Recruitment agency, La Fosse Associates, review Xref's online reference checking software. Results include a reduced reference turnaround time, cost savings and added compliance.
"Xref has helped to facilitate our growth."
It takes, on average, just 30 hours to turnaround references
36% of references are completed outside traditional business hours
The number of references collected using Xref
We have relied on manual reference checking processes in the past.
Reference checking was hugely time consuming. Having emailed the referees, we would rarely receive a prompt response. We would often have to go back and chase them and keep a log of all this activity. It had come to a point where it was almost a full time job in itself.
I hadn’t necessarily considered an alternative approach until I met one of the Xref team at an industry event and came to realise how much time and effort our team was wasting on an admin-heavy process that could be significantly improved with the use of an automated solution.
I knew, as soon as I heard about the solution, that it would appeal to everyone involved in the process - clients, contractors, and referees, as well as our internal hiring team. Not only would it make the process more efficient and enjoyable for all, it would also improve our image with the clients and candidates we work with. Given our role in recruiting for the IT industry, it’s a great way for us to demonstrate that we adopt innovative tech solutions ourselves.
Myself and my team believe Xref is far more flexible and cost-effective than other solutions on the market, that we were aware of and had previously looked into before coming across Xref. And, while some solutions offer a platform that includes reference checking as just one facet of their service, Xref appealed for its specialist solution, that’s more flexible and cost-effective.
We needed a flexible, personalised reference checking solution that would simplify the process, saving La Fosse, our clients, contractors and referees time.
La Fosse has hundreds of different clients, many with different requirements. Xref has the flexibility to set different templates, from the branding to the questions, to ensure we deliver a personalised service every time.
La Fosse is now placing more candidates each month and Xref has helped to facilitate that growth, particularly as it frees up valuable time for my colleagues to spend on other important tasks.
It’s also helped to evolve our client service proposition. Compliance, for example, is getting ever tighter with clients now asking routinely for background checks, and we also need to ensure we cover the new data protection laws (GDPR).
In addition, we’re finding that Xref is enabling us to hire better talent and make more confident hiring decisions, particularly for contract work, which helps to build our client relationships.
Most recently, we’ve experienced the benefits of the platform beyond the speed and insights it offers. One of the reference checks carried out during our trial period with Xref proved to be fraudulent in that the candidate faked the names and emails of his ‘referees.' However, Xref quickly flagged this as possible fraudulent activity. We've been very pleased with Xref and look forward to working with them into the future.
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