6 Tips to Improve Your Hiring Timeline

1.) Creating a Hiring Process

Every organization should have a strategic well-thought-out hiring process for their hiring timeline. Where does it start, with talent acquisition, recruitment, or staffing? How are employers acquiring viable job applicants? Larger businesses may find that temporary staffing is a good solution for their hiring need, even employing a talent acquisition professional. Smaller businesses may just use online job posting services matching applicants with certain criteria.

2.) Creating a Hiring Policy

In order to deter claims of discrimination and follow best practices in the hiring process. A well-thought-out hiring policy should be drafted. The policy will address these main topics:

• Purpose of Policy – States why the organization conducts background checks.
• Scope of Policy – Employment screening policies should be designed to protect property and people their employees will come in contact with.
• Responsible Organization – Which department will be implementing and managing the policy.
• Sensitive Positions – Identify each position within the organization.
• Hiring Managers’ Responsibility – Individualized assessment with each candidate to determine suitability for employment.
• Retention Records – All employee records should be stored until that employee is terminated.
• Legal Compliance – Ensure that the organization abides by all Federal and State laws.

3.) Having Your Background Check Provider on Retainer

As soon as a conditional job offer has been made, it is time to engage your background screening provider. Majority of companies are moving to an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that will capture applicant information from one source during the application phase and store all pertinent information. It is advised for organizations to select a background screening provider that has the technology to integrate both the employer’s ATS and the background screening providers online software platform. This will expedite the process to gather authorization and provide notices to the candidate.

4.) Online Paperless Process

Technology has allowed for all state and federal notices along with the candidates authorization and consent to be done electronically. Gone are the days of printing numerous notices and determining what the candidates receive as opposed to what signature the employer must gather.

Additionally, implementing an online consent feature will greatly improve the overall process by a multitude of ways such as:

• Reducing turnaround time of results
• Eliminating errors on reports to ensure maximum accuracy
• Immediately uploading applicant information to a secure online portal
• Providing all federal and state compliance notices online (100% paperless process)

5.) Asking the Right Questions During the Interview

Currently the landscape in employment hiring is moving towards prohibiting employers from inquiring about a candidate’s past criminal activity on an employment application. Those questions are now being delayed until after the interview has taken place. This philosophy known as “ban the box” is sweeping across the U.S. and will soon affect every public and private employer.

It is crucial to be prepared for the candidate interview; however, employers do not have the opportunity to inquire about past criminal behavior during this time. Employers should instead familiarize themselves with laws surrounding the use of criminal records with respect to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and Title VII.

6.) On-Site Drug Testing

Technology has also improved the drug screening portion of the hiring process. Before, employers would need a hard-copy of the Chain of Custody Form (CCF) in order to send a candidate to the local clinic for urine drug screening. Today,the majority of employment background screening firms provide on-site drug testing and collection to provide instant results for the employer’s hiring timeline.

The employer will have two options:

• The first is to have personnel collect the urine by providing an “e-cup” to the candidate and determining if the test is positive or negative based on the indicator on the e-cup.
• The second option is to engage a nationwide or regional drug screening provider that can facilitate the process for the employer on-site.

View our Webinar: “How Employment Applications Affect Background Checks”