Last week I assisted a professional colleague to carry out a forensic audit of the recruitment; hiring, placement and promotion processes in an Inter-Governmental Organisation (IGO).
By Collins Wanderi
The HR policy of the IGO requires that all candidates be subjected to thorough background checks before hiring or promotion to minimize personnel risk. I reviewed the level of compliance with this policy and advised on the criterion validity for placement and promotions in the Management Cadre between January 2017 and December 2019.
Download PDF: Here is the Final BBI Report (3MBs)
Three very sad cases involving Kenyans merit special mention. In the first case, the best candidate in an interview was not hired because their professional and moral referees failed to respond to inquiries from the HR department even after three reminders via telephone and email.
In the other two instances the responses were inconclusive. One referee responded that he “had no recollection of the candidate’s core competencies” even though the candidate had served under him for 4 years.
Another moral referee (who is a HR Manager) responded that she did not know a candidate very well but she remembered that he kept long facial hair, never wore ties, argued with his superiors and smoked in the computer server room where he spent a lot of time.
Three young Kenyans lost an opportunity to work in the international body due to poor references. Do you know the person(s) you indicate as your referee(s) well? Are you sure they have the time; kindness, information and resolve to support your career progression?
If you’ve been applying for jobs, getting shortlisted and interviewed but not hired, it is time to critically asses the professional and moral value of your current referees. Thank me later.
Looking for or appointing a referee is serious business. Employers often ask for at least two referees; a character referee and a professional referee.
A character referee should be somebody who knows you PERSONALLY outside work and can effortlessly write about your personality traits; morality; integrity and interpersonal skills.
A professional referee on the other hand is person who knows the quality of your work; technical capability and has worked with you for at least 1 year.
If it is not your supervisor, then it must be somebody who interacts with you regularly and has an interest in your output at work, for example a client, service provider or head of another department.
People you Should Never Include in Your CV as Referees
Whereas teachers and lecturers can be good character referees AVOID them completely.
Teachers; Lecturers and College Principals are either too busy or have no resolve to see their former students progress (career wise) in life. Indeed our audit revealed over 95% of “no-response” to HR inquiries were for candidates who had listed their former teachers, lecturers and college principals as referees. Now you know!
A referee can make or break your career. Avoid indicating random people; your age mates or contemporaries as referees.
And NEVER list people who are competing with you for the same opportunities as referees. Approach people who are successful in your profession, trade or craft and request them to be your mentors and referees.
Random people and potential competitors will hardly spend time to support your career progression. Relatives MUST NEVER be listed as referees at any cost. Forensic Auditors (FA) use advanced tools to cross match public available information (PAI) to detect such malfeasance.
It is so easy that you would be tempted to think FAs are magicians. In last week’s exercise an employee who had listed a fictitious/non-existent person as a referee, and then given a mobile number of a relative and an email address controlled by a friend was caught.
Their employment ended even before it had begun. They were still under probation and a dismissal letter was signed even before our final report.
Collins Wanderi is a forensic audit expert with vast experience in the field amounting to decades.