Pre employement verification - Is it losing its importance

Dear All,

I am working as a HR Executive in an Infrastructure major in India. As a HR person, I feel that when a company is hiring a new employee, pre employement verification should be done mandatorily and effectively, but at times i came across some instances where this is not done at all. even if it is done, it is just done for a namesake.

I want to know whether this is the same in all Industries? Also it would be a great help if the members can have a discussion on its importance and the ways of doing pre employement verification.


regards
Harsha.

hi Harsha,

No, its not the same in all companies, may be few companies feel that background verifiction is not that important.
But in most of the MNC's its a must only then the employee will be alloted a emp number and be given access card, till then the employee will not have any direct access in the company.

Background verification is done not just to know the previous salary or his work behaviour, but it would also tell us the candidate's past. Never know the person whom ur recruiting has a criminal record in his past.

There are many examples especially in ITes BPOs, where employees cheat their company for their personal needs. Or some ppl may be a harm for the country itself.

So when recruiting a person, we should see to that from the companies end a thourough check has been done about the candidates Background.


Regards,
Roopa

Hi Roopa,

I completely agree with you, but doing verification just for the namesake - will it fulfill the purpose? In many companies, they only call the previous employer and just check whether the candidate has really worked or not, also there are many external agencies which do the verifications but can we really conclude that the process is 100% full proof??

If we have to conduct a in - house pre empployement verification process, what are the areas of concentration and methodolgies that we can adopt.

regards
Harsha.

Hi all,

it is true that pre employment and personal verification is deteriorating day by day.
But I do believe it is as impotant as to recruit.
Placing a right person the right job is recruitment but what if that person is not genuine.
Is there any methadology for the same
can you name me some of the third party verification companies.

Hi Harsha.

Pre-employment verification is important to verify some facts about the candidate.

Generally, the following may be verified :

1. His/her employment declaration (Companies, tenure, designations,
salary, etc)
drawn, responsibilities, reporting)
2. His/her conduct with peers, colleagues, superiors and habits
3. His/her integrity, both financial and otherwise, diligence, loyalty
4. His/her address proof
5. His/her qualifications
6. His/her criminal records/conviction by Court/any legal violations, if any
7. His/her family constitution
8. His/her indebtedness
9. His/her health condition and chronic/terminal illnesses, if any, via
tests/reports.

This can be done by taking references from him/her and calling them to verify. This can be done also by sending/posting employment verification form to the superior(s) to fill and return. This can also be done via reliable professional verification agencies. This can also be done through professional networks.

The bigger issues faced by HR in the present times are :

1. Reliability of verification sources
2. Checking out on all the above may be difficult, near impossible
3. Frequent change of superior in current/past organizations
4. Many companies which are non-existent/changed
name/address/liquidated/takenover. etc.

At times, it becomes extremely difficult for candidates to provide adequate references given that organizations have closed down/changed entities/merged or amalgamated or have been simply taken over. Frequently, it is also observed that the previous bosses are no longer in the Company due to frequent job changes in modern times.

Rahul
09968270580

Pre and Post-Employment Screening Services

Indian industry is waking up to the fact that effective pre-employment screening is the starting point in creating an ethical culture within the organization.

Did You Know...
The average organisation loses 6% of its human resources to internal fraud and abuse
Nearly 41% of all resumes contain false or misleading information
A third of all application forms contain outright lies about experience, education, and ability to perform essential functions on the job
To be able to trust your employees with sensitive customer data, you first need to have access to all pertinent information about them.
Pre-Employment Screening: Managing Risk In The Workplace
Pre-employment screening is an effective way to limit liability in the workplace.
More importantly, it sends a message to applicants and employees, that integrity matters to your organisation and departures from ethics will not be tolerated.
Many specilised service providers offers a bouquet of pre and post-employment screening services like
Employment Screening / Background Check
Pre-employment background screening includes
Residence address validation
Previous employment check
Current employment check
Professional reference check
Educational records authentication
Criminal records confirmation
Global database sift
Post-employment lifestyle checks
Lifestyle mapping
Social reference check
Criminal records confirmation
Credit track
Contact synchronisation
Erroneous recruitment can be a costly affair.
But you must be thinking all these comes with a price tag?!! but here are some the facts.....

An effective pre-employment screening cost is a miniscule percentage of the recruitment, training and termination costs.

This a BUSINESS RISK.Now The million dollar Q is how do we manage this Menace?

"RISK enters an organisation through just
TWO access points: PEOPLE & PROCESSES"
Here are some indicators-
Fraud: An Ever Growing Phenomenon
54% of organisations surveyed in India report economic crime in the last two years compared to 24% in the previous survey
A typical perpetrator of economic crime in India was a graduate or post graduate male between 31-50 years of age
Nearly one third of the frauds in the country are perpetrated by insiders
Nearly one third of the cases were detected by chance (tip-offs and accidents)
Known crimes may only represent the “tip of the iceberg” with many other frauds remaining undetected
With the increasing complexities of the business today, the fight against fraud is a constant struggle. Even if it is impossible to eradicate fraud, organisations must not drop their guard. Instead, they must constantly develop controls and build on the loyalty of their employees to ensure that, they do not provide an environment in which it can flourish.
Source: The PricewaterhouseCoopers Economic Crime Survey 2005 in India

Human Resource Risk Mitigation: How you Can Help your organisation-
Employment Screening / Background Checks
Vendor / Partner Checks
Pre-employment Drug Screening Tests and
Training