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The Truth of The Matter
Hindustan Times, September 9, 2008 |
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| An impressive resume had got Rita her present job three years ago. But, when an international firm acquired her company recently, and decided to subject all employees to a background check, it was revealed that Rita had been fired by her previous employer. |
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Nearly 40 per cent of all resumes contain false or misleading information, according to a study. Therefore, companies should not only conduct pre-employment screening but also verify existing employees' claims every year or 18 months to limit liability at the workplace, say HR experts. |
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An organisation may decide to screen existing employees in response to certain events that occur in the industry or with some other business entity where an employee is found to be involved in a crime or fraud after having had a 'background that wasn't right'. |
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| "Though we don't have depictive data, it has been noticed that there is a reduction in the percentage of discrepancies in organisations which get into screening employees over a period as a procedure. Re-verification surely acts as a definitive deterrent for frauds. If 20 per cent is the average discrepancy, re-verification would only depict 5 per cent. In case of organisations that conduct screening for the first time, the percentage could be as high as 35 per cent," says Ajay Tehran, MD and CEO, Authbridge Research Services. |
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Additional Checks |
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| Organisations are known to conduct reverification when employees are transferred within the organisation into a different process. This demands some additional checks like a database or a credit check which was not a mandate for the earlier process or when clients ask for it. Reverification also becomes necessary in case there is a change of address of the employee or in the case of a criminal / database verification. Some companies screen employees every year as they handle sensitive information. Tests may be required when a large company acquires a smaller firm and the new employer mandates verification. |
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Infinity Screening |
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| BPO and IT companies go in for regular screening checks for employees who travel globally on long stints on work permit. Rescreening may be done to strengthen risk management processes or as a semi-marketing tool to add to the brand value. |
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According to Ashish Dehade, MD - West Asia, First Advantage Private Limited, a candidate whose background has been screened and found to be 'clear' doesn't become 'clear' for the future as well. He/she may commit a crime after the background screening has been conducted and thus relevant risks related to employing such staff remain. |
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"Our company recently introduced the concept of 'Infinity screening' in India - which is all about checking criminal records of existing employees on a regular basis," says Dehade, adding that these checks involve looking at criminal history, drug use, addresses, global/national media and database checks. |
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| The organisation's reputation is at stake in case they hire someone with a questionable background. Brand equity and value can be adversely impacted if it is known that an organisation didn't react with due diligence before recruiting an individual who had a questionable background. Thus, lack of background screening or even fewer checks conducted on current or potential employees/vendor/contract staff is something that would come back to haunt any organisation - through reduced business, inability to retain better employees/hire quality vendors and adversely impact its public perception. |
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Employee Response |
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But, how do existing employees react to these checks? "All checks are initiated only after we have been provided with an authorisation in writing by the concerned candidate. We ensure that we go only through the legal route of getting verifications through the official channels (verifying authorities) and by accessing information available in public domain," says. Dehade. |
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| Internally, different companies have different policies for communicating with their employees about this process - but they obviously take great care in ensuring that such initiatives are not misunderstood and are taken in the right spirit. |
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| "Employees are more than willing to be transparent these days as the process is institutionalised. It is built into the contract and confidentiality is maintained," says an HR expert, adding the decision to go in for screening is a conscious decision and is decided at the board level as it is a major expense and is driven by budgets. |
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Periodic background checks do not guarantee that something untoward will not happen - but experience has proved that periodic screening remains a strong and effective risk mitigation strategy for companies - a first line of defence against potential frauds. This is because candidates with 'misrepresented facts on their resumes' or with criminal records tend to avoid organisations that conduct regular background screening - for fear of being found out. |
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| vandana.ramnani@hindustantimes.com |
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