10/25/04
Holes found in Instant "Nationwide" Employee Background Checks
Karen Freifeld of Newsday makes a strong case for using county-level employee background checks in the pre employment screening of prospective employees, as opposed to instant "Nationwide" background checks.
10/19/04
Pre Employment Screening Recommended to Reduce Shrinkage and Turnover
In an article posted on HR.com (free subscription required), Alice Snell of iLogos writes about the correlation between shrinkage and turnover. She argues that, "Since turnover and shrinkage share a common cause, the solution must address the root of both, by improving screening and selection of new employees."She mentions (citing the same survey) that the two most popular pre employment screening resources for retailers are verification of past employment history (used by 89% of retailers) and criminal conviction checks (84%).
10/13/04
SHRM Warns HR Departments About Indentity Theft
According to a new article (subscription required) on the Society for Human Resources Website (SHRM.org), identity theft has become the country's number one consumer fraud complaint, and the crime has been elevated to the status of a felony. The article points out that a prime target for identity theft is employee information which each employer maintains in its human resources and payroll departments. Consequently, utilizing employee screening tools in staffing HR related positions is a great way to limit the misuse of sensitive employee information by a staff member.
10/12/04
Employment Verification as a Valuable Pre Employment Screening Tool
An article featured on the HR.com Website, authored by the President of the Employer Advisors Network, Don Phin, contends that successful employment verification is a key part of the pre employment screening process. He goes on to point out some of the obstacles that human resource manager's face in trying to get a meaningful reference from previous employers.
10/05/04
Security Expert Recommends Pre Employment Screening for Network Admins
In her article, "Whom Do You Trust?" in Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine, Roberta Bragg urges companies to use pre employment screening in the recruitment/hiring of System Administrators. IT System Administrators have access to your network/domain/machine. This unfettered access allows Administrators to use that power as they please, and Bragg contends that trouble can arise if the motivations of your Administrator turn sour. "It may be that they're mad because they feel they've been passed over, insulted. Perhaps they were just fired, but still know too much. Or maybe they got greedy, and someone's paying them for information or disruptive activity."
Bragg argues that screening these employees is particularly important because they have access to things that might tempt them, including: customer lists, customer credit card numbers, employee information, trade secrets, encrypted e-mail, and even the ability to reset passwords. She asserts that perhaps companies should think about anyone with system administrative privileges as being the equivalent to someone who handles money for the organization. Quite frequently, the most menial clerk who directly handles cash is subjected to pre employment screening. Bragg questions why Network, Web and Systems Administrators are not treated the same way.
Among other things, Bragg suggests the following steps to ensure that System Administrators are less likely to abuse their access privileges:
Develop a pre employment screening policy for Administrators, including criminal background checks, bonding and other screening activities.
Create an atmosphere in which employees feel valued and supported. Malicious attacks are often performed by disgruntled employees.
Require administrators to take their vacation days. An evaluation of previous fraud and abuse cases has found that, often, those involved rarely left their post. Thus, they were able to hide their activities from others.
Cross-train and rotate administrative employees. Keeping one administrator from having permanent control in an area often prevents abuse of privilege.
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