After a year when the perils of not carrying out thorough candidate checks put employee screening firmly in the headlines more than once, Matrix Security Watchdog’s Susie Thomson reveals what the next 12 months have in store for this increasingly important area of HR.
After the tragic results of the Metropolitan Police’s failure to carry out regular officer checks sent shockwaves through the UK in 2024 with the Sarah Everard case, let’s hope rescreening employees jumps up to the same level of importance as pre-employment screening in 2025.
Frequently viewed as an add-on by organizations, rescreening should work in partnership with pre-employment screening as part of a comprehensive HR security solution. This will be crucial in avoiding the catastrophic impact on victims, should someone who’s not been re-screened effectively enough commit a crime. It will also help prevent the potentially devastating reputational and financial effects on the organizations responsible.
Perhaps an employer/employee charter is the answer to encourage people to open up about their changing circumstances, whether financial or psychological, safe in the knowledge that they will be offered support. But this is only a hope for the coming year. Here are some more concrete trends…
Back to basics and rigor
In contrast to the recent flurry of new measures and techniques for verifying candidate credentials, I believe that 2025 will see a return to basics. More and more screening agencies will ensure they go to source to check candidate employment and education information. Engaging with HR departments and educational establishments directly, rather than cutting corners by contacting merely line managers to accelerate the process, will tighten the candidate fraud prevention process. It’s time to stop practicing expediency over rigor and I hope 2025 will witness this vital shift.
Similarly, we will see more thorough checks on data sources and suppliers. This increasingly important screening tool is only effective if it’s accurate and up to date. Establishing data veracity and getting to know suppliers better to build stronger trusting relationships is going to be a key feature of 2025.
The fight against candidate fraud will also see the emerging use of a wider variety of data sources pick up pace. More employers and screening companies will embrace payroll checks along with open banking and HMRC data verification. This will be fuelled by the rise of instant verification tools that deliver this service and are highly effective and reliable – because they follow the trend of going straight to the source and help validate the candidate data journey.
The moonlight drive
The growth of employee moonlighting that has been clearly evident in 2024 will start to normalize over the next 12 months. It will become standard practice for staff to have multiple jobs, driven by remote working and a burgeoning gig economy. However, for this to become truly accepted, transparency with employers will be vital. Meanwhile, the impact on productivity will need to be carefully monitored, particularly at a time when UK organizations are striving to catch up with their European counterparts in this key business area.
A milestone moment
The introduction of the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA)European Screening Accreditation Scheme in 2024 will see the PBSA increase its marketing activity to boost employer awareness of PBSA members and the benefits it delivers.
As a result, a fissure will open in the industry between accredited organizations carrying the kite mark, proven to deliver quality over expediency, and the rest. It will make it easier for employers to choose accredited agencies for tenders and other projects and ensure they avoid those sourcing data from dubious origins, taking shortcuts and engaging in other reckless practices.
This will be a milestone moment that ultimately raises recruitment standards and helps to reduce candidate fraud across the UK for the huge benefit of all parties. It will also hopefully prevent Europe falling into the litigation trap that is becoming normalized in the US, where there’s been a surge in candidates suing screening agencies for failing to follow correct processes.
By embracing this benchmark, the UK screening industry will gradually weed out providers who lack the infrastructure, governance, or commitment to the quality required to operate in such a sensitive space.
Standards will be further raised as digital identity and right-to-work checks become common practice. Coming to prominence in 2024, the next 12 months with see Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) establish themselves as the norm, thanks to the reliability and robustness of their processes.
AI risks and benefits
The past 12 months have seen major ethical issues surrounding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in candidate screening come vividly to light, primarily with respect to privacy concerns and the consent of the individual. Meanwhile, the fear of algorithmic bias has also been growing. As a result, there will need to be greater human oversight and intervention where necessary in 2025 to guide final decisions.
Looking at the positives, a major opportunity lies in using AI to automate, and therefore accelerate, the candidate selection process. In particular, enabling faster, accurate verification of identity through biometrics and other techniques. Plus, reducing manual activities, such as data entry, which should reduce human error. This is something that will be taken advantage of increasingly in 2025 and should help improve productivity.
Skills-first recruitment
The disappointing adoption of dynamic job descriptions in 2024 to align candidate expectations with reality must surely improve over the next 12 months. The traditional static information fed to applicants simply does not reflect the current job market, where flexibility is growing both in terms of working practices, but also career paths, while skills development has never been more important.
Outcome-oriented job descriptions that focus on skills rather than experience are becoming more popular among candidates, particularly those relatively new to the job market. For example, setting out the work that candidates will be expected to do and the skills required, rather than the past experience they need. An increasing trend in 2025 is likely to be employers looking at the skills of candidates and presenting a number of roles that they may be suitable for.
Screen… and screen again!
Few things stand still these days and the area of employee screening is no exception. 2025 is sure to be another rollercoaster ride for employers looking to secure the talent they need in the face of new challenges like the rise in employer NI contributions and potentially stronger employee rights from day one. Of course, this heightens the need for effective, reliable, and ethical screening as it will be that much more important to find the right candidate the first time around, and then keep them by firmly supporting their personal and professional progress. To emphasize my initial point, this can be achieved by screening. And then screening again! Happy New Year!
* The Squiggly Career https://www.amazon.co.uk/Squiggly-Career-Ladder-Discover-Opportunity-ebook/dp/B07QGK981R
Author
Susie Thomson, PBSA Secretary/Treasurer, Chief Operating Officer – Matrix Security Watchdog
Related Content