Source: September-October 2015 NAPBS (That National Association of Professional Background Screeners) Journal
Preparing for an audit can be a daunting task for any organization of any size. Awarding accreditation requires our auditor to assess and determine that each and every standard is being met not merely according to a written policy or procedure, but based on demonstrated proof of ongoing compliance during his on-site audit visit.
We’ve all seen the negative headlines – employees responsible for data breaches, stealing and selling valuable IP online, or even worse, jeopardizing the safety of their co-workers. The reality is that companies today face greater risk from their personnel than just about any other source. And yet, we still treat this risk like it’s static, believing that a pre-hire background check is sufficient for protecting an organization’s most valuable resources – its employees, intellectual property, and reputation.
It’s time for a shift to continuous, post-hire risk monitoring that perpetually evaluates changes in risk from a variety of data sources, and proactively alerts organizations to red flags. By helping companies’ spot potential threats before they escalate, organizations can reduce their risk of fraud, workplace violence, negligent retention lawsuits, and more.
The background check is dying
Today’s background screening model is simply insufficient. Most companies screen employees at a single point in time (if that), before they are hired. And while an employee may have posed limited risk at that time, life events can trigger external high risk indicators that are unknown to the organization. People and circumstances are more dynamic than ever before.
Background checks are also limited in the data they evaluate, focusing mostly on criminal records and failing to incorporate insight into financial records, human resources documentation, internal files they’ve been accessing, and/or suspicious online activity. For instance, say that a financial analyst recently declared bankruptcy, or a cab driver has gotten a string of DUIs in recent months. Wouldn’t that impact the risk posed by these individuals? Pre-hire background checks simply don’t account for the dynamic nature of these risk factors. If your customer has these employees on payroll, they expect you, as their background screener, to tell them when there is a change in the risk profile of these employees or contractors.
The future of screening is here
The answer is automated, continuous, post-hire screening. Continuous identity monitoring lets screeners spot potential threats before they escalate, reducing the risk of insider threats.
Personnel risk assessment technology can automate the collection and analysis of identity data from all relevant sources to help organizations take a proactive approach to mitigate risk posed by those individuals.
Rather than scanning one time, or on a regular schedule of intervals (such as every few years), organizations now have the power to perpetually evaluate risk post-hire as life events, and identity data, evolves. Using a continuous screening model, sophisticated analytics can be unleashed to assess risk factors in real-time and proactively alert managers to potential issues before they escalate. While many organizations deploy tools for tracking internal behaviours and activities, they do not have visibility into external data. Why rely on outdated, limited information from pre-hire scans, which gets more inaccurate by the day? It’s time for a shift to continuous post-hire monitoring for the latest actionable information.
Technology also helps organizations visualize threats and prioritize based on various factors, which can be customized for industry. For instance, the transportation industry may weight a DUI as a riskier trait than the finance industry, whereas the healthcare industry views delinquent payments as a bigger problem. Each industry faces its own unique challenges in meeting regulations and mandates, but a continuous screening platform can help organizations make sense of it all.
By linking identity, process and decision data from multiple sources, organizations can also maintain a legally-defensible audit trail and show compliance to necessary mandates.
What does this mean for you?
Don’t settle for just a pre-hire background screening and sit back until they call you for another report. The stakes are simply too high. Traditional checks leave managers with outdated information that does not equip them to monitor risk over time, leaving their companies vulnerable to threats of fraud, IP and profit loss, workplace violence, and more. Continuous identity monitoring empowers companies to thwart nefarious activity before it’s too late, and positions you as a trusted employee screening advisor who can provide the most value and best service, across the entire employment lifecycle. More importantly, it provides you a valuable way to continuously interact with your customers.