make sound hiring decisions with our relevate reference technology.

On average, the cost to replace just one employee ranges just above 20% of the position’s salary. The combination of these high costs with the ongoing labor shortage and growing skills gap makes it crucial for organizations to make smart hiring decisions.

One of the most powerful tools that your organization can use during the recruitment process is reference checking. The ability to obtain direct feedback from the candidate’s current or former managers and co-workers is invaluable. However, taking the time to conduct multiple reference checks per candidate can be both tedious and time-consuming.

To help your company avoid these cumbersome tasks, yet still gain the candidate insights it needs to make informed hiring decisions, we’ve created Relevate Reference, our latest automated reference checking platform.

This guide explains more about what Relevate Reference is, how it works and the value this technology can bring to your organization.

what is Relevate Reference?

Relevate Reference is an automated reference checking software that helps to streamline the reference checking process by acquiring valuable candidate insights. Rather than spending hours on the phone or struggling to find a time that works for both you and the referee, Relevate Reference allows references to provide feedback any time, anywhere and from any device.

Then, our technology combines this feedback and delivers it in an easy-to-understand format so you can assess each candidate’s skills and competencies as well as determine job and boss fit.

Our Relevate Reference technology is not a standalone product, but just one of the many tools our clients have access to as part of our overall recruitment and workforce management solutions. It’s also just one function of our complete talent tech stack called Relevate, which includes:

• Relevate Talent Search
• Relevate Match
• Relevate Reference
• Relevate HR Portal
• Relevate Schedule
• and more

As with all of our Randstad services, you can customize the way your company utilizes our Relevate tech suite. This customization allows you to incorporate the right tools into your overall recruitment strategy without being overburdened with the tools you don’t need.

how does Relevate Reference work?

Relevate Reference is so easy to use that you can obtain the critical candidate insights you need with just a few clicks. All you need to do is select which reference feedback report you want to use and provide your candidate’s contact information, including first and last name along with their email address. Our automated software will take it from there.

Relevate Reference requests candidates to provide the name and contact information of the professional references they want to use. It then automatically sends referral requests to each of the candidate’s references with a link and instructions for completing the form.

References can then complete the form from any device, at any time, from anywhere. Our online reference checking technology even sends out automated reminders to references, if necessary, to improve response rates. It also sends you email alerts as each reference form is submitted.

Once our system receives all reference forms, it automatically generates a talent insights report. This report combines all the results into one easy-to-understand report that includes invaluable data, such as the probability of rehiring rate and overall performance scores. It also includes a combined scale rating score for major questions asked in the reference form, such as:

• is the candidate a team player?
• is the candidate adaptable to change?
• does the candidate deliver work on time?

what makes Relevate Reference a powerful recruitment tool?

Our Relevate Reference automated reference checking platform gives you the opportunity to integrate technology and data into the hiring process without eliminating the need for the human element. What does this mean for your company? It means that your hiring managers still retain full control over which candidates are the best fit for the company, role and boss.

The difference is that our technology provides your hiring team with the candidate insights necessary to compare applicants in a fair, accurate and unbiased method. This unique combination of technology and human touch is at the core of our Randstad talent solutions. With the use of our Relevate Reference tool and other elements of our Relevate tech stack, your organization can streamline the recruitment process while improving hiring outcomes simultaneously.

how can Relevate Reference add value to your organization?

Relevate Reference is ideal for any small to midsize business that wants to hire smarter and faster. This technology can provide your organization with numerous benefits, including:

time savings

While the exact time it takes to conduct a reference time varies greatly, it’s recommended to set aside one hour for each reference. When you multiply this amount by three or four per candidate, it’s easy to see how time-consuming this process can be. This doesn’t even count the time wasted going back and forth just to set a time up for the reference check.

The reality is that most HR professionals simply don’t have hours to spend conducting reference checks. So, they either rush through the process, only reach out to a few references or worse – skip the process altogether.

Relevate Reference helps hiring managers save time by automating the entire reference checking process. In fact, you can complete the entire reference checking setup process in just a few minutes. Results can then be delivered right to your inbox in about one week.

increased speed in hiring

When it comes to hiring talent, time is not on your side. Today’s highly competitive job market means that employers must work fast to select a candidate and extend a job offer before the competition does. On the other hand, you can’t rush the hiring process, or the quality of hire might suffer.

So, employers must gather as much data and insights about the candidates as possible, as quickly as possible. Relevate Reference can help you do just that. Our automated reference checking technology only requires some basic information about each candidate and a few clicks. Then, you can focus on other HR duties, while our technology takes care of the rest.

Within about one week, your organization can have the candidate insights it needs to make sound hiring decisions. Best of all, you can select the information you want to collect from references. You can choose between our numerous well-structured reference forms or customize a form to ensure you gather the right insights regarding candidate skills, competencies and attributes.  

With these insights in hand, you are better equipped to compare and contrast candidates and determine which applicant is right for your company. Shortening the time it takes to complete the reference checking process can enable your organization to extend a job offer to the right candidate before your competition.

improved hiring results

According to a recent study, 88% of executives are concerned about increased turnover rates. One of the best ways to minimize turnover is to ensure you’re hiring the right candidates for the right positions. This task, in turn, is no easy feat. It means you must look beyond just skill sets and competencies. While important, these qualifications alone can’t help you determine job and boss fit.

Instead, you must dig a little deeper and learn more about the candidates, such as leadership style, motivations and personality. Conducting virtual or face-to-face interviews can provide some candidate insights. However, it only offers a one-sided view. Reference checking, on the other hand, can help you obtain a better view of the candidates through the eyes of their current and former managers, supervisors and co-workers.

For years, the reference checking process was conducted primarily by phone. While this method can be effective, it also can lead to rushed conversations and insufficient results. We find that allowing references to use our Relevate Reference process to complete an online form at a time that is most convenient for them can lead to higher response rates and more detailed responses.

One of the best features of our Relevate Reference technology is that it combines all the candidate’s reference feedback into one easy-to-read report that provides a better overall view of each applicant. These insights can help you determine not only which candidates have the right skills sets, but which one is the best fit for your company.

minimizing biases in the recruitment process

Bias in the recruitment process is one of the toughest challenges to overcome. After all, the vast majority of people have some types of biases, whether they are conscious or unconscious. When these biases impact hiring decisions, it can significantly hinder your company’s ability to build a diverse and inclusive workplace.

While you can’t remove biases that references may bring with them, you can mitigate biases that impact hiring decisions by your recruitment team, by using automated reference checking. With our automated software, there is no guessing game regarding the references’ responses. Instead, our technology combines all results to provide an overview of the candidates’ strengths and weaknesses. Our reports are all structured the same way to provide an accurate side-by-side comparison of the candidates.

monetary savings

Automated reference checking is quickly becoming a must-have tool to help employees save time and hire faster. Rather than purchasing this technology as a stand-alone product from a less-experienced company, you can gain access to this powerful tool just by being a Randstad client. Our clients have full access to not only our Relevate Reference tool, but to our entire Relevate tech stack. You can pick and choose which tools are right for your company without incurring any additional costs.

Want to improve hiring outcomes? Download our quick guide to find out how our Relevate Reference can bring you closer to the talent you need.