The competition for top talent is at an all-time high. Employers are looking globally to recruit workers with international skill sets, particularly in the technology, big pharma and consulting sectors. Non-traditional employees are also becoming more commonplace. LinkedIn predicts that by 2020, 43% of the U.S. workforce will be made up of freelancer professionals. Although this expanding landscape is good news for employers, it also presents challenges, especially during the screening process. Those screening both global and non-traditional workers must keep in mind a few best practices to make the most of this widening talent pool – or they may lose their best candidate to the competition.
Develop Well Thought Out Global Screening Policies
Developing a policy specific to global screening is a must. Organizations must take international differences into account when screening employees, particularly when it comes to cultural norms, language barriers and varied screening regulations across different countries. For example, many countries outside of the U.S. do not uphold the same drug and alcohol testing standards, and others, like China, have strict laws on what information is publically available, reportable and eligible for assessment by employers. Take note, employers – not only does a well-developed global screening process help provide a positive candidate experience, it also lends a positive impression to the organization itself. And when asking a candidate about their background, tact is of the utmost importance.
My company, HireRight, recently issued our annual Employment Screening Benchmark Report and found that only 50% of organizations have a policy for screening employees beyond the U.S. Even though some of these organizations do not have international locations, it doesn’t mean that potential employees don’t have international backgrounds. It is essential that an organization have a well thought out, comprehensive global screening policy that caters to all candidates in every location and of every background.
Screen All Employees
An organization should always take care to screen every employee – no matter if they are national, international, contingent or freelance – as most employees will have access to company facilities, data, other employees and customers.
This is especially important to keep in mind with the growing extended workforce, 86% of which will be screened during the hiring process, according to HireRight’s Benchmark Report. The American Action Forum reported that the extended workforce accounted for 30% of new jobs in 2015, and that number has only increased with the rise of freelance organizations in the sharing economy. Not screening them, or screening them differently, leaves a real chance of risk. Not only does screening all employees protect the hiring company’s integrity, but it also helps improve their quality of hire, allowing them to find the best talent in the competitive hiring landscape, from a variety of backgrounds and across all job types.
Communicating with the Candidate from the Beginning
The third notable best practice for complex screening is self-explanatory, but many organizations don’t emphasize this as much as they should. Organizations should always set the expectation by communicating with the candidate from the beginning, and continue to do so throughout the screening process. By doing so, if a problem or miscommunication arises, it can be an easy fix.
Follow-up communication is vital throughout the entire screening process – and only about 60% of employers are doing it, according to HireRight’s Benchmark Report. One way to improve communication is to institute a mobile platform where candidates can check their status at any time. A Career Builder survey recently reported that 93% of employers automate tasks such as employee messaging and background screening through technology – and 71% said it helped improve the transparency of the process and the candidate experience.
