From a service perspective the survey showed a striking swap in rankings between I9 Verifications (a 2nd rank priority in 2017) with Drug Testing. The tight labor market most likely contributed to an expanded definition of speed and responsiveness which now includes real-time screening updates when logging into a provider's system as the most critical functional capability, in conjunction with increased pressure for quicker turn-around times in services (92% of respondents expect results in less than 4 days), displacing compliance standards which dropped to a surprising 5th place ranking. Finally, over 70% of respondents indicated Data Protection & Security with PII was nearly as important as the real-time updates, a stark reminder of how the protection of customer/applicant level data is not only an HR priority, but it's a companywide priority.
When asked about these results Global HR Research CEO Brandon Phillips explained:
"These findings support our technology development and operating decisions from over a year ago which anticipated a heated competitive environment - driving downward pressure on background screening providers to architect a platform that could be more responsive, with an increased level of customer support to ensure priority alignment with our customers."
Surprisingly, these responses are in stark contrast to respondents expressed mediocre satisfaction with the quality of services they're currently receiving from their background screening providers. Only one-quarter (25%) rated their overall screener satisfaction as excellent which was nearly a drop of 10% over 2017. The upside is that the pre-employment screening industry has an opportunity to improve perceptions by consistently delivering accurate and complete results on a tight turn-around while providing real-time updates along the way.
Phillips' commented on the change:
"I'm incredibly proud to share Global HR Research far surpasses the industry standard with an average customer ranking of 4.61 out of 5 stars for overall service quality compared to 3.9 for the industry as a whole. It proves our commitment to our customers and their candidates and demonstrates a Customer Obsession that our clients expect from GHRR."
SOURCE Global HR Research