Ensuring Compliance and Quality Hires Drives the Need for Background Checks

A recent CRI Group™ survey of business leaders finds that enhanced regulatory compliance, ensuring quality hires and maintaining workplace safety and security were considered the top benefits of conducting background checks. Key considerations for engaging a background screening service include cost, turnaround time and compliance with local and international regulations.

Statistics show that organisations that don’t perform thorough, comprehensive pre-employment background checks play a risky game with their business security. According to popular employment site careerbuilder.com, “Fifty-eight per cent of hiring managers said they’d caught a lie on a resume; one-third (33 per cent) of these employers have seen an increase in resume embellishments post-recession.” This statistic is equally concerning: an estimated 34 per cent of all job applications contain outright lies about experience, education, and ability to perform essential functions.

Combine those stats with the knowledge that company insiders often commit fraud and other criminal acts. You’ve got a recipe for disaster among organisations that skip background checks or only do the bare minimum for pre-employment screening. Against this backdrop, CRI Group™ sought to gauge some of the most important business leaders’ considerations regarding hiring and background checks. Among the key findings:

• More than 75%of organisations conduct some sort of background checks: That’s good news. But it also means that nearly a quarter of companies don’t do any pre-employment screening, which should concern their business leaders and employees. Having screened employees means having a safer, more secure work environment.
• Around 70% of respondents have found less than 15 fraudulent CVs in their careers: A few candidates marked 15-30 or even 30-45 fake CVs found during their careers. This happens about half their working time – the frequency level of spotting red flags is 46 (when ‘100 =always’, and ‘0=never’).
• Stretching employment dates is the most commonly seen form of resume fraud: Survey respondents also cited enhancing job titles and responsibilities, faking credentials, fabricating reasons for leaving the previous job, and unexplained gaps and periods of “self-employment” as the other top methods of deception that they’ve seen during the hiring process.
• Financial services, insurance, investments, and banking positions are high risk: Nearly half of survey respondents said they considered such positions the most critical need of background checks, followed closely by government relations and administration, healthcare and medical devices, telecommunications, information technology and services. Experts also note that some positions are more sensitive than others, even in organisations outside of those industries. For example, a CFO at a semiconductor company may be well-placed to commit fraud.
• Previous employment verification and criminal history are top needs for employers: Survey respondents were asked to choose the three types of checks they would most like to implement, barring budget concerns. Those two led the list, followed by academic verification, name/DOB/identity checks, address verification and pre-employment credit checks. The good news is that CRI® Group’s background checks and pre-employment and post-employment screening services offer all of those and more – including civil litigation checks and bankruptcy searches.
• Background checks have many benefits: Most survey respondents noted enhanced regulatory compliance, quality hires, and workplace safety and security as key benefits. But they also said that background checks could improve the company’s culture and ethics, and personnel competency while reducing financial loss, employee turnover and workplace accidents.

CRI Group™’s employment background screening services EmploySmart™ expose vulnerabilities and threats within your organisation and significantly reduce the business’s potential and financial crime, fraud, and malpractice from occurring within your workplace.

CRI Group™ provides full in-depth background screening services of employees and candidates at all levels, from senior executives to shop-floor employees.

• Address Verification (Physical Verification)
• Identity Verification
• Previous Employment Verification
• Education and Credential Verification
• Local Language Media Check
• Credit Verification & Financial History (where publicly available)
• Compliance and Regulatory Check
• Civil Litigation Record Check
• Bankruptcy Record Check
• International Criminal Record Check
• Integrity Due Diligence … 
• and more

The survey results are heartening because they show that business leaders today are thinking about background checks as an important part of their business process. In most cases, they are implementing some sort of screening. However, it is always important to evaluate those processes, ensure the organisation is as comprehensive in those checks as possible, and monitor the results.

Growing your business and hiring new employees should be something to celebrate when done properly, without risk and uncertainty. There is no reason for taking unnecessary risks with your business, assets, investments, and reputation. Conducting a thorough pre-employment background check is critical with every new hire. A third party best conducts such a process with experts in this field and access to the most up-to-date resources.

CRI Group™ Employee Background Checks

Employee background checks, also known as EmploySmart™, is a robust new pre-employment background screening service certified for BS7858 to avoid negligent hiring liabilities. We are a leading worldwide provider, specialising in local and international employee background checks, including pre-employment and post-employment background checks. Ensure a safe work environment for all – EmploySmart™ can be tailored into specific screening packages to meet the requirements of each specific position within your company.

VIEW EMPLOYSMART™ BROCHURE

We are always ready to assist you in effectively managing your business and organisation efficiently and risk-free manner that best suits your needs. CRI® Group’s investigators and Certified Fraud Examiners understand fraud patterns. They are trained to recognise the elements of fraud characteristics and where they might come into play at any organisation. Through this knowledge, we can help you uncover the trail of fraud and help bring about a quick and successful resolution.

Having global coverage, CRI® works directly with the key personnel to lead and conduct fraud investigations, including, if needed, your internal board of directors, audit committee, ethics and compliance officers, general and in-house counsel, corporate security, human resources, and C-level executives. Explore our broad range of risk management solutions for your business.

ABOUT CORPORATE RESEARCH AND INVESTIGATIONS (CRI GROUP™)

Corporate Research and Investigations Limited (CRI Group™) has been safeguarding businesses from fraud, bribery and corruption since 1990. Globally, we are a leading Compliance and Risk Management company licensed and incorporated entity of the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) and Qatar Financial Center (QFC). CRI® protects businesses by establishing the legal compliance, financial viability, and integrity levels of outside partners, suppliers and customers seeking to affiliate with your business. Based in London, United Kingdom, CRI® is a global company with experts and resources located in key regional marketplaces across the Asia Pacific, South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, North and South America. Our global team can support your organisation anywhere in the world.

In 2016, the company launched the Anti-Bribery Anti-Corruption (ABAC™) Center of Excellence – an independent certification body that helps organisations mitigate internal and external risks by providing a complete suite of Anti-Bribery, Compliance and Risk Management programs.

OUR MISSION AND VISION

• CRI mission is to safeguard the corporate world by detecting and exposing those elements that can cause irreparable harm to a business
• Stand up against the outside forces that, through corruption, collusion, coercion and fraud, can cause financial, organisational, reputational and legal harm to our global clients
• Stand out as the preeminent provider of specialised investigative services that enable our clients to exhibit the highest standards of business integrity, ethics and behaviour

WHY PARTNER WITH CRI GROUP