"References Today Are the Price of a Ticket to the 'Hall of Fame' Dinner, So Don't Get Fooled"
The Business of Furniture - 4/26/17 Edition
Stephen Says Column

Dear Stephen:

 
 Simply put, I believe I made a bad hire. I went through an exhaustive interview process, or so I thought, and felt really good about the person I hired. I am a regional manager for a major manufacturer. I hired a sales rep who I thought would be steady and reliable. It’s now clear he keeps erratic hours, can’t seem to get reports in on time and comes up with the craziest excuses.
 
 He can’t seem to get a lunch and learn with any A&D firms, even the ones that were his reference, and the worst of it is the dealers who he covers hate him. I just hired this person a couple of months ago, and I feel like I am stuck. He is just not the solid employee I thought I was hiring.
 
 We have a big HR department, and they check references, but sometimes they only have the time after someone is hired, so I checked this guy’s references myself. He is sort of an industry veteran, although not an old timer, so he had some record. The A&D references I checked with seemed to like him, but since he turned out to be a nightmare I have been calling them back, and I now realize the references were what I can best describe as “set up.” In one case, a designer who knows this guy socially seems like she was pressured by the rep to serve as a reference. I really think the designer agreed because she liked him socially, but she had never bought a stick of furniture from him. And the same thing with an end user reference he gave. I get why these people did it, but now it is my mess to clean up.
 
 My boss, the dealer and even HR know there is an issue, and I have to fix this headache. How do I avoid this next time?
 
 Bamboozled in Boston
 

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 Dear Bamboozled in Boston,

 
 The answer is simpler than you may think. Here is the Viscusi hiring advice: Slow down when making a hire today. Think of a hire like your lead time for making a product. A rule of thumb is your hire should never take shorter than your lead time. Sixteen weeks for a wood conference table, but you want to hire a person to sell it in a month?
 
 All of the biggest hiring problems people have today stem from the fact everyone is in such a hurry to hire. I understand this impulse. We want to have all hands on deck, but it is impossible to get to know a candidate and thoroughly vet them moving at the speed of light. What do you tell your clients about your lead times? It takes time to get something good, right?
 
 Let’s face it, sales people who are smart enough to sell your product are smart enough to sell themselves, too. These people know if they offer a high profile designer from Gensler or any other major firm as a reference, hiring managers will eat that up. So long as the candidate has taken the designer to a couple of fancy dinners or to Color Invasion where they had a good time, what reason do they have to give a bad reference? And unless you ask explicitly, why would they offer the fact they have never done business with a candidate? This is a business of relationships, and no one is trying to burn bridges.
 
 So how can you slow down and get a better read on a candidate? Let’s start with the references, because it sounds like you really got played. If someone gives you a list of references, you are best served keeping to that list. The last thing you want is to call someone at the candidate’s company who isn’t listed as a reference and who doesn’t know they are out looking for other jobs. This sort of snooping can get the candidate in a lot of trouble and throw you into the mixing pot as well.
 
 Still, just because you can’t do your own investigative work doesn’t mean you should accept the references without scrutinizing them and move on. When
 
 hiring a sales rep, you should always ask the references: Have you ever bought anything from this person, and if so what size was the order? As easy as it is to give a good reference, very few people will lie for someone else. More likely, they’ll try an answer like this: “Well, I like them, and although they only sell Kimball, and we mainly specify Bernhardt, I would definitely buy from them in a different situation.”
 
 If this is what they say, their reference is as useful as a bathing suit in the Antarctic. This begs the question of how they know each other, and the answer is usually it is only a social relationship. The candidate might have tried to win the designer’s account, but even though it wasn’t winnable, the designer was all too happy to take their ticket to the Hall of Fame dinner, where they had drinks and became friends. And that is where the story ends. Yes, you can buy a reference today for the price of a ticket to the Interior Design Hall of Fame dinner. It’s as easy as that. You might think I’m kidding, but I know a guy who landed a VP job, because he was able to buy an entire table for designer clients that never specified his product. Trust me, when the specifier blames the product a rep sells on why they never bought from them you are looking at a bad reference, or worse a “sympathy reference” — like the date you went on because you felt sorry for the guy. Bad references should, of course, make you think twice about your candidate.
 
 Even if the references check out — or in your case, even if you get burned by the references — that should not be the end of the road. References should be used to corroborate the story about a candidate, not create it. Spend some time with the candidate yourself. Take them out to lunch or dinner. If you do not like eating with them, you will not like working with them. And if you notice something that seems to contradict a point one of their references made, call them back and ask about it again. Remember, this is a process. You can and should go back and verify your work. Here is another area where you get in trouble if you are rushing. Do not hire with your gut! Hire on facts. If you’re unsure about something, don’t assume it will be OK because the person seems trustworthy. Take the time to make sure.
 
 Finally, if you feel you made a mistake, you’re probably right. Cut ties fast, and fire the person. It doesn’t get better. Job performance usually speaks within the first couple of months in a new position. People wait too long to see how new hires work out and are too afraid of lawsuits, which are exceedingly difficult to bring. Admit you made a mistake, offer a generous severance package and move on. It really is the best option.
 
 Stephen
 
 You can send your workplace questions to Stephen at: StephenSays@bellow.press.
 
 Questions selected to be answered will appear in this column. Please use the Subject: Stephen Says for all emails. Stephen Viscusi is a bestselling author, television personality, and CEO of The Viscusi Group, global executive recruiters located in New York. Follow Stephen on Twitter @WorkplaceGuru. Like Stephen on Facebook and follow him on LinkedIn.