Most HR managers are starting to think about planning for the new year. Setting goals, enhancing retention, and revisiting costs usually make the new year checklist. Though these are all important items to check off the list to start the new year on the right foot, rescreening current employees is an important consideration that often goes overlooked. According to a survey conducted by SHRM, only 15% of respondents said they rescreen employees annually—meaning that important information often goes unfound for employees who have been on the job for several years, leaving other employees and internal data vulnerable.
Rescreening current employees provides employers with updated employee information, helps maintain a safe workplace, and ensures current employees are still qualified for their roles. If it's been a while since you conducted annual background checks, you may want to revisit your rescreening program to ensure it aligns with your vision moving into 2025. Let's look at some changes employers might consider by rebooting annual employee rescreens.
Remote work and relocation have proved to be more than just a trend. USPS change-of-address requests show that 28.3 million address changes were processed in 2023 alone– so if your background check program is only running broad searches for records in the places where employees previously lived or where they live currently, records could easily go unfound.
Do you have more employees working remotely in 2024 and plans for remote positions moving into the new year? You might consider expanding your criminal history checks to include more locations. This search can include additional counties in county-level background checks. You may also consider other ways to locate criminal records, such as statewide, federal, or national criminal database searches. Other sources, like driving record checks, may return important records that other background checks won’t find.
Rescreening goes beyond where employees have lived and have moved to. What current employees are doing daily can uncover important insights that can significantly impact your business, too.
Social Media Checks
Many employers now use social media screenings to search publicly available online profiles. This check looks for potentially risky content posted by employees or candidates. A social media screening looks at publicly available information on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others to glean character insights. You may uncover web content that is derogatory, hostile, coarse, or defamatory.
The reason employers might conduct social media screenings during their annual background checks are:
Driving Records
Although a lot of employees have relocated due to flexible remote work, many still drive daily as part of their jobs, creating potential risks for employers. In fact, car accidents are the leading cause of workplace deaths in the United States.
Due to the risks driving presents, some employers have started continuous driver monitoring for constant updates throughout the year. These employers often find that their liability related to unchecked drivers often costs more than keeping an eye on driver monitoring in the first place. Here are a few reasons employers choose to conduct regular driving rechecks and continuous driver monitoring on their employees:
Social media and continuous driver monitoring are just two simple ways that employers can save overall and protect a company's reputation. By modernizing your rescreening stack with new tools and types of background checks, you can uncover more relevant records and add a new layer of protection for your organization.
Rescreening current employees and continuous monitoring may sound like a lot of extra work, but a lot can happen over the years that turn quickly into safety issues and affect your bottom line, too.
The good news is that with the right team and technology on your side, rescreening doesn’t have to be such a hassle. Having the right processes, tools, and support upfront can make a major difference. If your company is adapting policies to how employees live and work, consider how you might adjust your background rescreening program. Do your checks line up to the amount of change your employees may have experienced over the year?
Here are a few ways Verified Credentials is revolutionizing rescreens:
As fast as life can change, screening packages and tech should work and evolve with you. If you need to screen many employees annually, consider custom bulk screening packages built for your needs. Custom bulk screening services can save time, improve quality, and adjust based on your evolving needs.
Taking the time to reevaluate your needs and how you might improve empowers your hiring team to create the best version of your annual employee rescreening program. You might also feel more confident as you continue through the year!
Looking for ways to improve your background screening program in 2024? Contact Verified Credentials today to learn more about our comprehensive background check services.