I was speaking with some friends this week about how companies and organizations can be duped by individuals they believe to be one thing, but turn out to be quite another. Insert your favorite villain here. From Madoff duping the world of finance to George O’Leary duping Notre Dame (at least for a while), I think the reason why it takes so long for these individuals to be found out is the same: credibility creep.
As time passes, credibility creeps when potential employers or customers rely on a due diligence process that only includes a candidate’s more recent employer/customer history. Since prior employers/customers did the same, if one employer/customer in the chain is duped, it’s likely that subsequent employers/customers will also be duped since they’re relying in part on the due diligence of a prior employer/customer. This is especially true when the employer/customer list covers a long period of time or contains an marque name.
How do you avoid this? The next time you hire a key employee, advisor or vendor, start your due diligence at college graduation and work your way up to present. Do not make any exceptions. It’ll take a few more hours and dollars to complete ($25-75) using a background check service), but you’ll avoid being the next victim in a credibility chain precariously held together by a weak link introduced some time ago.
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