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Why background checks should be customized
November 12, 2007
Sudipta Dev, expresscomputeronline.com
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The degree of access to sensitive information necessitates
that background screening should be customized for different positions, writes
Sudipta Dev.
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Background
checks have become mandatory in many organizations post 9/11 and increased risk
of data thefts. They want to verify the history of the candidates they are in
the process of hiring, for criminal checks and authenticity of CVs. After all,
sensitive client information is at stake, any jeopardization of security will
lead to loss of credibility for an organization and hit its business hard-perhaps
never to recover.
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| Increasing security threats have necessitated detailed background
checks for different positions according to their access to sensitive information.
This involves looking beyond the usual categorization of education, work experience
and address verification. Said Ashish Dehade, Managing Director-West Asia, First
Advantage, “In view of heightened security concerns, both at organizational
and national levels, our recommendation at any point of time would be to go
in for as comprehensive a background check as possible on all candidates. The
relevancy (or customization) of the information, thus plays a major role in
hiring decisions." This 'relevancy' consequently, is a value-add
to any 'normal' background check.
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Need for verification
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| "Fudging of CVs is a common phenomenon in all industries. Professionals lie about
their education, exaggerate their job responsibilities, provide fake credentials,
try to hide job gaps, etc. Common excuses for career breaks are-long illnesses,
recovery from accident, fake experience of working abroad, and sometimes even
maternal leaves. “10-12 percent of the recruits submit fake CVs, reference
letter or certificates, or simply overstate skills and experience. Due to this,
concerns about data security and desire for high integrity among the workforce
are driving Indian companies to seek the services of verification agencies,"
stated B S Sheshadri, CEO, Contactx Resource Management.
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| The verification is mostly done for middle and top management
positions to reduce bad hiring decisions. Some companies however insist on verifying
the background of every candidate that it hires-from a peon to a CEO.
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"Many
recruits submit fake CVs, reference letter or certificates, or overstate
skills and experience. Concerns about data security and desire for high
integrity among the workforce are driving companies to verify candidates"
- B S Sheshadri
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"Employees
in junior management need attitudes and skills different from the skills
needed at the middle management and top positions; hence questions posed
to referees need to be customized accordingly"
- Ajay Trehan
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Customized checks
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| The more sensitive a job is the more stringent is the screening process. Customization
of background checks is thus a necessity for many organizations and enables
focused hiring. |
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The basic parameters being checks on education, professional experience and
skills, the questions vary depending on the role of the candidate. “Employees
in junior management need attitudes and skills different from the skills needed
at middle management and top positions; hence questions posed to referees need
to be customized thus," explained Ajay Trehan, CEO, AuthBridge. |
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The checks vary as per the position of the candidate. Dehade gives the following
examples: |
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At entry-level, candidates may only have their
last/highest educational qualification, current address, drug and criminal
checks (at one or more addresses) conducted;
For candidates at relatively senior levels, checks
such as more than one education, all addresses for the last five/seven years,
drug tests, criminal checks at addresses for five/seven years, regulatory
and compliance database checks and employment checks for the period are conducted.
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This customization evidently has intrinsic advantages-it allows access
to maximum information about the candidate and ensures that only the right person
is hired for the position. It leaves out any doubts of duplicity that might
arise due to generic information gathering. “Customization of checks makes
the verification definitely more relevant and hence a more powerful tool for
hiring decisions," stated Trehan. |
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Business of screening
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The
background screening industry is bound to grow as more business from Fortune
500 companies grow in India. “More than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies
have a formal policy of background screening their employees. As these companies
set up base in India, they will continue with their policy of screening their
employees," said Dehade, adding that background screening has become part
of the standard outsourcing contract and therefore Indian companies will continue
to proactively adopt it as part of their business process. |
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There are however still many organizations who think background screening is
an extra cost to the hiring process, not realizing the gravity of the risk they
might be taking in making a wrong hiring decision-from the point of security
as well as a wrong investment made on the individual. A lot is put at stake-from
the reputation of the company to its existence. “Brand equity and brand
value can be very adversely impacted if it is known that an organization did
not do enough due diligence before recruiting a certain individual with questionable
background. Thus, lack of background screening or even less number of checks
conducted on current or potential employees is something that would come back
to haunt any organization-through reduced business, inability to retain
better employees and have adverse impact on its public perception," stated Dehade. |
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Companies in India lack access to centralized data like the social security
number in the US. Sheshadri pointed out that Nasscom has come up with a centralized
database of employees of IT/BPO, in association with National Security Depository,
to verify employee credentials and work experience.
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An organization should well propagate the fact that it will not hire an individual
without thorough background check. It acts as a deterrent for the wrong person
to even apply for the position once he knows that the company does stringent
verification. Thus saving the organization investment in time and money on the
hiring process by keeping out fraudulent individuals altogether. |
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