Employee Screening Must Be Raised to Higher Standards, Acxiom Executive Tells Conference

While employee background screening has come to be accepted as a necessity in today’s business climate, a simple background check could be inadequate and may leave companies open to increased shrinkage costs and charges of negligent hiring, said Michael Cool, business unit leader for Acxiom® Information Security Services, a unit of Acxiom Corporation.

Cool, in a presentation at the 2006 American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) conference, said thorough background checks and efficient screening that comply with government regulations “can significantly reduce the costs” created by employee theft while protecting organizations from the risk of negligent hiring.

“Experts agree that more than 10 percent of the U.S. population has a criminal record, and a significant portion of this pool has violent or sexual misconduct convictions,” Cool said. “Negligent hiring litigation could result in financial penalty as well as damage to an organization’s image and brand.

“According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, employee theft creates an annual loss of 1 percent to 2 percent in gross sales. About 30 percent of all business failures are directly related to employee theft. In today’s post-9/11 world, security requirements and screening standards must be significantly increased to protect any organization or business from the high costs of workplace violence, employee theft and employee turnover created by fabricated resumes or applications.”

Cool, who has been a leader in the industry for nearly 10 years, presented the conference attendees with a comprehensive analysis of the core components of employee background investigations, including government regulations, screening standards related to vendors and overseas employees, the implementation of government-sponsored checks, the effectiveness of real-time versus database search methodologies and the execution of corporate policy to aid in ensuring consistent, legally-insulating screening programs.