Volume IV
3rd Quarter 2004

Success of Conference Reflects Improved Economic Outlook

By Rob Thomson

Did you attend the Society for Human Resource Management’s 56th Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA from June 27-30? If so, hopefully you stopped by the employeescreenIQ booth to say hello and picked up one of our bright white or yellow employeescreenIQ shoulder bags!

Great food, music, and fun were plentiful in this vibrant city. Each day at the conference was fast-paced with subject-matter experts speaking on current topics, and workshop sessions available to apply new laws and processes to real world scenarios. Over 800 companies set up shop in the Exhibit Hall to network with current and prospective customers.

At the employeescreenIQ booth, we welcomed many familiar faces and enjoyed the opportunity to discuss various aspects of employment screening with HR professionals from numerous industries. A steadily recurring topic of conversation, independent of the industry represented, was the expectation that hiring numbers were going to be increasing in the coming months. Many hiring managers commented on having done little or no hiring over the previous few years. Several indicated a coming shift from job- and cost-cutting to expanding again. The positive outlook meant the BIS booth was a busy place. As hiring processes are dusted off and employers look to bring screening processes up to date, the focus of many conversations was understanding what constitutes a reasonable and thorough background check in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Legal compliance and the desire to identify the most qualified candidates were two main concerns. The fact that recent history for most companies involved significant budget-cuts and lay-offs means the demands on each individual have increased to unprecedented levels of productivity. Less time to devote to due diligence in hiring, coupled with increasing litigation risk resulting from workplace violence or unfair hiring practices means more and more companies are turning to screening professionals for help. Evidence of this is The SHRM 2004 Human Resource Outsourcing Report, which notes that background checks are the single most outsourced HR activity, with 73% of companies outsourcing this function at least partially, and 49% outsourcing it completely.

There were many employment screening vendors exhibiting at the conference. Another frequently asked question was “what is the difference between a hand-search of county courthouse records and the instant online checks available for a lower price?” This is the question every hiring manager should ask, and a valid question regardless of the state of the economy. The answer is that you simply cannot expect the same quality of information for a couple of dollars. Database technology is the shortcut, and quality and human oversight are sacrificed. The database checks are fast, but they do not comprehensively cover the territory they boast, and updates from counties that do provide records may occur once or twice per year. In the IT field, database managers refer to this type of data using the pseudo-technical term GIGO – Garbage-In / Garbage-Out. A hand-search of county courthouse records guarantees complete, accurate, and real-time information. For perspective, this type of information cannot be obtained for $10, but in most cases can be obtained for less than one day’s pay of the position being filled, and can be obtained in most cases in less than 72 hours.

The topic of using actual vs. stored data also provided a natural opportunity to discuss the results of a recent research project conducted in-house at employeescreenIQ, testing one of the largest national databases with current criminal records obtained from county courthouses nationwide. Going directly to the source, county courthouses, assures that information obtained is current and FCRA-compliant. Please don’t miss Kevin Bachman’s write-up of employeescreenIQ research results elsewhere in this issue.

We hope you found the 2004 SHRM Annual Conference to be as informative and enjoyable as we did. If you were not able to attend this great event in New Orleans, we hope to see you next year in San Diego!