Kevin Stone, Director of Sales and Marketing at Accurate Background, and Chris Milligan, CEO of Konfir, discuss the changes we’re seeing in the screening industry and their impact.
The future of pre-employment screening will see both speed and comprehensiveness grow. A mix of client demand and advances in technology will take the process forward, delivering a better service for organisations and individuals alike.
Technology, in the form of automation, will undoubtedly play an important role. Manual work has already been replaced in the industry and the increasing digital landscape – the popularity of digital wallets, for example – will enable more of the screening process to happen at the push of a button rather than waiting on information to be found and sent. It is already possible to perform near instant checks on some financial and employment queries and this level of service will grow to include more areas of an individual’s life and background.
Which services are seeing the fastest changes?
Interest in social media screening will also grow. This area of screening is already popular, if not yet mandatory. This subject is fast becoming a crucial part of understanding someone’s background and the risks that may be associated with them. Employers are realising that understanding an individual’s online presence, helps to guard against reputational damage. Again as this type of screening grows the stress will fall on making checks swift and comprehensive. Since social media is accessible digitally it could prove to be a prime target for technology, perhaps even AI, based screening.
How will regulations impact the future of pre-employment screening?
Compliance issues are always evolving, reflecting the influence of individuals within their organisations and the need to offer protection and safeguards to consumers and service users. As governments and regulators set their guidelines, employers must be certain of who is working for them. Consequently screening suppliers and service providers will need to innovate to meet those needs. Speed and accuracy will always be the main objective in order to get job candidates into post as soon as possible. There are strong whispers in the industry that the FCA approach to regulated screening is under review. The archaic and time consuming approach to “old school” referencing will hopefully become a thing of the past as they look to catch up with other sectors approach to pre-employment screening.
Recently Accurate partnered with Konfir, the innovative background checking business that offers instant employment and income verification. This partnership reflects the future direction of near instant response without compromising quality. The use of strategic partnerships to achieve this is important for future provision – solution providers need to be agile and professional in the way they deliver their services. Accurate’s experience and knowledge means we can deliver a deep service with speed and efficiency.
Konfir’s CEO, Chris Milligan, believes that the future of screening also holds the delivery of more insight for employers. “Employers might be able to think about what else they can learn from the information they gather,” he explains. “If a person has had certain roles, if they have jumped around sectors or received regular pay rises, that might hold information on how to retain that employee in the future.”
Chris also rightly suggests that the future of background checking could be an ‘always on’ model. Looking forward 5-10 years screening services are likely to get to a point where it is no longer necessary for a specific process to be triggered to find information – it is automatically there and readily accessible.
What will the changes bring?
Such a model would address many of the challenges highlighted here. ‘Always on’ would automatically flex according to the compliance needs of industry sectors and the type of risks emerging. It would give employers near instant insight into risks which emerge from among their workforce, as and where those risks emerge. The always on model would also offer benefits from a candidate or employee’s point of view – it can be set up to work in the background, delivering crucial information but not interfering in the day to day work of the individual.
Whatever happens, screening activities will increase in the future, building a safe and secure workplace where employers and their customers can be safe with who they’re dealing with at all times.
Are you thinking about implementing a pre-employment screening strategy? Talk to our experts at UKenquiries@accurate.com.
