It's a tough world out there. Do more with less, get the results and keep everyone happy. Guess what? The best you can do is 2 out of 3. If you're running lean and pushing for results, it's IMPOSSIBLE to keep everyone happy. Check that. It's impossible to keep everyone happy, even if you don't care about results, have a bloated department, and are trying to be everyone's friend. Sadly, that's human nature. There are always haters who don't like you.
Think all GE alums are fans of Jack Welch?
I know, I know, I'm Mister Sunshine. But everyone has to deal with the possibility of negative references, especially if the hiring manager you're dealing with is well connected in your industry or has friends at your previous employer(s).
Case in point - this question from a Career Coach that showed up in my inbox:
"I have a friend who is a personality at a station in Los Angeles & he was trying to help me get a reporter job there. His boss really liked my on camera work but he called my former employer to get some "background info" and got some negative feedback.
The hiring manager decided to pass on me after some employees at my former workplace told him I was hard to work with and not a team player. I don't think it was my boss they talked to. I talked to a few people at work that I trust & I think I have an idea of who it may have been.
I know people do this all the time even though they are not supposed to. How on earth do I combat this? Who knows how many other potential employers have been turned off by a few people who don't like me & won't say anything positive? How am I supposed to get a job?"
OK - If you are like me as a HR person, you know that this person could be a nightmare employee, but he/she could also be a solid employee who could add a lot of value in the next gig. The point? Even good employees can get flamed when informal reference checks occur.
So you need some tools to combat the negative spin. Here's my response to the Career Coach:
"Interesting issues. While negative references from former co-workers could be a legal opportunity (slander, libel, but only if the information shared is false, and the issues cited <teamwork> is pretty subjective), I agree that the best thing for your client to do is to get a game plan together to prevent this from happening in the future, or at least to neutralize the impact of this moving forward.
It’s a little strange that the prospective employer reached out and found people other than the manager at the former employer. That sounds like the hiring manager at the new company has a network that reaches into the old company.
My suggestion would be to reverse-engineer the reference process. Instead of simply providing references (which may or may not be checked by the prospective employer), I would encourage them to have brief letters of recommendation ready to email to the hiring manager, and might also have 1-2 super references ready to call the hiring manager on behalf of the employee.
This is a very proactive approach (especially unsolicited calls to the hiring manager), but one that's probably warranted if other employers have networks that reach into her previous company in a small, cliquish industry."
Candidates shouldn't be afraid to put their own PR to work proactively before other forces poison the waters. Done carefully, I think this approach would help in this situation. The primary barrier? Most candidates think this approach is spin, and aren't comfortable selling themselves in that manner
It's kind of like the presidential campaign. You know there is always the potential for negative ads, so what's your brand? How are you going to reinforce it? By putting together your own ads...
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