A compliance evaluation is becoming a more common component of the employee selection and hiring process. Many companies now specifically include background checks (or due diligence in compliance parlance) when hiring senior managers or others who will hold high levels of authority for a company. Many practitioners feel that a reference is not of value because prospective candidates will only list references who they believe will provide glowing recommendations of character. This leads to a pro forma reference check. However, in an article in the January-February issue of the Harvard Business Review, entitled, “Gilt Groupe’s CEO on Building a Team of A Players” author Kevin Ryan explodes this misconception by detailing how he views the entire hiring process and specifically checking references.