CRN Associate Member Creative Services Inc. (CSI) is a proven and dynamic background screening company with an entrepreneurial spirit dedicated to client success. CSI offers full-service, global background screening and security consulting. CSI maintains a strong commitment to best practices and innovative solutions.
Learn more about the importance of background screening from CSI's Senior Director, Laura Randazzo, in this CRN Associate Member spotlight:
Five reasons to conduct background screening in your organization:
-
Your reputation
-
Protecting your intellectual property
-
Diversion/theft
-
Culture
-
Regulation and specific requirements
Reputation
Reputation is paramount to how your organization is perceived. Your organization has an obligation to protect its image, its reputation, and the public. You have the funding, the location, and now you need to assure your reputation is highly regarded. Executives know the importance of their companies’ reputation. Firms with strong positive reputations, attract better people and gain customer loyalty. To protect your reputation, you must have consistent programs, policies, and people, background screening is an important attribute to these programs.
Protecting your intellectual property
As you patent your product, or confidential information, and develop your own branding, you must have the right tools and people in place. Patents and copyrights offer some security, but also it is important to know the people you have in your organization are trustworthy, fit your culture, are team players and will protect your intellectual property.
Avoiding diversion/theft
Employee theft is one of the most serious problems facing small business owners in the U.S. According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), an employee is 15 times more likely than a non-employee to steal from an employer, and employees account for an estimated 44 percent of theft losses at stores. The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that nearly a third of business failures are related to employee theft or fraud.
Business owners are rightly concerned—or should be. Employee misdeeds can take many forms:
- Larceny (outright theft)
- Skimming (diverting business funds)
- Fraudulent disbursements (billing schemes, inflated expense reports, check tampering)
- Embezzlement of raw materials or inventory
- Stealing business opportunities (misappropriation of customer lists or other trade secrets).
Culture
Like your reputation, it is important that you review your culture policy and assure your organization has the right people and leaders in place to drive continuum in your culture especially in challenging times. Conducting reference and employment checks on managers may help you determine their suitability to lead their team to maintain your organizational culture.
Regulation
Organizations within specific industries, such as Healthcare, Education, Pharmaceutical, Cannabis, and Transportation, are required by regulatory obligations to conduct background checks, and not only for frontline roles, but also for ancillary roles. It is important for organizations to understand their specific regulatory obligations relating to background screening and assure their program not only meets but exceeds these specific requirements.
Protecting against hiring risks
The risk associated with hiring the wrong person for the job can be enormous. A SHRM study indicates that it costs $4,129.00 and takes 42 days on average to hire an individual, and other studies show that employee misconduct costs U.S. organizations millions of dollars annually.
Other risks not already mentioned include protecting your customers, your assets and in today’s world cyber security concerns. We recommend employers regardless of regulatory requirements to include in risk mitigation programs a comprehensive background screening program. Some of the major reasons to conduct background checks are to mitigate risk, and to avoid legal liability that is harmful and costly to an organization.
Employers should consider—at the minimum—the following:
- Criminal History Search - County
- Criminal History Search - Federal
- Criminal History Search - Statewide
- National Criminal Record Locator
- Sex Offender Registry - National
- Social Security Trace
Additional screenings:
- Employment;
- Professional Licensure;
- Fraud/Debarment checks;
- Reference checks;
- Education; and for positions with fiduciary responsibility,
- Credit checks and civil litigation checks.
CSI provides screening solutions that reduce client risk at all stages of the employment cycle.
CSI’s capabilities span from pre-hire options, such as assessment testing and applicant tracking, to traditional background screening services, drug testing, Electronic I-9 and E-Verify, and extend to post-hire solutions including periodic reinvestigations and annual checks. CSI also offers comprehensive vendor, contractor, and consultant screening solutions to reduce risk associated with extended workforces. Programs include initial screening, adjudication programs, and program audits.
Learn more: www.creativeservices.com
Resources:
https://www.shrm.org/about-shrm/press-room/press-releases/pages/human-capital-benchmarking-report.aspx
https://www.nfib.com/content/resources/money/infographic-employee-theft-bizhelp-67268/