Barnet Council’s employment referencing process was effective, but time-consuming and non-standardised. Referencing typically happened at the offer stage, after internal teams had already spent time cross-checking CVs and referee details. Only once that validation work was complete would references be requested, pushing checks late into the process and extending time to hire.
When references did come back, the information was often inconsistent in format and detail, making it harder to interpret and compare across candidates. With an average of 14 days from request to response, this created avoidable delays and additional admin, especially when teams needed to make decisions quickly or manage multiple roles in parallel and were also forced to chase up unresponsive referees
Inbound reference requests received for Barnet Council staff or alumni from third parties also added operational overhead. Requests would arrive via email, without a consistent structure or clear internal visibility of what had been sent, received, or still was outstanding. That meant more manual follow-up, more time spent managing sensitive information, and minimal control over the overall process.
Barnet Council uses Konfir to solve both sides of their referencing process. Because Konfir returns factual employment results quickly and without the manual overhead of traditional referencing, Barnet can run employment checks earlier in the hiring journey with minimising the risk of progressing with unsuitable candidates. This keeps momentum through interviews, reduces avoidable waiting at the offer stage, and helps shorten overall time to hire.
Konfir standardises how employment information is captured and returned, giving Barnet a clearer, more consistent output that is easier to interpret and compare across candidates. Instead of dealing with varied reference formats and incomplete responses, teams receive structured results that support faster decision-making and reduce back and forth.
Respond supports this approach by giving Barnet a controlled way to manage inbound reference requests. Requests are routed through a secure, consent-led flow rather than spread out over email threads,making it easier to provide the required references consistently and at scale, while maintaining a positive candidate experience.
Barnet Council can now get quick, factual employment results earlier in the hiring journey, without the delays caused by manual CV and referee cross checking. Because the process is fast and structured, hiring teams can use employment verification at the point it adds most value, keeping interviews and decision making moving, reducing the overall time to hire. Barnet Council also benefits from clearer, standardised outputs that are easier to interpret and action than traditional HR or referee responses.
With Respond, inbound reference requests move out of HR inboxes and into a single landing page entry point, creating a consistent experience for those requesting references. Rather than managing ad hoc email threads, Barnet Council can route requests through a controlled, consent-led flow, reducing back and forth and improving information security. This helps the team respond more consistently and reduces the operational burden of handling references at scale, with 81% of requests instantly verified by Konfir.
