Today, India is one among the most important emerging economies of the world. A lot of global companies are establishing their presence in the country in recent times. As the number of companies grow, the hiring and the job opportunities also rise significantly.
Herein, employers need to impose stringent procedures to hire, to ensure they are not losing on quality in the midst of scale. Hiring a new employee is an investment a company makes – a wrong hire could potentially cost companies financial setbacks and also impact the brand adversely.
Tight timelines, resource crunch, insufficient information and cost consciousness often makes employers bypass necessary background verification and checks. In a market like India where forging of documents is not uncommon, Background checks can become a tedious process.
Pre-employment background checks are advantageous because they help employers analyze the applicant’s history and education background check based on information that does not surface on a resume or in an interview. Background checks have to be considered across industries both small scale and large scale to ensure its benefits are reaped and the process is consistent across the industry.
Why is Background Verification Essential?
To protect the hiring companies from various potential risks, background verification is considered as an important step to make the right hiring decision. Background verification is important for both contingent and regular employees joining an organization
Important Reasons to Conduct Background Check
- Protecting employers, customers
- Improve the quality of hires.
- Protects company reputation
- Enables transparency in the system
- Prevent and /or reduce theft, embezzlement and other criminal activities
Important Checks
- Education Records
- Criminal Checks
- Motor Vehicle Records
- Employment History
- Reference checks
- Drug Tests
While the above background checks are performed, there is a lot of sensitive data involved for which confidentiality is very important. When the background verification is outsourced to third party companies, the company should review the history of the provider and also that it is NASCOM/NSR listed. Background verification companies should confidently ensure data security to their clients. Being a background verification company, it is important to educate our clients and sensitize the fact to be careful while sharing personal information.
Crucial points to consider while selecting a Background
Verification Partner
- Licensed provider: Employers can refer to the list of background verification companies in National Skill Registry(NSR)
- Up to date with the legislation:
Background verification companies/partner should be in compliant with
- The Indian Penal Code
- The Indian Contract act
- ISO standards of Information Security
- The Right to Privacy
- Time taken for conducting the Background verification: Ensure the partners have proven track record of completing the verification process in defined and efficient turnaround time.
- Technology Savvy: Need to check the data provided by the background verification partner is accurate and are using any technology to ensure the data provided by them is reliable.
- Experience and Reputation: Checking the industry experience and reputation of the background verification partner is very important. They should be approachable at any point of time to provide the feedback.
Wrapping Up
With data security woes and client confidentiality issues, it is essential to hire a reliable resource with a stringent background verification process. Robust validation of documents can enable organizations to hire resources with confidence.
