Reference

sangie595

aife wrote: »

I work for the NHS and my Trust informed us a while ago they were switching to Factual references and that anyone receiving a request for a reference should not complete it but forward it to HR
I had the impression this was quite widespread , but obviously I don't work everywhere

It certainly isn't commonplace, and, in fact, I am wondering what they mean by stating that, because many people in the NHS would be covered by regulations that mean that what I understand by a factual reference (start date / end date, job title and perhaps salary) would be against the occupational requirements. For nurses, for example, references must contain more information. I wonder if they mean a standardised (template) reference? I could certainly understand that, because many people have no skills at writing references which could be a source of potential trouble. However, for many public sector employers, whether required by regulation or as a preference, they would be expecting to see a reference that confirms more than this. Indeed, I know that in many places such a bland reference would have quite the opposite effect, and would start alarm bells ringing!

polgara

Yes, a lot of Trusts are using 'tombstone' references. Its a nightmare for recruiting managers as you have no idea if they are good nurses/ahps etc

sangie595

polgara wrote: »

Yes, a lot of Trusts are using 'tombstone' references. Its a nightmare for recruiting managers as you have no idea if they are good nurses/ahps etc

I doubt such a strategy will last very long. It actually makes the whole process even less reliable, because that means that employers will place more reliance on personal rather than employer references, and that could be laden with trouble! The NHS has already seen the outcome of ignoring information about people from previous employers - just because you don't have any convictions (yet) doesn't mean that your employment was not questionable. The whole point of regulation is to try to ensure that people in positions of trust with vulnerable children and adults can't jump from one employment to another without some of those questions following them. Unfortunately, it will probably take another tragedy before someone realises that this is not the method to deal with concerns about writing references. I know one local Trust did move to saying that the employers reference should be on a template, and cleared by HR before sending, which seems more sensible - but equally I know that the grade of officer in HR clearing the references would be of no significant use because they aren't HR officers! In other parts of the public sector, I don't know of anyone who has changed their process of full references from managers. So, as I said, any factual reference would alarm an employer, as their first thought would be what they aren't being told!

robatwork

I always give jobs when I get a reference that says "He's a rubbish worker".

regards
Robatwork
Head of HR, Wakefield bin collections