Screening Essentials

OK, so you’ve made the correct first decision. For a multitude of sound, commercial reasons, you need to better screen your candidates and, possibly, also your employees. Now you must face the fact that choosing a background screening provider for your business is a big—and potentially tricky—decision. Pick the right one and you’ve got a partner to support your company’s hiring activity and effortlessly guide your candidates through the screening process. But make a wrong or ill-informed choice and it could cause a headache you’d rather do without.

So, whether your company is considering outsourcing background screening to a third-party provider for the first time or looking to switch providers, there are several important questions you should be asking.

Luckily, most of these questions have been addressed in our latest eBook, Employment Background Screening for Dummies, which includes a chapter on this very topic. You can get a copy of the eBook here but, in the meantime, here are just some of the questions you may wish to ask prospective screening providers to ensure that they can meet the needs of your business:

·??????? What screening services do you offer? Not all screening providers are created equally—they don’t all offer the same breadth of service. It is important to choose one that will take the time to understand the specific risks your business wants to mitigate and, of course, can also tailor their services to meet your own specific needs. Certain services are not legally permitted in some locations, so having a strong understanding of compliance considerations and data regulations when conducting background checks is also a must have.

·??????? Do you have global capabilities? Some screening providers can only offer services in certain countries. If you are a multinational business with offices and employees around the world, however, you’ll likely want to partner with a global screening provider that can offer services (and local expertise) in all the locations your company has a workforce—or where that workforce has previously lived or worked. It can also hugely improve your candidate experience if your screening provider can support your candidates in their local language. For example, HireRight’s Applicant Centre currently supports candidates in 25 languages.

·??????? Do you have experience supporting customers in our industry (and of our size)? Nothing beats experience, so working with a screening provider that is well established and has other customers of similar size and industry can bring peace of mind. Whatever situation occurs, they’ll have likely seen it before and already have a plan for it.

·??????? What are your typical turnaround times? Turnaround time (TAT) may vary significantly by region as well as depending on the complexity and quantity of checks that are conducted per candidate or employee. And, obviously, quicker isn’t necessarily better if corners are being cut in the process. For example, verifying at source can take slightly longer than verifying via supporting documents but this can provide a higher degree of accuracy and help detect candidates who may have provided falsified documents with their application.

·??????? Do you offer applicant tracking system (ATS) integrations? And, more specifically, if your company uses an ATS or human capital management system (HCM), do they integrate with your current or future provider(s)? HireRight, for example, offers over 70 integrations with ATS/HCM providers to offer a streamlined candidate experience.

Ease of use and optimum customer service levels are also a prerequisite when considering your screening provider options. But, if you can ensure those ‘must haves’ and follow the hints and tips above when it comes to doing your initial, early days due diligence, you shouldn’t go far wrong.? ?