Reference Checks: The Questions That Can Make or Break Your Practice

In many ways, the eye care community is isolated from the rest of the business world. While the corporate world is encroaching, most practices are still built around the owner who, generally, has little formal business training and may well remember the days when a handshake was enough.

As recruiters, we often start our relationships with vision practices who have recently gone through a frustrating and often messy termination. Unfortunately, the doctors who leave the biggest messes easily find other employment only to leave a similar wake of destruction in their next office. Why is it so easy for these doctors to ruin one practice after another?

Vision Practices, as a group, routinely fail to protect the practice, staff and patients by performing a simple reference check. The importance of reference checking is well-documented in the larger business world.

Simply checking license history is no longer enough. You have the right to ask for references, and you should not settle for personal references. Ask for contact information of previous employers or faculty, if appropriate. Here are some practical steps to help make a reference check call easy, informative and less time consuming.

Confirm the details

Do not be shy to ask how the reference knows the job seeker. Find out how long they have known each other. If the reference is a former employer, ask for dates of employment. Ask what their function was in that position.

Decide what you want to know before you call

When we perform reference checks on behalf of our clients, we ask the reference to rate the job candidate on productivity, the quality of their work, their oral and written expression, their working relationships, their motivation and initiative, and their punctuality and attendance.

Know what he/she does well

Ask the reference what they would consider to be the job seeker’s greatest strengths in the position. Also, ask what the employer’s expectations were and how well the job seeker fulfilled them. Do they work better independently or under direct supervision?

Know where the job seeker could improve

This is a great way to ask for constructive criticism in a way that will not make the reference feel uncomfortable about giving a bad reference. Be sure to ask if the job seeker was open to critique and if progress was made toward improvement.

Would the reference hire or re-hire the job seeker?

This is straight to the point. If you hear “No,” make sure that you know why.

When you finish the reference check, be sure to thank the reference for the time that they spent with you and the information they provided. They may well have just saved you from a bad decision or enabled you to sleep well with the decision you will make.

ETS Vision is a Vision Recruiting firm specializing in finding and placing Optometrists, Ophthalmologists, and Vision Staff throughout the United States. www.etsvision.com

Recruitment in 2014 - Employers Look for Unique Ways to Compete for Top Talent

As we kick off the New Year, the candidate-driven market that MRINetwork has been observing in the executive, managerial and professional sector is projected to become an even greater challenge in 2014. The media is increasingly making note of this trend, referenced as "overwhelmingly candidate-driven" in the most recent MRINetwork Recruiter Sentiment Study, as exceptional candidates with specialized skills gain more leverage due to a shrinking talent pool. The reality is that employers must compete like never before to bring in the best people to lead their organizations into the workforce of 2020 and beyond.

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"2014 has been slated as the Year of the Employee, due to global economic growth that is increasing demand for top candidates with specialized skills," says Nancy Halverson, vice president of global operations for MRINetwork. "As 'A' players gain more control over the hiring process, employers will need to develop innovative processes to recruit and retain exceptional talent."

The following are some suggestions for how employers can make themselves more attractive to the professional workforce:

• Create an employee experience that is engaging and motivating. Confidence is growing in the economy, providing more candidates with the incentive to leave less than desirable work arrangements. As companies become more vulnerable to losing key talent in 2014, they will have to seek ways to provide an employee-centric work environment that is fun, motivating and focused on the things the employees within the organization value most.
   
• Include millennials in succession planning. As succession planning and executive searches are becoming a priority for many companies who need to replace retiring baby boomer executives, employers should not forget to include millennials in these plans. Millennial professionals, who are in their mid-twenties and thirties, possess the skills and experience needed to grow into mid and senior management roles, if provided the appropriate support and guidance.
   
• Provide continuing education opportunities to avert skill gaps. Finding qualified candidates that have the specialized skills that employers need is becoming a global dilemma, with skill gaps in the workplace at an all-time high. Companies that invest in their staff by providing ongoing learning opportunities, create added value to current employees while also attracting desirable talent into their organizations.
   
• Keep technology simple. New human resources and recruitment technology are emerging every day. No matter what platforms or solutions your organization uses, the key is to make sure the technology facilitates a user-friendly experience that engages employees and candidates, instead of creating a frustrating or tedious process that diminishes the organization’s ability to attract and retain talent.

"The candidate-driven market in our post- recessionary economy presents some unique challenges, given mounting skill gaps in our professional workforce," states Halverson. "Companies will have to assess whether their branding and recruitment practices are attractive and engaging enough to allow them to compete for the best talent."