Background Checks- Selection of "Employment Background Checkers" - Indian Context

April 26, 2007 - PRLog -- MUMBAI, INDIA,April 26, 2007,KALPESH DESAI, SCREEN FACTS SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED

Employment Background Checkers are key to mitigating a firms operational risk which may arise due to people risk. Correct selection of Employment Background Checker is the first step for achieving the said results. A company which is evaluating prospective service providers who offer background checks must ensure that evaluation parameters are correctly identified & correct weightage assigned to them for a rational & objective evaluation.

The decision to evaluate can be taken by a team or best left to the Operational Risk Dept rather than the same being managed by Human Resources function.The factors which the service seekers can keep in mind when evaluating an service provider can be in the order of A)Core business & Experience of service provider,B)Checking for conflict of business interest (said company runs both hiring services & screening services under same company or different name), C)Experience & Skills of top management, D)Capability of service provider to offer umbrella of services for Mitigation of operational risk, E)cost, F) Reach. The first 3 factors can account upto 60% of Weightage and the rest 40% depending on the Type of Industry the Service Seeker belongs to and Volumes which the service seeker is planning to get checked.

The parameters such as  1)Known names, 2)Familiar Faces, 3)Assets or Net worth on balance sheet, 4)affiliations to body corporates must be the last factors when evaluating service providers. A quick look at Affiliations to body corporates and one realises that these body cororates are not experts on the subject of Background Screening & affiliations are normally again based on avoidable factors definitely not to forget the Membership Fees. A classic case is that of an affiliation to a body corporate, whose core competence is Database management & starts giving affiliations based on the avoidable factors. These affiliations needs to be taken with a pinch of salt .

Companies seeking screening services must realise that empanellment cannot be a low involvement decision which gets taken on emotions, cost, familiarity, affiliations etc, but a high involvement decision which gets decided based on quantitative justifications & rational parameters.

Website: www.screenfacts.com