The majority of the companies have cited ‘risk management’ as the primary reason for undertaking background verification processes. With the evolving global landscape and changing paradigms in the business ecosystem (growth & scale), the way businesses hire and verify employees and partners is evolving.
Further, with the ever-volatile conditions of the market and increasing risk of litigation for negligent hiring, employers are paying attention to taking extra care in choosing their potential employees.
Read more – Putting the skates on the screening processes
Background Verification is increasingly becoming a board room-level discussion, and organisations are making investments to shield their brand reputation, company financials and employee safety with tech-enabled, new-age employee screening solutions.
Below are some of the top trends in background screening that are at the helm of background verification:
1. Increased use of Social Networks for Hiring & Verification- The emphasis laid on utilizing social networks for candidate sourcing is fast gaining ground in the recruitment vertical. LinkedIn and GitHub are surfacing as useful forums for screening and profiling candidates for relevant vacancies. Not just Talent Acquisition and Employer Branding, Social networks and social media analytics are being increasingly used for background verification of candidates- their profile and reputation.
Social media can deliver insights about an individual’s nature and personality and can help in identifying gaps with the role’s requirement. This is also growing gradually, and an individual’s digital footprints are being mapped to be able to get a 360-degree view of an individual.
2. Technology Disruption It is no longer enough to deliver a fast and accurate background screening program. Companies are now looking for something more from background screening providers that can help HR managers in accurate talent acquisition. A surge in requirement of enhanced HR technologies to deliver a seamless candidate verification & on-boarding solution is disrupting this space.
Increased adoption of newer systems and applications will not only filter out the ‘bad hires’ but will also focus on augmenting quality of genuine hires, ensure smooth on-boarding and aid training, learning and development and employee engagement & communication. Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Mobility and Analytics are being increasingly deployed to meet the needs of the changing market landscape
3. “Ban the Box” law- “Ban the Box” legislation is popular in several States in the US and it is expected that it will continue to gain momentum. It is an international campaign by civil rights groups and it basically advocates for ex-offenders. This concept is aimed at persuading employers to remove from their hiring applications the check box that asks if applicants have a criminal record. While employers must understand the legal ramifications of such practices as it is closely related to background screening, it nowhere means that employers cannot conduct a criminal background check of the candidate. Further developments on this will also impact background verification practices across other parts of the globe.
4. FCRA The governing act for collection of credit information in the US, FCRA serves as a benchmark policy for background verification! Employers will be liable for any FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) violations. It is important that employers consult their legal team in order to stay compliant towards FCRA regulations and all applicable state and local laws.
5. Screening gets Global Typically, US was at the forefront of background screening services; however, owing to differing legislative policies,liberalization and greater amount of awareness, background screening services are getting more importance than ever. With globalization and remote working environments, organizations need to verify team members across the globe, sitting out of a central office.
This calls for global background verification techniques. Background Verification players need to have a partner ecosystem, enabled with local domain knowledge and tech expertise to be able to deliver verification results with ease! Changing trends in business call for a change in approach to background verification. Are you consulting your vendor to help you stay on top of this wave of change?
