How Skycity Provides Value Through the use of Xref Referencing

What drove you to switch from manual to automated reference checks?

In the entertainment and hospitality industry, the volume of vacancies is often high, given the dynamic and seasonal nature of our business. For SKYCITY this means we are hiring a variety of roles for our workforce across more than 200 categories.

And, we have to get it right – our employees are our front line, and the way they interact with our customers on a daily basis is critical to the success of our business.

We use a pre-screening technology for selection, but it’s the final stages of the process that can take an inordinate amount of our Recruitment team’s valuable time. Previously, our recruiters were conducting at least two verbal reference checks for every position, but because of this time-consuming method, it became an administrative exercise to reduce risk, rather than a genuine value-add for our business.

Our primary motivator for partnering with Xref was to create efficiencies so our Recruitment team could focus on other stages of the recruitment process. It was Xref’s ease-of-use factor that got us over the line, as we felt confident in the platform we could use on a regular basis.

What was your brief for Xref?

While we were seeking solutions to resolve the time-intensive task of making reference calls, we were also focused on improving the roles of our Recruitment team members. We wanted easy-to-use tools that would be quick and simple to implement within the Recruitment team.

We also needed reliability and consistency, as the move to automation can be much harder if your team doesn’t trust new the solution and approach.

What has been the outcome of using Xref?

We’ve been able to streamline our business processes to relieve our Recruitment team of the heavily admin-focused task of making reference calls, without losing the valuable information that reference checks provide.

Typically, more than 50 percent of our references are returned outside of business hours – in hospitality, that’s when most of our referees are more readily available. Now we can have the job done overnight when the team are away from the office, which is a huge benefit and time saver.

With less transactional work to do, our team can spend more time on the other critical stages of the recruitment process, from search and sourcing to interviews and selection.

Their day-to-day work is also more enriching, as they can be more innovative and creative in the way we look for and select our talent, whilst ensuring that our business needs are met.

Our Recruitment team is also really happy with the ease with which Xref can be introduced to new staff members, candidates and referees. Especially for those who are just “meeting” us for the first time. Providing a convenient tool helps position us as an innovative and technologically-advanced organisation – the kind of company they might want to work for.

Ultimately, Xref plays a vital role in the constant evolution of our hiring practices. We are aiming to automate as many processes as possible and improve employee engagement, so Xref has been a welcome addition and a step in the right direction.