The Role of Background Checks When Sourcing Talent w/ Michael Boyce, Mintz Global Screening

Proper background checks for employment can help increase productivity, reduce costs, and preserve your corporate reputation.

Checks are, says today's guest, "an absolutely essential element in the hiring process in order to maintain a safe work environment". "Background screening", he says "empowers employers by providing them with the knowledge they need to make critical hiring decisions".

In HRchat 323, we consider the role of background checks when sourcing top talent. Listen too, as we explore how Covid and WFH placed new emphasis on the need to find ways to check candidates without access to traditional in-person screening methods.

Bill's guest this time is Michael Boyce, Director of Business Growth & Marketing at Mintz Global Screening.

Listen to get Michael's answers to such questions as: 

• Why does Mintz believe it's vital to the management of the corporate brand and what would you say to those that say it's a bit too 'big brother'? 
• Does referencing still matter, why can't HR managers just do a criminal check instead? Are references just full of positive statements from 'good references'?
• Do you come across a lot of companies that have written off reference checks completely? What are their reasons?  
• What do you believe the consequences are of avoiding reference checks altogether?
• What are the main market and economic influences that impact whether people conduct reference checks? How has Covid-19 impacted Mintz?
• Do you believe the purpose of reference checking changed and/or have checks become more important due to new regulatory measures?
• What does the market look like at the moment? How much more important is it right now to have a resume that stands out?  

We do our best to ensure editorial objectivity. The views and ideas shared by our guests and sponsors are entirely independent of The HR Gazette, HRchat Podcast, and Iceni Media Inc.   

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:21

But background checks for employment can help increase productivity, reduce costs and preserve your corporate reputation checks are it says today's guest an absolutely essential element in the hiring process in order to maintain a safe work environment, background screening, he says empowers employers by providing them with the knowledge they need to make critical hiring decisions in this HR chat, we will be considering the role of background checks when sourcing top talent. Listen to, as we explore how COVID and work from home placed new emphasis on the need to find ways to check candidates without access to traditional in-person screening methods. My guest this time is Michael Boyce, director of business growth and marketing at Mintz global screening. Mike, welcome to the HR.

Speaker 2: 1:11

Thanks for having me, bill. I really appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today.

Speaker 1: 1:16

Oh my way. Introduction there, Mike, why don't you start by telling our listeners a bit about yourself and a bit about me?

Speaker 2: 1:22

Well, thanks. I've been with mins for a year and it really enjoyed the, the company. The team here is fantastic and a company that has been in business a hundred years in 2022. So appreciate the opportunity and, and realize the impact of what background screening, uh, means to, uh, organizations in this day and age.

Speaker 1: 1:43

Wow, that is impressive. So although we'll be, we'll be honing in on reference checks in today's interview. My mince offers way more than just a plethora of verification services, including national criminal checks, bankruptcy records, credit checks, international screening, professional and trade accreditation and civil records. Take a few minutes. Now, if you don't mind to give a broad overview of your services and how they can make the lives of HR pros, particularly

Speaker 2: 2:13

Global screening itself is a part of the Ms group, which is international background screening company investigation company, but med school screening, as I said, has been been in Canada almost a hundred years and provide full range and full service of background screening to businesses and individuals in Canada. We, uh, we do everything from entry level screening, right through management C-suite and board positions. And as you said, we offer everything from criminal checks to credit check driver verification, education portfolio, et cetera. So it's full compliment of services that can meet the needs of any organization, large or small right across the country. So

Speaker 1: 2:59

Another service that you, that you guys offer is, is media searches. Why does mince believe that it's vital to the management of the, of the corporate brand? And what would that say to those that say it's, it's a bit too big brother.

Speaker 2: 3:16

Yeah. Very, very interesting question. And let me give you a very complicated answer to a very simple question, bill. We have men's don't believe it's it's too, you know, quote unquote, big brother. We are simply consulting social media, you know, public facing information that a potential applicant has put out there for the world to see, you know, we feel that individual, they are a reflection of the organization they work for. So immediate search really is just looking for the public persona, I guess, of the applicant and just checking to make sure that they are who they say they are and that they would be a good overall reflection of the brand of the organization. That's looking to hire them. The other point would be protecting your employees. You know, it really starts at hiring by conducting a good, uh, media social and internet search, which certainly would be able to reveal any unacceptable tendencies that essential applicant would have that could create a vault without workplace for the rest of your team. And we all know the cost of bad hiring, you know, it's significant, uh, there is a dollar value to, uh, bad HR practices. So I think it's really important to, uh, to do this high level media search on potential applicants.

Speaker 1: 4:40

So just to add to what you said there, Mike and, and my job listeners is to be the interviewer, not the interviewee of course, but you know, me by now I can throw in an opinion here and there. Occasionally my tendencies within me would say, oh, hang on a minute. You shouldn't be watching these things, but you know what, the more I read about it and given that we're in 2021, and it was only a few months ago that you had the, uh, the capital riots. I think maybe there is something to be said to, to try and to understand if all these companies are spending so much money on identifying new talent, that, that understands a brand's why to use the Simon Sinek term. Then maybe there is some, some validity in just checking up on people that they do represent themselves outside of their work as, as they profess to do anyway, that's my 2 cents. Um, and it's, uh, I'm still forming.

Speaker 2: 5:32

Yeah, no, I, I would, I would agree with you bill. I, uh, you know, in my spare time I coach a coach rep hockey and, you know, we always told, uh, these, these boys and young men that, uh, be careful what they presented themselves on social media as, because it potentially could impact whether or not they played, uh, junior hockey. Certainly, uh, if colleges were looking to have them on as a college hockey player, they do social media and, and media searches on a potential scholarship players. So, you know, it is an important component. And I think, uh, it certainly makes sense for companies to, uh, to invest at time and effort.

Speaker 1: 6:18

It's probably a follow up conversation there somewhere Mike, about, you know, does it matter more for customer facing staff than it does for non customer facing really? You know, if you're, if you're out there and you are a face of the brand, you are representing your brand, you are, you are trying to win over clients or retaining customers or whatever that is. Uh, is it more important that you are the right fit there compared to say a backend developer who sits in a dark room somewhere who knows, but perhaps that's a conversation for another time. Let's continue through. Here's a doozy question for you. Mike, does this referencing still matter? Why can't HR managers just do a criminal check instead and on references just for the good statements from in inverted commas, good references,

Speaker 2: 7:01

A reference in a criminal check have two completely different purposes. And although a criminal check is most commonly used, uh, in background screening, um, it's completed, whereas references have another purpose, uh, in the background screening process reference are not only used as part of the hiring practice, but also as part of compliance and security screening requirements to determine to help determine character assessments in the individual or of the individual. Uh, they can also provide while data of information about an individual, which is valuable not only in the hiring process, but in the management of that individual. As a final comment, I would simply say that a good statements from good references, you would be surprised at the number of times that you actually get truthful, impactful information from a reference. It may seem like the vast majority of references come back positive. Uh, uncovering an applicant's flaws can save a company from potentially an expensive, bad hire. Do you come

Speaker 1: 8:10

Across a lot of companies, Mike, that have have written off reference checks completely well. And if so, what are their

Speaker 2: 8:17

Reasons? There has been a shift by some organizations to a skills-based hiring model. And, and certainly that is, is gaining some steam in the industry, but majority of companies really value background screening, uh, and the services that we provide most companies continue to value them very highly and others have decided to, uh, depending on the role move to a more electronic based reference model. And I think the reasoning, uh, certainly varies from company company, I guess it depends on what you value, uh, and how you value references probably related to the roles that they're hiring for, whether they're customer facing roles, whether they're a management and middle management roles. So it would vary company to company, whether it's a checkbox approach or whether it's considered, uh, an opportunity to gather valuable information that can make a good quality hiring decision and how to manage that individual moving forward in their career with your organization.

Speaker 1: 9:28

And what do you believe, uh, uh, some of the consequences of avoiding reference checks all together?

Speaker 2: 9:35

I think, you know, as, as we talked about a moment ago, you know, there is a focus on skills based hiring and, and making sure that there are no biases with, uh, relation to a and gender culture, et cetera in the workplace. And, uh, we, we really feel that that's an important step in, uh, in the hiring process. However, you know, if weighting all references, uh, avoiding reference checks all together is really a challenge, uh, because it create a situation where applicants are unsure, you know, they know that the information they're putting forward isn't being challenged or, or verify, and we still know some cold, hard facts. Bill. We know that 80% of people, uh, are not, uh, honest about their educational background. We know that 9% of candidates, uh, are not, uh, clear and upfront about a criminal charge. And so avoiding reference checks potentially puts you in a situation where you don't know who you're hiring, and that could lead to certain, uh, challenges, um, going forward with your business. And we don't think that's part of the process is continuing to do reference checks, make sure that you're, uh, hiring potential employee, you know, as much about them as possible. And, uh, that's why we feel it's really important to continue to do those reference checks.

Speaker 1: 11:20

Hey Mike, so we are coming through extraordinary times. It's so wonderful for me to be able to say, now that we are coming through it, listeners, we're recording this interview in, in very early July, 2021. But, um, obviously what we're seeing now is, uh, is a very, very, very fierce or fatality, like, like we've never seen before, because there were so many layoffs and, and now companies like holy moly, we've got to, we've got to hire talent. We've got to do it like yesterday. Um, many, many companies are new. Well, they're, they're just entering, uh, the market because, because perhaps you've had folk who worked for big companies for years, and they've, they've done that thing that everybody's been talking about the last 18 months, they've pivoted, um, that there are lots of different influences and factors, Mike, in your opinion, what are the, what are the main market and economic influences that impact whether people conduct, reference checks at all and how has COVID-19 impacted, uh,

Speaker 2: 12:19

Impacted the two greatest issues we're having face right now are cost and time companies just it's. The traditional phone-based model for references are generally a more expensive approach. More people are working remotely in response to COVID-19 and there are certainly harder to get in touch with, uh, you know, with the addition of, uh, landmines are relied upon less and less and more mobile devices being used as the main point of contact for individuals, uh, reaching those referees, uh, certainly can be more challenging than, than previous times when you could contact a main company number or an extension. This adds time to the process of reaching someone live and has given, you know, given birth to more electronic reference-based models that take off these electronic, uh, reference-based models shift the focus to measuring key components like functionality, technical and mechanical elements of a referee's response, as well as tracking the fraud indicators electronically like IP addresses, email sharing, and identity sharing. So this is, uh, really been, uh, an opportunity to expand reference checks, so that really meet the needs of clients, whether they want the traditional based model where it's somebody's live calling reference referees, or whether it's electronic based. We can meet the needs of, uh, of companies for both jumbled there at the end. Bill. Sorry about that.

Speaker 1: 14:03

Catch you in the editing. Don't worry about it. Uh, w we'll make up by putting your beautiful face all over the place and people will just get distracted by that. Okay. Um, all right. Uh, how do you feel about the next question? Take a second and, uh,

Speaker 2: 14:18

And have a look at it. Do you believe the purpose of reference checking changed or checks become more important due to new regulatory measures?

Speaker 1: 14:25

Mike D do you believe that the purpose of reference checking changed or have checks become more important due to new regulatory measures?

Speaker 2: 14:37

You know, all security screening, government clearances, reliability checks now required character references to determine an individual's honesty trustworthiness. And I think it hasn't necessarily changed, but certainly the requirement for security measures and the addition of, uh, regulatory and compliance programs has increased the importance and need for reference checking to make sure to meet these regulated standards.

Speaker 1: 15:12

Many countries are now coming out of the worst Cobin, but we need to, we do need to be mindful that there are a lot of places in the world that perhaps haven't seen the worst of it yet, and are going through Toba moments, but for the, for those markets, for those nations that are now in a stage where they're hiring or mass. And, uh, and there's lots of mobility within the job market. I'd like to get your, take a minster's take on, on what the market looks like at the moment, and how much more important is it right now to have a resume that's done.

Speaker 2: 15:45

But I think the market you alluded to it earlier in the conversation bill, there is a tremendous war for talent right now, and here at manse, we're expecting a big shift of employees between companies potentially even between verticals as you move, uh, skillsets, uh, kind of mirror other industries. So, uh, you know, I think you made a great point earlier, uh, as for how resumes, uh, making sure your resume stands out. Uh, I think, uh, again, then we spoke about the skills-based hiring and, uh, we we've seen, uh, and heard about, uh, companies now taking a, as I said before, names off of resumes to take away any biases. Um, so having a resume that is, uh, clear, concise, uh, and, and forthright, um, is going to be really important, uh, for individuals. And, uh, more, more importantly, uh, I think our services are more required now than ever simply because, uh, as those resumes come in and companies are in a absolute panic to hire people and hopefully hire the right people, it's going to be more important than ever to have a solid background screening of those individuals. Uh, particularly if they're coming from another industry, uh, to make sure they have the right skillset for your industry and, um, and have the right education requirements and references that are going to meet the needs for your organization. It's, uh, it's going to be quite quite challenging for organizations as we come out of COVID as you said, I think for companies that do, uh, work, uh, in other countries, you know, there's going to be the challenges of those countries, potentially not being on the same timeline. Um, but, uh, I think it's really, uh, clear here in Canada in particular and the U S that, uh, you know, we're, we're getting to the point where organizations are going to be back a hundred percent, uh, but they're not going to have a hundred percent of the applicant base that they had pre COVID.

Speaker 1: 18:20

Yeah. I just add to that as a, although I am a Canadian, I'm also a Brit, um, uh, as a Brit, uh, just today, our shaggy heads lead up or declared the, uh, um, as of July 19th, all restrictions in the UK will be lifted. So good news in, in lots of places. Um, but we do still need to be mindful that this is a global crisis, and it's going to take a long time for the, for the whole world to come through it. Hey, Mike, um, the, the word on the street is that you're a pretty cool dude. So I I'm, I'm betting, you probably got your own YouTube account you're in Tik TOK account and all the rest of it. Um, but for the purposes of this being a business podcast, how, how can, how can our listeners connect with you perhaps through LinkedIn, maybe your email address, and also, how can they learn more about all the cool things happening over at mint?

Speaker 2: 19:10

I appreciate that. I'm sure my kids wouldn't agree, uh, at all, but, uh, yeah, you know what I appreciate the opportunity. Bill was great conversation with you here today. And, uh, anybody looking for more information, they can reach me directly at M Boyce admins, global.com. That's M B O Y C E at Ms. global.com. They can reach us through LinkedIn at men's global screening, uh, LinkedIn webpage. And, uh, obviously we're on the web at Ms. Global screening.com. Uh, happy to, uh, to answer any questions and look forward to, uh, interacting with all the people that have, uh, uh, supported your podcasts in the past. And, uh, the many, many more that we'll, uh, we'll get involved in the future. So I really appreciate you, uh, giving us this opportunity, bill, and, uh, thanks again. I always

Speaker 1: 20:03

Like to add when I, when, when I particularly like one of my guests, I would like to add that they're, they're, they're a good person. And, um, in, in the case of Mike Kier listeners, he and I have had a bunch of chats building up to this interview. He's an absolute gentleman. Um, it's been a, it's been a pleasure working with you Mike, up to this point. And, um, uh, I, I think that if anybody gets in contact with you they'll have a good experience, but that just leaves me to say for today, Michael Boyce, thank you very much for being a guest on this episode of the HR chat show.

Speaker 2: 20:32

Thanks very much. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 20:34

And listeners as always until next time, happy working.

Speaker 2: 20:40

Thank you for listening to the HR chat podcast brought to you by the HR.