How right is the right candidate?

Larkhall Due Diligence provides comprehensive and objective referencing of final candidates at the end of an appointment process. This offers organisations a level of rigour and confidence in the final decision and risk mitigation for all parties. 

Current practice and potential conflicts

In any search, however rigorous, the final candidate is unlikely to have undergone more than a few hours of interviewing by a search firm and the hiring team.  Detailed referencing provides insight into the talents, behaviours and claims of a key candidate from those best placed to evaluate them:  former colleagues.

It is common for the search firm that has produced the final candidate to conduct the formal referencing process, consulting referees nominated by the candidate themselves.  Inherent in this is a potential conflict on the part of the search firm and undue control of the process by the candidate.   

Senior searches take time; search firms become emotionally invested in the outcome.   They are also perhaps financially invested with a portion of their fee dependent on the appointment which is, in turn, subject to references.  Who can blame a search firm for not probing too closely when a referee hints at a concern?  Similarly, who can blame a candidate for putting forward referees who can be relied upon to support their candidacy?

Much of the time, referencing provides simple validation that the candidate is all that they say they are.    Occasionally, however, there might have been clues in carefully nuanced references which have not been pursued and an opportunity to measure the level of risk involved in hiring the candidate is missed.

There is a strong case for the separation of final candidate due diligence from the firm that brought that candidate into the process in the first place.  There is also a strong case for extending the process beyond the immediate control of the candidate.

Why Larkhall?

The Larkhall Due Diligence service is distinct from and not invested in the process by which a final candidate has been identified.  We engage at the point that a preferred candidate has emerged and will extend the referencing process beyond the candidate’s immediate circle and their named referees.  We identify the communities in which the candidate will have operated and approach those likely to have an informed perspective on the individual for their views. 

At Larkhall we believe that there is a skill in reference-taking which goes beyond asking the right questions – a skill in hearing the unsaid, in probing the validity of a stated view, and in calibrating the individual offering that view.  It is important to understand if a negative view is widely shared or expressed by someone with an axe to grind.  We all have partialities, and it is important to screen for these, and to achieve (in so far as possible) an objective sense of the candidate.  

We understand that individual referees have very different approaches.  Some offer unbridled praise but it is not uncommon, particularly if the referee is very senior, for the reference to be considered, thoughtful, informative, but not full of superlatives.  This reference might be the more useful, the better for being grounded in the real, and coming from someone who knows the importance of accurate referencing rather than mere enthusiastic endorsement.  Understanding and capturing significant differences in tone is a key element of the Larkhall Due Diligence proposition.

The wider benefits

The benefits of rigorous reference-taking are clear where the hiring organization is concerned, but what advantage is there for the candidate?  Knowing their appointment has been widely endorsed, beyond those known supporters they have nominated, gives further confidence and strength on entry.  The reference process may also inform onboarding.  A few tips about how to enable the candidate to be effective fast can be invaluable to both the individual and the organization.

Sometimes there might have been no search firm involved and a candidate has, fortuitously, come to notice through other networks.  While the recommendation may be a powerful one, the scrupulous screening undertaken by a search firm is absent and comprehensive referencing acquires an additional heft.   Referencing should also be a key element of due diligence when one organization is looking to acquire another, scratching below the surface presented by the CEO and the leadership team to gain insight into where the real talent lies.  In any business the people must be a huge part of the value of the enterprise and assessing their individual and collective capabilities is as essential as rigorous examination of the numbers.

Making an external appointment is a vulnerable moment often subject to market scrutiny, and can feel like a step into the unknown.  Rigorous and objective referencing, where the reference-taker has no vested interest in the outcome and the referees come from a broad and relevant pool, is about increasing knowledge and eliminating doubt.  It further underpins the integrity of the hiring process.   It is not foolproof – past behaviours and performance are no guarantor of future success – but it is a valuable step in risk mitigation and a process that can both illuminate and reassure.