Background Screening Trends To Watch Out For In 2016

Predicting future trends in any industry has always been a tricky task. While statistics are easily available for predicting some types of business, some depend highly on speculation and guesswork. This is where the background screening industry stands out. The picture here, is crystal clear.

When it comes to spotting trends for our industry in 2016, my eyes are set firmly on empirical evidence from the recent past. Keeping the evidence in mind, I am formulating my predictions for upcoming trends based on my study of customer needs.

It is extremely gratifying to know that the background verification industry has come a long way from fighting for existential reasons to where it is today. Organisations today have finally realised the linkage between background screening and corporate reputation. Corporations, both big and small, are realising the risk to their reputation because of shaky hiring and onboarding processes. The role of background verification in attaining sustained profitability has finally been established.

One of the reasons for the growing need of background verification has been the sudden sprouting of startups. The new age customer is now demanding newer and more technology driven screening solutions. Gone are the days when background checks used to be just obvious and perfunctory checks.

Here are some trends, which will stand out more than the rest in 2016:

On-demand or 24x7 economy
We're gradually moving into a time where business will demand instant solutions. In an on-demand economy, compromising on the thoroughness of background verification cannot be an option. As business will evolve, it will also go beyond screening just employees to screening business partners, delivery staff and even house guests.

Our new best friend- Technology
That's right, technology has and will continue to remain our best friend. While making operations cost efficient and reducing turnaround time, it will also eliminate risk. We will stand at a far lesser chance of losing and misusing information, thanks to an automated data repository.

Focus on information security
The industry is set to become highly information sensitive. With the growth in business and client demands, there will arise a need to concoct tight security systems to avoid any data leakage. The need of the hour would be to tighten control and ensure foolproof delivery of sensitive and confidential data.

Legally speaking
In a bid to achieve greater speed and delivering results on time, it is imperative that we as an industry remember to abide by rules and laws. While serving clients from different sectors and geographies, companies with robust knowledge of law will have an edge over the others. Background verification companies will have to prepare themselves to work with aware and alert customers.

Keeping an eye around the globe
Needless to say, it is a global economy and it is bound to become even more inter-dependent. Clients in the future will demand thorough global background checks. There is a huge potential for industries like Finance, IT and even SMEs to flourish on the results delivered by background verification companies. Companies which are able to provide reliable global results will become favourites in the industry.

Big data
Repositories will help companies save a huge deal of time when delivering instant results. Repositories of critical data will help make the screening process much simpler, quicker and more efficient.

The businesses that ace the race will be the ones which are able to quickly capitalise on emerging opportunities and are open to innovation. So, let's set the ball rolling.