In this modern day and age it is essential to understand the importance of having the most update information on employees. The option of employment screening gives the management and human resources department an ability to set guidelines for their companies prospective employees. Within these guidelines, human resources is capable of "weeding out" potential financial, and possibly even physical, threats to the company and its current personnel.
Considering all aspects of a potential employee's ability to contribute to the growth and stability of the company should be the first priority. Followed closely by their qualifications is weather a particular individual is qualified based purely upon their education, or upon their experience in the work force. Ideally any prospective employee will have a combination of both. Finally, a prospective employee should be put through an employment screening. Employment screening varies from industry to industry, as it should.
For example, a potential Accounts Manager applies for an accounting job at local bank. She is a professional, with over five years experience in the banking/accounting industry. She has excellent references and according to her last employer, "was an asset to the company." Upon an employment screening of her criminal record, human resources discovers that she had a failure to appear in traffic court and was arrested for this. Human Resources has set their policy in such a fashion that a prospective employee must have no arrests what so ever in order to qualify for the position. In this situation, an employment screening can cause a company to lose a fantastic asset because of a trivial misdemeanor.
On the other hand, if upon the viewing of her criminal record human resources discovered she was convicted of “possession of a forged instrument” or stolen checks and financial documents, this is certainly a reason not to consider her for the position.
Another attribute of employment screening is voluntary drug screening. In most cases a prospective employee voluntarily submits themselves to a drug screening. This can occur either on a one time basis or as often as the company deems necessary. This screen is vital in some industries, especially industries that involve the operation heavy machinery or industries that primarily work with the care and maintenance of children or the elderly. This particular aspect of employee screening has the ability to save the company large sums money by preventing unnecessary accidents and, more importantly, it has the potential to save lives.
Finally, one of the last avenues used to screen potential employees when recruiting is to check their financial credentials. This within itself can be a double edge sword. By checking whether or not the potential employee has filed for bankruptcy, or is behind on there credit card payments, some companies hold the belief that this will eliminate irresponsible people from their workforce. However, in most cases checking someone’s financial credentials is a relatively costly and time consuming venture. Also, it may not give a company an accurate picture of the potential employee. There are a myriad of different reasons why individuals file for bankruptcy, or fall behind on credit card payments. Reasons range from divorce, to serious healthcare issues, or even a death in the family.
Employment screening gives companies valuable information on potential employees. It accomplishes this by checking potential employees' references and their criminal record. With this information in hand a company can gauge if a potential employee is reliable, trustworthy and safe. Then upon viewing a potential employee's financial credentials a company can evaluate if the potential employee is good with time and money management.
All in all, employment screening is an essential part of bringing qualified personnel into any company's workforce when filling jobs.
It has only been a few years since the responsibilities of a single recruiter encompassed the complete value chain of the process, both on the candidate and the client sides (internal clients in case of the corporate recruiter).
Thus, consultants were accountable for tasks such as job ad writing, employment pre-screening, interviewing, on one hand; as well as client relationship development, account management, billing and administration on the other. That would have made for a chunky role description, for those lucky enough to have one.
In the search for efficiencies derived from specialization, agencies and corporate recruitment teams broke down responsibilities along the lines of audience and process steps. Candidate-facing professionals divvied up tasks into sourcing, interviewing, etc; whilst client focused personnel segregated business development activities from say, existing relationship management tasks.
As candidates and customers have increasingly sophisticated terms of engagement, brought about the economic cycle, the supply and demand of labor's own dynamics, and other influencing macro trends (e.g. demographics); it appears that further atomization in the responsibilities of recruiters is required to drive their effectiveness up once again.
Specifically, with recruiting jobs this atomization may be performed along three dimensions:
Value a chain component; that is, breaking down the process steps and derive efficiency from focus and repetition (e.g. creating candidate leads from job fairs, writing candidate reports, inducting new employees). This is a cost-centered strategy
Skills set requirements: whether they are web-related (career site optimization), marketing and ancillary (ads writing, candidate program management, employer branding), etc; all in addition to the core HR know-how. This is a value-centered strategy.
A combination of the Value-chain and Skill set dimensions. This matrix approach would see marketing professionals joining the recruitment team and applying their tools and practice to the appropriate recruitment process steps (manage the employee value proposition using the product lifecycle management model, for example).
Similarly, technology-trained professionals can make use of the expertise to enrich tasks such as the usability of the company career (or agency) website, or perhaps even contribute with some of the process overarching aspects (e.g. optimizing the lead output from the company's ATS).
Multidiscipline teams such as this have the potential of not only produce efficiencies with their 'outside' skills, but also to challenge and overhaul the online recruitment process.
A business venture is essentially a kind of gamble as no business is immune to risks. A risk is the possibility of loss that badly affects the business. Every business is prone to one or more kinds of risks: loss of expertise by accidental deaths, damage to commercial property, and even legal matters that may sever the reputation etc. Some risks may be fairly easy for the managers to tackle while others are more difficult to defuse.
All the risks that can pose possible threat to a business are broadly divided into two types: pure risks and speculative risks. Pure risk is the possibility of a disaster like fire that, if it occurs, can cause loss but its absence or non-occurrence does not bring any profit to the business. Pure risks are hard to predict and escape. A speculative risk on the other hand prompts people to go for a business venture because it also brings profit in case of success, loss of course in case of failure. The recording and marketing of a new artist’s album by a record company is an example of speculative risk. In case the album goes hit, the company makes profit; otherwise a loss results. Speculative risks can be avoided by careful decision-making.
We can define a risk management consultant as the supporting the process of reducing the threat of loss due to uncontrollable events. It is an integral element of all successful businesses.
Protection against Risk
There are four main types of protective strategies against risks in business. These are:
Consider the case of a publishing company that ships a large number of its books to bookstores in another state by means of a truck. The possibility that the truck may crash and burn before it delivers the books is a pure risk to the publishing company. As part of its risk management strategy the publishing company can employ any one or a combination of these tactics. To fulfill their needs, they can also look at posting their risk management jobs online.
The company can entirely avoid the risk of loss by requiring customers to purchase copies of books at the press rather than choosing to deliver them to bookstores. Once the copies are sold, the company is out of the threat of risk. Another way the company may manage the risk is by absorbing the possible loss e.g. by setting aside funds to make up for the cost of the books lost in the crash. The company could also try to minimize the risk of the crash. This can be done, for example, by carefully screening the records of truck accidents of several years along the same road and taking care of any threatening factors that have been responsible for the accidents in the past.
Finally, the publishing company may choose to buy an insurance policy that would cover at least some cost of the book if they came to be lost during such an accident. Insurance is an important element of risk management in businesses. However, it is not always the best choice and it is not available for all kinds of losses.
Theory and History seem to indicate that the economy moves in boom and bust cycles. In fact, the last few years have seen a raft of positive, apparently unending up-trends in wealth growth and jobs, encompassing high rates of employment, productivity increases and unfettered consumption.
This in spite of the doomsayers who have been calling out for a global financial crisis and overall recession in view of some macroeconomic imbalances (chronic account deficits, cost of credit, take up of environmental concerns). If it happened, the down slope of the cycle would kick in, as it has in the past.
I am somewhat inclined (maybe given my training in neo-classical economics) to think that sooner or later, things will need to cool off. That or we need to relearn how to interpret the global economy, and goodbye to our hero Dornbush!
My money is therefore still on the cycles' theory, with a proviso: not all areas of the economy will follow a common pattern, but will respond to its own particular dynamics
More specifically, I venture that labor (employment rates) and its price (wages and salaries) can remain strong in the context of possible economic chilling. The reason for this phenomenon, as hinted, would respond to labor's own influence variables:
Labor supply trends will remain unchanged due to:
* Continued friction in the international labor transfer (e.g. international candidates) due to immigration policies, recruitment practices.
* No imminent sign of skills and experience shortages being attended to (training, mature worker hiring still not making a huge dent yet)
* Individual job seekers continuing to search for suitable work-play equation (more time at home, self-employment)
Labor demand trends would also remain fairly constant due to:
* Unchanged demand for skills driven out of the demographics landscape in the developed world (health, social services)
*Knowledge and Services based economies still requiring people in the related professional slots - financial services, technology infrastructure. Otherwise, do you see Accenture, IBM Global Services or Deloitte’s laying-off consultants en masse?
*Emerging employment opportunities in new industries, boosting new areas of specialties and skills sets
It certainly may all come down to the extent of the recession/stagnation. I am sure there is a tipping point where labor demand will shrink from government and business as a way to avoid permanent collapse. But as we open 2007 I am feeling bullish about employment expectations given its driving forces.
This landscape in turn, will assist in the uptake of services and tools intended to help organizations source and engage talent, such as SEO for Internet recruitment. Consistent with this – and here’s prediction’s time – employers in ’07 will deepen their knowledge and increase their activities in human resource planning, as a way to meet their talent demands from their own operations context.
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As featured in many online publications and highlighted by numerous industry pundits, SEO jobs are hot!
As more and more companies across many industries discover the power of search engine traffic, the need for professionals and SEO firms will only increase. As a result, the demand for SEO services is sure outpace the supply.
Freelancers across the globe will prosper, particularly those who specialize in niche markets. However, agencies with full-on staffs will have to put on the full court press on finding talent. In many cases, agencies will have to relocate SEO professionals from other parts of the country or world in order to succeed. Therefore, many firms are posting their jobs to a myriad of sites and solutions.
With the growing competition to outrank your competition, everyone in the SEO space will prosper immensely as prices continue to increase. If you have an in-house SEO, be sure to do everything you can to hold onto them, because a higher salary and potentially more appealing destination is calling them everyday. And make sure that you're continually advertising your SEO jobs as strategically as possible.
The UK's largest business social network site raises USD $13 million to expand into continental Europe. Passado, the UK business social networking site rivaling the likes of LinkedIn, has secured financial backing from venture capitalists to formally launch in the UK. The site, the UK's largest business networking platform, also has plans to expand further into Europe. It claims it currently has 5 million users in the UK.
Passado has been in operation for the last 4 years and was started by two friends who wanted to build a platform for friends and colleagues to reunite. Passado's financial deal was accompanied by figures that underline recent momentous growth. It published ComScore Networks calculated numbers showing that last October unique visitors reached 1.3 million, dramatically up from 287,000 unique visitors in October 2005.
Competition in the UK market is stiff but the site owners think they will continue to pick up momentum. The company's larger brother niche player in the UK is Friends Reunited which says it has 15 million registered users. Passado aims to play into the older-age market, which is considered a lucrative niche area in light of an expected tightening employment market. It offers blogging and photo sharing, but not yet jobs in London or other places in Europe.
The European market which the company has started to canvas is huge, with an estimated 300 million potential targets. Passado is headquartered in London and has specific plans to open in Russia and Italy in the near future.
The UK's top IT talent is beginning to make use of Hollywood-style talent agents.
"The queen is dead, long live the queen" has taken on a new, slightly altered meaning. As LA's legendary theatrical talent agent Ruth Webb passes away, the phenomenon of talent agents appears to have blown over from the US to the UK. To the IT recruitment sector, to be precise. Glam value in the UK IT sector is effecting a talent agent activity that is operating on rather different premises than your average Hollywood agent works from; only 5 percent of all top IT jobs in London, UK are seen as potential talent agent material.
There's an undeniable shortage of talented employees in the top echelons of the UK's IT sector, and despite a lack of news reports about the phenomenon, talent agents are definitely beginning to get a firm foot in the door.
"Top IT contractors in the UK are at last joining the ranks of film and football stars and getting personal agents to manage their careers and secure them high paying positions with client organisations," according to the association.
The top 5 percent of IT professionals are becoming superstars as demand for elite talent becomes increasingly competitive. Niche areas including games development or systems security are especially expected to be canvassed by talent agents.
Talent agents are relatively new and their activities are turning the tables in the search for London jobs. In face, recruiting companies usually match candidates to employers' specific requirements but talent agents act on behalf of highly-skilled individuals, negotiating contracts on their terms. The impact talent agents will have on the wider sector will likely be noticeable.
"Many traditional IT recruitment companies are now seriously looking at the talent management model and the possibility of providing a gold-plated, bespoke service for the highest-earning IT professionals."
However, rigid hiring processes will likely counter impact on the innovation. Large IT organizations in the UK are known to stick to preferred supplier lists when hiring staff and are often reluctant to negotiate with agents who are new to them when looking for jobs UK.
But the association's spokeswoman, Ann Swain, also pointed out that the talent agent route might mean a breakthrough in the IT recruitment system.
"The talent agent route does perhaps give us the chance to move away from the established procurement model and develop higher margin business," Swain said.
Over the past couple of years, I have reflected on this topic, but never put anything down on paper: What is an education worth? With the rising costs of college and universities, is it really worth taking an education to the next level and obtaining the certification. Or is it more practical in taking the hands-on approach and learning from someone through either internships or on the job training?
A good friend of mine, Lauren, recently graduated with a Master's Degree in Architecture from the University of Georgia. Since graduating, Lauren secured an entry level job within a firm located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with a salary of $42,000. Her interest began in high school when she had an interest in art and became more involved with design and structure. After graduating with a 4.2, she then too the next step at the University of Miami and graduated with a degree in Architecture four years later. Her self quote throughout this experience has been “work hard, play hard”, which goes to show that hard work does pay off.
Now, take myself for example. Throughout high school I enrolled in various business courses. Therefore, my junior and senior year, I was given the opportunity to enroll in the Business Technology program. While in that program, I took advantage of the opportunity to mentor individuals at various businesses.
By the time I graduated, I secured employment within a financial firm and was given the opportunity to work along side a financial advisor. While in this position, I utilized my knowledge and used my skills to obtain my next job working alongside a Certified Public Accountant during tax season. It is now seven years later, and I have extensive experience working within an accounting firm, as well as a law firm. I have been told that my experience is extremely marketable because you do not find many people who have a legal background as well as a financial background, let alone someone who has this experience without a college education and presently making $37,000.00 annually.
Getting back to my main question, what is an education worth? I have shown you two examples of successful individuals, one who has an advanced college education and another who simply has a high school diploma. To my knowledge, there really isn't a right or wrong answer to this topic.
Lauren, simply wanted to become an architect and in order to do so, she needed the proper schooling for the right jobs. When asked if she regrets what she did and if she should have gone into something else, she told me "the loans are a killer, but I love what I do." I on the other hand, have gotten where I am today by observing and learning hands on.
If I hadn't taken advantage of the technology program and mentorships, I probably would have gone to a college of some sort and obtained a degree, but I’m not sure in what. I love business and when I go to work everyday, I am faced with a challenge of numbers. So there you have it, two individuals, two different learning experiences and both are happy with what they do everyday - college isn't for everyone.
The purpose of the I-9 form is to verify the employment eligibility of potential staff members and to ensure that businesses hire only individuals who are legally permitted to work in the United States for their jobs. All individuals, both citizens and non-citizens, who are hired after November 6, 1986 are required to fill out form I-9 with in three days of being hired by a business unless they are serving as an independent contractor. Individuals who submit receipts for replacement documentation to their employers are given an exception to the three day rule. These individuals are allowed a period of 90 days to provide the proper documentation to their employer. If at the end of the ninety day period the worker still cannot provide the proper documentation then their employment should be terminated.
Employers are responsible for making sure that the entire I-9 form is filled out no later than the close of business on the third day of employment by each new employee. Employers should also provide the official list of satisfactory documents for determining identity and work eligibility to each new employee. All employers are expected to examine the documents provided by a new member of staff and are expected to accept them if they seem genuine. An employer is allowed to refuse to accept a document that is provided by a new employee is it does not appear authentic. In a situation such as this, the employer should request another form of documentation from the list of documents that meet the requirements of establishing identity. Any employee who cannot provide the required documentation should not be allowed to continue to be employed by the company.
Employers are also expected to retain I-9 forms on all employees, due to the fact that this form is not submitted to the U.S. government as is the case with tax records. An I-9 form must be on record for every employee for at least three years after the date on which they were hired or for at least one year after they ceased to work for the particular business, whichever event occurs last. Therefore employers are expected to retain I-9 forms for all current employees along with those of terminated employees until at least a year after their employment ceased.
These forms are expected to be stored at either the worksite or at company headquarters. Where ever an employer decides to store these forms, they must make it possible for the documents to be sent to the relevant business within three days of an official request for the production of the documents for inspection.
If at any time an employer finds out that an I-9 form is not on file for an employee, they are required to request the employee to fill out the form right away and submit the necessary documentation. All new forms should be dated for the day they are filled out. Under no circumstances should an employer ever post-date an I-9 form. If an employee is unable to make the satisfactory documentation available, then the employer is considered to have discovered the individual’s ineligibility to work at that time. If the employer continues to employ such a person, then the employer may be penalized.
Let's say you are an employment-brand-aware hirer. You maintain a career website that includes information about the online recruitment and selection processes, with a view to increase transparency that – in turn – is aimed at positively impacting a candidate’s job seeking experience with your organization.
Let's assume also that in addition to the employment drug screening of skills, qualifications and attributes to determine a suitable match; candidates have to have a successful (pass) drug test as a pre-requisite to receiving an employment offer.
At this stage, you as employer are fully committed to a comprehensive disclosure of the details of your policy. This does not stem from a necessity to defend your practice, but rather to showcase the consistency of your hiring policies with the values and behaviors espoused by your organization.
In practical terms, the nitty-gritty about the employment drug screening does not have to feature on the career site itself; this might go in detriment of other important aspects of the selection process that need to be highlighted. Rather, the information online can point to contacts within the organization who can provide it on an as-requested basis (anonymously over the phone, etc). In this scenario, a request for further information should be construed as a positive outcome in terms of the company’s candidate engagement.
Ideally, the employer's recruiting policies would cover the motivation, reasoning and logistics of the drug screening process. This data assists hiring managers on a day-to-day basis, but is also the foundation for the interaction with potential applicants who show interest in the specifics of this aspect of online recruitment.
Broadly speaking, the information that can be covered on the site should aim to answer the following potential applicant questions:
* What are the reasons for the employment drug screening? What objective is being fulfilled? OR * Why is employment drug screening important given the organization’s commercial context, legal and controls posture, its social responsibility stand, HR philosophy? * At which stage of the process does employment drug screening happen? * What are the logistics of the pre-screening process? * What are the measures taken to ensure the individual’s privacy in respect to the screening results?
Similarly, the organization should be prepared to clearly respond to follow-on questions such as:
* What are the drugs that you test for? * What happens if the test is not successful? * Can I reapply for another job in the future if you were unsuccessful due to a non-pass drug test in the past? * How can I reassure myself that information about my results remains private?
Things that you may not want to broadcast but prepared to act on given specific applicant situations are
* Practices concerning applicants contesting their results * Re-testing * The company’s policy on post-employment testing as a means to “double-lock” the original results that enabled an employment offer
By definition, none of the lists are exhaustive. They aim to address the need for preparedness, which arises from disclosure
And why do you as an employer want to be bothered with all this:
* Because employment drug screening is a touchy issue as it impacts on personal privacy and freedom
* Because there is a lot of fear and ignorance out there, which leads to prejudice and misjudgment of both individuals and companies
* Because you might want to answer if a candidate knocks on your door
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