releases you as well as
any organization with which you are now
affiliated or have been affiliated in the past,
from any potential liability for providing this
information.The process is quick and easy.
Please click on the following link to begin
http//eref.skillsurvey.com/SS.WebUI/RefSurveyDeta
ils.aspx? If you have any questions, you can
email me at patrickt_at_gmail.com. Thank you for
your time,Patrick T
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Step 3b References Receive Automated Email
Dear Scott Davies, Thank you for taking the time
to respond to Patrick Ts reference request.
Before you take the survey, please take a moment
to review the information in the form below. If
any information is incorrect, please select the
appropriate field and make the desired changes.
When you are finished, click the continue button
at the bottom of the page to save your changes
and access the reference survey.
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The Surveys Job-Specific, Behaviorally-Based
Questions
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Job-Specific, Behaviorally-Based
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SkillSurvey Goes Mobile

• SkillSurvey Mobile
• On-the-go access anytime, anywhere
• Use your iPhone, BlackBerry, Droid, or
  Windows-enabled Smartphone
• No hassle for recruiters, candidates, or
  references

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Candidate Comparison Report
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Business Intelligence Dashboard
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Quick Startup and ROI

• Solution up and running in less than 2 hours
• Setup, training, launch
• No need for IT involvement
• Not a long and complex project
• Provides a quick and easy win for recruiting
  and HR

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Questions / Discussion
Michael Bartkus SkillSurvey, Inc. mbartkus_at_skillsu
rvey.com 215-493-0110
Betty Ann Gwatkin Northeastern Vermont Regional
Hospital b.gwatkin_at_nvrh.org 419-557-6826
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Clients