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MARKET WATCH - Responsible hiring
Vandana Ramnani
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As techniques for fudging facts get savvier, companies need to spruce up their verification techniques in order to recruit the right people
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After two years of working in a BPO company, Gurdeep's background screening revealed that she was actually not who she claimed to be but her twin. A verification team discovered that Gurdeep had died of pneumonia soon after accepting the job offer and it was her younger sister who joined in her position. As for documentary proof of her education and past employment records, she submitted her dead sister's documents and doctored dates to cover the gaps. The move was smooth, thanks to the absence of a pre-hiring background check.
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| The practice of verifying facts started with the BPO and the IT industry and expanded to the hospitality, healthcare and now the retail sector. The recent trend is to verify the credentials of people from abroad being hired across sectors in India.
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| Of all people being offered fresh employment every year, at least 15 per cent go through verification. As awareness increases, the number of screening tests done across sectors in bound to rise.
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| Since verifying information of prospective employees is a time consuming task, requires
specialized knowledge and involves collating details from different sources, many companies outsource the task to specialists to save time and money .
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| Estimates for the IT/ITES industry reveal that 15-17 per cent employees have discrepant records, 70 per cent of which relate to false educational qualifications. |
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It has been found that an employment boom coupled with the dearth of trained manpower has led to prospective employees fluffing up their resumes. Document tampering too has become professional and techniques for fudging facts have got savvier. The employer needs to get the recruitment process right to make sure that the candidate is actually as capable as he claims. Prospective employees may make tall claims about their qualifications, employment records, salary work experience and , technical competence. |
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The importance of the background screening process is to increase the probability of hiring the right person. However, employers should take care to see that the verification process does not result in an invasion of the candidate's privacy. |
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According to Ajay Trehan, Chief Executive Officer, AuthBridge Research Private Limited, a
background screening firm, verification may begin after the employer hands over the offer letter to the candidate. Usually a red case is when there is a fudged degree and an amber case when there is a 30 to 15 days gap in professional qualifications. "We rank every case for the client and assist in the decision making process. Nearly 22-25 per cent of people come under major or minor discrepancies. Out of these, 15-20 per cent are seen to bungle their employment records and fudge the tenure of their employment with a company and 5-7 per cent, their educational data," he says. |
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In most cases the authenticating company does not contact a candidate's previous employer until he or she joins the
organization and the company is given specific instructions to go ahead. This is especially true for people who join rival companies. |
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Authentication is also done in areas where frauds are highlighted. Retail companies generally get such checks done for their floor staff. At least 50 per cent of shrinkage takes place either at the warehouse or the retail level. The screening process looks at the person's history for shoplifting, as this is something that never gets highlighted in any database.
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| The problem in India is that there is no structured and updated database available. Countries such as the UK and the US have both government and privately owned databases in the public domain that makes the process of employee screening more reliable.
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| Yet another challenge concerns references, particularly from former employers. Many employers are not forthcoming and have a policy of providing only the basic facts such as dates of employment and title. Very rarely would one find former employers giving a candid evaluation of the person's abilities. |
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The cost of background checks varies depending on the need and the position for which the person is being hired. Authentication costs an average Rs. 4,000-6,000 per person and can go as high as Rs. 20,000. |
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A recent article in a British daily pointed out that many recruitment consultants and employers use social networking sites such as
Face book and My Space to find information about the real person before deciding to offer them the job. But it is debatable whether background checks on social networking sites are indeed ethical. |
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E. Balaji of Ma Foi says that there are multiple filter companies employed by companies to look at credit worthiness before recruiting people. Checking a contender's web profile is but one of the stages. The process may also involve a group discussion and a written test. It's interesting to note that there are also individuals who can spruce up your web space and portray a decent all clean image, for a fee. |
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Uday Chawla of Tran search India points out that one can easily conduct an online check on an Indian executive in the US by paying a fee of US$75, which is standard practice. |
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Finally, verification also helps improve the hiring company's employee retention rate. It helps managers to be aware of the mistakes committed by the new recruit's previous boss, thanks to the feedback received.
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