India is Rising and so are the job opportunities. This positive growth has created a unique challenge for all companies and specifically for HR departments in their effort to hire and maintain talent. The challenges are two fold, the first task in hiring a new candidate is an employee background check be it address, education qualifications, previous employment and\/or CTC verification. At this point the HR department usually reaches out to an external agency that specializes in background checks and helps validate the credentials as provided by the candidate. This process though helpful has its limitations as this validation is partially guided by the candidate. In almost all cases the HR department and in turn the background verification \u00a0agencies only reach out to the references provided by the candidate, thus providing the candidate with the freedom to furnish references that are likely to provide a feedback that is to his\/her advantage.<\/p>\n
The second task, beyond the preliminary background checks is to ensure that the candidate in question is going to be a long term player. The HR department tries to get an idea of the candidate\u2019s long term aspirations by looking at the employee background check feedback and by posing questions that may provide insight about the candidate\u2019s stability and long term goals. Then again this rudimentary process is mostly guided by the candidate through canned answers for the posed questions. If background verification is a critical part of employee hire and retention process, then the question arises on the most optimal and efficient path to follow for employee background checks.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a look at an alternate background verification method that not only steers away from the conventional but also takes away the candidate\u2019s freedom to influence\u00a0 background checks. The first thought is to hold the employee background check agency \u00a0accountable for the feedback provided by requesting documentation for all the background checks that are conducted. Secondly the process of contacting the candidates references needs to be expanded to include the candidate\u2019s other colleague\u2019s, that are not part of the references provided.<\/p>\n
The background verification company that is hired should verify the candidate\u2019s house address by visiting the address provided and should confirm the candidate\u2019s residency by talking to the person available. To have a detailed employee background check the relationship of the available person with the candidate can also be documented. Background checks should also include a visit to the candidate\u2019s educational institutes\/universities to validate his\/her educational qualifications. Any discrepancies in the candidates educational qualifications need to be reported by the background verification company along with \u00a0stamped documents from the university.<\/p>\n
The other important aspect of reference verification has conventionally been handled by a company\u2019s internal HR department. This process also needs to be outsourced to an employee background check agency. The agency can start by calling the references provided by the candidate and then needs to expand on the background check by including calls to other employees of the company that worked with the candidate. The background verification company can obtain information about the candidate\u2019s other colleagues via LinkedIn or by calling up the company and asking for people in the candidate\u2019s department. This is a very critical process and can provide completely new insights into the candidate\u2019s professionalism and work ethics.<\/p>\n
By having access to this plethora of information, an HR manager can make a better and more well informed decision about the candidate\u2019s fit in the organization.<\/p>\n