There are several background screening vendors globally. It’s important to work with the right partner so that organizations can have a high margin of assurance when it comes to “safety” and “integrity” of the workforce. To be able to identify that right partner, organizations should ask the potential background screening vendors the following:
Aspect | Questions to ask Vendor | Relevance of the question | An ideal partner/vendor will provide below: |
On-boarding | How fast can my organization be on-boarded as a Client and how soon can we order Cases? | Most Vendors have
It might take 2 weeks+ before the 1st Case can be ordered. | Fast enablement and immediate ordering. Avvanz ScreenGlobal Platform enables you to order background checks in less than a minute. Avvanz has options to onboard Clients within a day to order on manual mode as well. |
Cost | Are there any additional fees payable other than what’s established in the Prices quoted? | Several vendors quote very low to gain the business but later charge for
| Price ideally includes:
|
Ordering | Do I only have the “manual” option to order Cases instead of Online? Will all the documentations need to be exchanged via email? Do you have controls in place to prevent unauthorized access to your System? | For every case you order, you will end up with several to-and-from emails to handle queries, documentations etc. The heavily manual process will be cumbersome and hard to track. It will add to the Turn-Around Time as well. | Provides robust and yet an easy-to-use Online Platform to order, monitor and manage cases. Automation also reduces TAT. “Manual” option for Clients who can send the CVs to the Client Service Team in a secured manner. Talent Acquisition Management will have authorized access to Dashboard to have an overall view of the Cases ordered. Candidate has a Data Entry interface to fill in the information and upload necessary documents. The Platform can be integrated with all leading ATSs or external Portals through Automated API Exchange. |
Candidate’s Experience | Will candidate or employee find it difficult to work with the Vendor? | Due to lack of a user-friendly-interface and frequently posed with duplicate queries, candidates might be frustrated with the entire experience. | Vendor provides an intuitive online platform for easy data entry and uploading of documents. Vendor responds to candidate’s queries in a clear and professional manner in the shortest possible time frame. |
Complexity of cases | If my employee/candidate has studied and worked in multiple countries, are you able to screen him/her? | Some of the local/regional vendors might not be able to undertake a 360 background screening of a Candidate | Vendor provides
Within fast turn-around-times at highest quality. |
Security of Screening Team | How “secure” is your Screening Team? | There is a high margin for security and audit lapse if the authorization rights are very slack. | Screening Team is background screened to ensure highest level of integrity and security. Vendor’s employees sign a Non-Disclosure-Agreement. Every Researcher authenticates to gain access into Online Platform before carrying out any screening tasks. Researchers are not allowed to bring in mobile devices or writing materials to the Operations Office to avoid retaining any Personal Data. |
Cyber and Physical Security | How securely our Data is stored in your Servers? We need assurance and clarity on how you host and process our high confidential Data. | Any lapse in security will yield to huge consequential damages since Candidate/Employee Data are involved. | Data is secured in highly secure environment based on Information Security Management System (ISMS) Standards. Avvanz stores all data in Amazon Web Services which is ISO27001 certified. Machines that include laptops and desktops are enabled with Bitlocker. Sensitive data is encrypted with AES-256. |
Personal Data Protection Act and Privacy Policies (In US, FCRA is the equivalent) | Do you have a comprehensive and robust PDPA framework? | Given the strict PDPA requirements in several jurisdictions esp on data-transfers to countries with no data privacy acts, it’s critical to have you tightly covered on this. Several regional/global players (esp those HQ’d out of countries with no PDPA) ignore the risks. | Comprehensive PDPA framework that can be viewed on demand. |
Do you have a tight Letter of Consent to have Candidates signed? | Letters of Consent used by some Vendors are deemed invalid given the weak verbiage. | As per PDPA, the Letter of Consent will have the following Obligations: Consent, Notification and Purpose. It should cover Vendor and Vendor’s Data Sources as well. | |
How do you ensure your Vendors abide by PDPA as well? | Any of the Vendors or Subcontractors can possibly breach the data confidentiality yielding unnecessary repercussions. | Strict Sub-Contractor Agreements are in place to enforce upon them to be compliant to the PDPA framework. | |
Is your Privacy Policy accessible to us? | Vendors need to exercise “Open-ness” which is one of the PDPA Obligations. | Privacy Policy is on website including contact information of Data Protection Officer. |
The ideal background screening partner will work closely with your organization to mitigate risks to ensure the right and safe talents are hired.
Note:
This article is written by Kannan Chettiar, Managing Director of Avvanz. Avvanz has 3 business pillars – Avvanz Hire (Recruitment Process Outsourcing and Comprehensive New Employee On-boarding), Avvanz Screen (including Predictive Assessments and Background Screening) and Avvanz Develop (Digital Training, Instructor-led Training, Blended Training and 1:1 and/or Group Coaching/Mentoring).
