Big Problem – Simple Solutions : Background Verification

Let’s get into ‘once upon a time..’ mode! Yes the story time.

This is not a story of a king or queen, rather is a real problem faced by one of the Japan’s biggest cosmetic company. This was a case of empty soap box.

The problem started when the company received a compliant of consumer that the soap box he purchased was empty. Somehow, one of the packaged boxes went empty from the assembly line and reached the end-user. Astounded by this complaint, top management immediately put the best engineers into action to sort out the problem so that it never happened again as the goodwill of the company was at stake.

Big minds were at work, big amount was spent. Solution was found fast. X-ray machines with high resolution were found to be an apt solution which would be manned by two people.

All said and done!

The same problem was put forward in front of the worker group in the company, for explaining the reason for the need of X-ray machines. One of the workers stood up after listening to the problem. He wanted to provide a solution for the problem. With permission of his senior, he was allowed to present what he had thought about. Of course the seniors laughed in their minds. Nevertheless, they waited for the solution he wanted to present.

He brought an electric fan, placed in front of the assembly line and switched it on. The ones filled with soap, passed the test. The ones that were empty, flew out of the assembly line.

Moral of the story – there lies a simple solution to big problems. Always. We just need to open our eyes to see that simple solution. Like, the growing corporate frauds, increasing amount of money duped by the employees, faked salary slips, faked educational qualification, and many other such problems, the solution is – a comprehensive background verification for both small and large organizations.

Every company needs their industrial fan: background verification agency, at their gate of employment. Unsuitable candidates will be blown out of the line and the ones fit for candidature, will be considered for the post. So, let’s make a simpler world.

Image courtesy: http://www.innovationmanagement.se/imtool-articles/in-innovation-the-simple-trumps-the-complex/

Reebok Face Off – Needs Background Verification

When Cadbury chocolates were found not suitable for eating, Cadbury recalled their product on an urgent note and discarded the entire lot. They restocked the market with chocolates having improved packaging.

What if our employees show their rotten behavior and do a fraud of Rs 870 crore only?

I am certainly talking about the recent fraud in the operations of Reebok India. On account of systemic “mismanagement” in the business planning and running of the company, Reebok India was let down by few of its officials and employees.

Of course, the quality of the Reebok product was not questioned, but the integrity of employees was. With the inflated bills and incorrect accounts, former Managing Director Subhinder Singh Prem and Chief Operating Officer Vishnu Bhagat along with few others, indulged into a major conspiracy.

Shocked by the designation of the culprits? Well, that’s the hard truth!

Had it been a product, Reebok might have done what Cadbury did. But with goodwill at stake, and with their core assets, their employees at fault, can they call back the time and goodwill, which they have earned till date?

Stringent steps need to be taken to curb the ongoing corporate frauds and the answer to all the corporate frauds is – a rigorous and inflexible background verification followed by continuous auditing and due diligence. Reebok India is just a wake-up call for all the corporates to realize the dire need of background verification at this hour.

People who can fake their salary slips or educational certificates to gain employment, will do the same later on at a bigger stage and for a higher stake. To check such potential candidates from joining your organization, let’s come hand in hand with the background verification agencies. Going few steps backward to move with assured steps forward, background verification agencies provide a straightforward and indispensable solution.

Image courtesy:: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-11-06/news/34946266_1_subhinder-singh-singh-prem-vishnu-bhagat

Why verify your degree?

Generally, our blog posts are targeted on HR professionals and business owners as to why they should get the credentials (including academic degrees and certificates) of their employees verified. This post takes (a hopefully refreshing) break and focuses on why a consumer (like you – our esteemed reader) may benefit from degree verification.

You are applying overseas for higher education

You have made up your mind that you need to go overseas for higher education. You have gone through the long and meticulous cycle of planning, preparation and execution. All the tests are taken, results in, universities and schools selected and applied to. While quite a few of the universities may ask for original hard copy transcripts from the university or institute, others may just ask for a verified copy of the degree. This typically means a stamp and signature from registrar’s office on the photocopy of the degree.

You are applying overseas for an employment opportunity

You have decided that it is time to work overseas now. While being fairly difficult to achieve, relative to the higher education route, it still may work out for certain countries, types of sectors and kind of job in consideration. There is a reasonable chance that the employer may ask for a verified copy of the degree, either at the time of application or at any later stage of the hiring cycle.

You are applying for a visa

Good news – one of the earlier scenarios has played out successfully for you. You have secured either an admission to an academic program or a job opportunity overseas. In either case, you will show up at the concerned embassy or consulate for getting the suitable visa. Certain countries and specific types of visas may require you to either submit hard copy of the transcripts or verified copy of the degree.

Your university’s accreditation was revoked or the university shut down or university never had any accreditation

These are more serious scenarios which present big challenges in degree verification. In certain cases, the degree verification may be possible – for example, degree was awarded at a point of time when the university accreditation had not been revoked. But other scenarios like closure of the university or never having accreditation do not offer any suitable solution.

In any of these four scenarios, typically, you will end up traveling to the university, staying there for a few days, applying for degree verification and following up to receive verified photocopies. All this presents a huge cost to you – in terms of time, money and the hassle. A better solution would be to go in for the degree (Education Self) verification services provided by professional third party verification agencies like JantaKhoj. So leave the degree verification to experts and enjoy peace of mind.

Avoid Corporate Frauds – with Background Verification

Corruption has put its foot forward in the corporate world as well. If you happen to hit Google with the keywords – “corporate frauds”, You will find thousands of reports. There has been a study going on, on this topic and the surveys have brought an alarming figure in picture. A recent research done by a Pune-based research and consultancy firm stated that ‘India maybe losing around US$40 billion to employee fraud every year.‘

70% of corporates have no mechanism to deal with frauds which might happen in future. Corporate frauds have become inevitable at this point of time. But still, we are reluctant to talk about it.

Can we really afford being ignorant about this topic? Well, of course no. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

In such a fraud-filled scenario, background verification becomes a must. Analyse a situation where a candidate comes up with simple misrepresentations like:

• Dates of employment changed or extended,
• Position or salary or tasks are exaggerated or forged, or
• Unmatched lie like employer listed is fictitious.

These might help the candidate to get the job, but if not stopped here, he might indulge in some other malpractices’ after joining the firm to reach his/her goals. Will you make such a phony candidate face of your organization who will further bring losses?

Another matter of concern is that can we leave the critical background verification check on the recruitment consultancies? The world is becoming bigger and area to be forged wider. It has become imperative to get the background check done by specialists and experts who have a wide web of network and which do a comprehensive check of the candidate selected.

JantaKhoj is one such answer to the growing problems. So let’s team up together and get the dollars flowing in the direction of growth and keep the frauds out of your organization!!

Terminating an Employee – the Right Way and for the Right Reasons

We generally talk about hiring right and conducting proper employee background checks. The reason being that a wrong person could subject the company to a lot of risks, and also prove to be very costly in the long run. Find a detailed description of the costs entailed for every new hire in this earlier blog post – Employee Background Verification and its effect on employee turnover rate.

Terminating an employee is not an exciting process, yet it becomes a business compulsion in several occasions. Conducting proper employee background verifications reduces likelihood of terminations significantly. However, in this blog we talk about the correct ways to handle a termination. It is indeed a long, costly, yet necessary process.

In the above mentioned scenarios, the employer is liable to conduct fool proof investigations, before taking any serious action. Considerable care is taken to maintain employee confidentiality while the verifications are conducted. However, these are considered to be serious offences and the employee has to be fired immediately in most cases. The employer can also execute his judgement on case to case basis (eg. substance abuse) depending on the severity of the offence commmitted and avoid terminating the employee after a strict warning or a suitable punishment.

All the situations stated above often lead to for-cause dismissals. Yet, the employer is liable to suitably warn the employee about his negligent behaviour. The warning protocol is different for different organizations. But it has been observed that after a sequence of warnings the culpable employee does make efforts to mend his ways and get back on track.

However, if the employee does not show an intention to improve, a termination is unavoidable.
If employee terminations are not handled properly, theycould potentially lead to a number of lawsuits against the company in future. Accurate documentation of the entire process protects the interests of the employer as well as the employee.

The warning protocol commonly followed :

• The employee is first given verbal warnings. In case this does prove useful then written memos /emails are handed over. The number of such memos/emails are generally not beyond three to four.
• No prescribed protocol is followed during the probation period.
• The senior members of the company need to be consulted before going forward with the termination.

A case based view about the topic in hand is explained beautifully here: Indian Labour Laws (Part 2) – Termination of Employee for Misconduct.

Exit Interviews :

• Exit interviews are planned carefully in order to handle any unforeseen questions or behaviour.
• It is best to have two individuals handling the exit interview.
• Personal attacks and comments are completely avoided.
• The severance process is explained to the employee.
• The employee is allowed to express his views. This might in some cases give some unknown internal insights regarding the company.
• The employee should be allowed to remove his belongings at a low visibility time to safeguard him from further humiliation.
• All the exchanges are documented properly. This proves useful in the incidence of a lawsuit in future.
• A small note regarding the termination is sent across to the team members. But it should be concise and not derogatory in nature.
• The employee is also entitled to a written explanation for the reason of his termination.

Unbiased, data and process driven terminations which arise due to business needs save an organization from any form of negative publicity or unnecessary litigation. No matter how carefully a termination is carried out, a preventive measure such as conducting proper background checks is highly recommended.

Moment of Truth – What to do when everything’s perfect except one ex-employer’s feedback

Background verification has become inevitable. But what if an employee’s background check fails?

Let’s consider one such situation where an employee has an excellent track record and is a gem for the company and will add the medals of clients in long run. Only problem with his joining is his background verification result.

The result says that this employee has worked in two companies till now, let’s say X and Y. Some eight years back, this employee started his career with company X and broke the company’s employment bond. As a result, he didn’t receive a valid company leaving certificate. The information collected from X’s HR department indicates that this employee is absconding from the work and there is no mention of the last working day or date.

Remaining seven years of work in company Y was outstanding. He has been an ace employee and he has all the documents in place. Apart from the above mentioned problem, there are no legal, criminal or any other issues that are of concern with this employee.

Question is – with an absconding tag from his first company and outstanding employee tag from the next, is it fine for this new company to continue with his employment? What can we, the decision-making HR professionals, do when we face the moment of truth?

In my view, there are few possible solutions to this problem -

1. Termination of the employee on grounds of not submitting all the documents mentioned.

2. Compromising with the situation and hence counting only the years of service in company Y and  adjusting the years of service and salary accordingly in agreement with the employee.

3. Asking the employee to resign on his own.

Whatever be the solution, win-win, win-lose or lose-lose, situation is challenging for the HR personnel who have to deal with it. There might be other feasible solutions as well. Or can we just overlook such issues? What’s your say? Let all of us know!!

Employee Background Verification – The Birbal Way!

Once upon a time, a rich merchant’s house was robbed. The merchant was furious and saddened by this deed and suspected one of his servants. He tried to find out who did this malicious act but all his efforts were in vain. At last, he went to Birbal and mentioned the incident. Birbal went to his house and assembled all of his servants and asked who had stolen the merchant’s assets. To no surprise, everybody denied.

Birbal thought for a moment, then gave a magic stick of equal length to all the servants of the merchant and said to them that the magic stick of the real thief will be longer by two inches tomorrow. All the servants should be present here again tomorrow with their magic sticks. All the servants went to their homes and gathered again at the same place the next day. Birbal asked them to show him their sticks. Everyone presented their sticks, which were of same length except for one. One of the servants had his stick shorter by two inches.

Birbal said, “This is your thief, merchant.” Later the merchant asked Birbal, “How did you catch him?” Birbal said, “The sticks were not magical. It was in the intention of the thief which made him cut his stick short by two inches in the night fearing that his stick will be longer by two inches by morning.”

In the current scenario, organizations are the rich merchants. Jobs are the wealth they have. To get this wealth, there are many who shorten or lengthen their credentials. JantaKhoj takes the prime seat of Birbal and with its comprehensive verifications – the magic wand, filters the right ones from the wrong ones.

Background verification has become inevitable in the highly competitive scenario where everyone wants to achieve more than what they deserve and faster than they can reach the sky. To get the best people try to hide many details from the employer which might be of importance for the employer. Hidden facts can appear trivial but then can we trust him/her with a big responsibility?

Of course, there are only few who tend to fall into this malpractice but then one bad fish can contaminate the entire pond. So, let us together discover and uncover the hidden truth and create a more open and cleaner environment.

Image Courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birbal

New Sales Offices in Delhi/NCR and Bengaluru

It is an exciting day! From today, 1^st October 2012, we are opening up sales offices in Delhi/NCR and Bengaluru. This means that we will be able to engage much better with our prospective and existing customers in these two cities. We have had customers from both these locations earlier too but now with the physical presence in the two cities, we can meet and serve a larger set of prospective and existing customers.

Of course, as before, our pan-India verification network ensures that we can complete background verifications across India irrespective of client and candidate location(s).

So, if you are in Delhi/NCR or Bengaluru, let’s meet soon (why not now?)! Get the contact details on the Contact Us page.

Employee Background Verifications: Catch a Fake Payslip

As a part of Employment verification, many recruiters require payslips and other relevant documents from the prospective candidates. Sometimes they get confused about the authenticity of the documents submitted by the candidate. On the other hand, many candidates wonder how to overstate their salaries on their payslips and get a better deal. I did a bit of research to find out exactly what the current situation is. Therefore, this post is for every recruiter who encounters fake payslips and for every employee who has an inclination to fake it.

Many employees feel that this practice is not good. They feel that if they are a good job fit, they should be paid accordingly. They question the relevance of any past paycheck with the present job. They feel if they are good, they should be paid according to the industry standards.

The answer however is very simple. This policy is because many applicants lack integrity when it comes to reporting compensation while they negotiate a new package with a perspective employer. So asking for a pay slip and relevant documents reconfirms the claim of the candidate.

It is shocking how people who have forged their payslips are just out in the open. There are many people on several internet forums who openly admit manipulating their payslips and ask for advice regarding any potential danger that awaits them. Even senior officials, who have worked abroad and want to move back to India, have openly expressed the desire to overstate their salaries.

One hilarious anecdote I came across was:
Question: Is it possible to prepare fake salary slips?
Answer: Yes. But if you are in a developing country.

The truth however is, candidates go into severe depression, if they are caught. Future career options can also get strained. In one such case – a candidate had faked his experience but was exceptional at his work. He had been working in the organisation for five years. Somehow, his superiors found out the reality through a background check and since he was so good, they promised that he would be spared. However, afterwards they used him for knowledge transfer and terminated him stating that he had misrepresented facts. In few cases, employers have even gone to the extent of lodging an FIR against the candidate. To conclude, it is easiest and best policy to be honest especially about your paycheck. Here are some tips that a new recruiter would find useful.

The Recruiters Check List
• Ask for hard copy of the payslip.
• Ask for proof of payment though bank, cheque etc. This can be verified through an account statement of the candidate’s bank account.
• There is always a likelihood that these could be fake/forged payslips. So a thorough check with HR to confirm that the payslip is genuine is still recommended.

Background Verifications Industry – Proactive or Reactive?

Image Source: The Hindu
Pre-employment screening, post- employment verification, and the entire gamut of verification services are considered as important measures to minimize risks and hire the right kind of people. The entire verification provider fraternity is joined together to put a stop to the rampant use of fake resumes that manipulate and cheat the system. However, why do we not join and try to eliminate the dubious sources that facilitate the business. The providers of fake credentials have a vast network specially in metros. As far as Hyderabad is concerned , Ameerpet is the Mecca of this racket. More information can be found about this on this Hindu article published two months ago – Ameerpet Adda for wannabe techies.

I was doing a Google search and within minutes, I was able to retrieve many fake credential providers. There are several online sources that are willing to provide this service, quite openly. They provide experience certificates, salary slips, project details and also a confirmed background check seal to all the false information!

The internet is a medium that gives the right to the good and bad to co exist. But why can’t the good get together and try to curb the problem at the grass root level. Is it because that it would lead to less business for us? It is like the doctors refusing to preventive measures such as vaccines, only so that they could get the full treatment fees and wait for the patient to catch the infection. It is very similar, don’t you think?
I know, there would be many who would disagree, debating that every individual has a moral code of conduct. It is true that no one should fall prey to cheating and fraud. But there are sometimes very justifiable reasons behind resorting to such a measure. And the employers should consider those reasons before condemning the candidate completely.

What can the background verification agencies do?
• Report such fake individuals and businesses. Blacklist them online.
• Educate youngsters regarding the evils of faking their credentials. Proactively get involved in preventive programs and increasing awareness.

In a country where a substantial fraction of the people who govern us have a list of illegal charges against them, everything seems very hypocritical. Most coveted politicians have charges against them. Who is dethroning them?
I am in no way supporting or glorifying fake candidature. What I am trying to say is, the background verification fraternity should get together and try to eradicate the problem completely so that youngsters of our country do not fall prey to such cheats and ruin their careers. It is tempting for a 21 year old when he sees his friend fake his experience and get a Rs 22 lakh salary, lead a luxurious life and, not get caught! It is even harder to resist the temptation if the person is in some kind of financial turmoil. I appeal to my colleagues in the verification sector to take this issue seriously. Let us get together and stop this poison from infiltrating into the lives of young India. Request more comments on this issue.