Unauthorized Reference Checks: Tempting, But No Thank You

If you grew up in the U.S., you’re probably familiar with the “telephone game” — a favorite in grade school classrooms and kids’ birthday parties. For the uninitiated, the game involves repeating a message from one person to another in a long chain of players. With each iteration of the message, it changes slightly as participants inject their own understanding, personal experiences, and thoughts into what they heard. By the end of the chain, the message is typically barely recognizable and often hilariously so.

Lessons learned from this childhood game have relevance for us in executive recruitment circles, specifically in relation to reference checks, and more specifically in relation to unauthorized (backdoor) reference checks. Let me explain.

An unauthorized / backdoor reference check is a tactic for screening prospective employees that involves contacting individual(s) in the candidate’s network without the candidate’s knowledge or permission. Sounds like a great idea, right? After all, when you’re recruiting talent and screening applicants you want unbiased information and insight, and you’re not likely to get that through the filtered lens of the candidate’s pre-approved list of references . . . or so you may think. Unfortunately, you may end up receiving even more biased information, from a source further removed from the candidate — just as in the “telephone game.”

Tempting as it may be, conducting  unauthorized reference checks is a practice you should avoid like the plague. It’s counterproductive to your hiring objectives and may even cause long-term damage to your outdoor industry company’s reputation.

In this post, we delve deeper into the reasons why we don’t recommend that you conduct backdoor / unauthorized reference checks. From violations of privacy and a lack of context and relevance, to breaching trust and receiving biased feedback, there’s a lot to be aware of here.

Violation of Privacy

People talk. Candidates for executive level jobs in the outdoor industry don’t. When someone decides to pursue a new career opportunity, they often do so without telling their current employer or coworkers. A backdoor reference lets the cat out of the bag, violating the candidate’s right to privacy (and their reasonable expectation of it) in their job search or recruitment. It’s the equivalent of “outing” someone or “doxing” — sharing sensitive information about someone without their consent. Even in the absence of any malice, a backdoor reference can cause a great deal of unintended and harmful consequences.

Backdoor references involve disclosing information about a candidate’s interest or potential opportunity to work elsewhere. This information, which should remain confidential, invariably makes its way into the gossip mill, where it poses a significant risk of damaging the person’s reputation or worse — their good standing with their current employer.

Consider this: Your candidate’s current employer probably has no idea that their executive is interviewing elsewhere, is thinking about leaving, or might have more attractive opportunities within the outdoor industry, active lifestyle, or sporting goods sectors. How do you think the candidate’s direct report (or those who report to the candidate) will react? One of the biggest risks is that you’re exposing someone who might be seeking a change. And this can have life-changing implications. The potentially damaging consequences of exposing them isn’t worth the risk.

Lack of Context and Relevance

While you may have full confidence and trust in the person you are asking for that backdoor reference, you may not have the full context of that person’s relationship with the candidate. Things like how long ago they worked together or whether they were previously competing for the same promotions could influence how the person would judge a former colleague.

Everyone has an opinion. And since an unauthorized reference may not be fully aware of the responsibilities, objectives, and culture of the new position or company, anything they may offer is done so without an understanding of the context of the role being filled or the hiring organization’s goals and objectives. As a result, information obtained from a backdoor reference is likely to negatively impact the recruitment and hiring process.

Breach of Trust

Conducting a backdoor reference is like talking behind someone’s back. And with the outdoor industry being as small, insular, and tightknit as it is, word gets around. Regardless of whether the candidate finds out about it, your organization runs the risk of losing trust because the backdoor reference will know, as will the person in your organization (or working on behalf of it) who contacted the backdoor reference.

Above all, your recruitment and hiring practices must be transparent. Any lack of transparency runs the risk undermining trust in your organization — from both inside and out.

Biased Feedback

Backdoor reference checks tend to increase bias in two ways:

• First, they are rarely performed consistently on every candidate.

• Second, the quality of information and insight varies considerably across backdoor references.

For example, a reference from a colleague who has worked alongside the candidate on numerous projects is superior to a reference from a department head with less direct involvement, or someone who has second-hand knowledge of the candidate’s performance, management style, and behaviors and motivations.

Instinctively, people involved in the recruitment and hiring process may think that conducting backdoor references is a good idea. It’s not. Avoid the temptation.