How to Get Smart About Recruitment Compliance

The word ‘compliance’ can be jarring, we know we need to ‘be compliant’ but understanding how is, quite simply, confusing.

But, here’s the thing.

A smarter, more proactive approach to compliance will not only protect your business but also add value to it - and we’re here to make it much easier.

The Growing Importance of Recruitment Compliance

All businesses need to protect themselves against avoidable hiring risks but, in sectors that call for strict governance, this requirement is amplified. For those in the public, healthcare, legal, and banking sectors (among others), a lack of compliance can damage more than just your corporate image.

The business impact of recruitment and search agency compliance is gaining attention now also. Today, more recruitment firms are signing contracts that see the liability of a placement sitting squarely with them.

Clients are no longer willing to accept the fate of a hire recommended by a recruiter simply at face value and so it’s becoming increasingly important to demonstrate fully auditable compliance during the hiring process.

What is Recruitment Compliance?

Compliance management falls into three categories:

1. Due Diligence - while some recruitment processes might seem like a drain on time and resources, there’s a reason for every one of them and that’s to ensure you know the right person is hired for every role. Our research has proven that candidates will lie to land a job and several high-profile cases of this have hit the headlines in recent years.

Robust candidate verification tools, such reference, ID and background checks, are essential to avoid your business being the subject of one of these media stories.
2. Data Handling - with new regulatory measures, such as GDPR, being introduced, there’s been a heightened focus on data management for organisations globally. HR and recruitment processes are no exception and with a wealth of candidate information in play at any one time, it’s important to know that you can trust the processes you’re using to securely collect, manage and store data.

The Xref platform is built using the highest standard of security and quality management practices and meets GDPR requirements with fully-compliant data collection and security measures, including:

• Two-factor authentication (2FA) - extended verification to verify the identity of every user attempting to access an Xref account.
• Extended user management - enabling account administrators to ensure that only those who are current and appropriate have access to Xref.
• Restricted data sharing and tracking - rules that allow Xref reports to be sent only to those defined as appropriate by account administrators.
• Regionalised data storage - Global data centres that allow users to ensure that their account data is stored locally.
• Extended security log function - An audit trail of all account activity and usage and ensures organisations have a clear view of the handling and management of any data securely stored on their Xref account.

3. Equal Opportunities - compliance also comes into the way recruitment processes are conducted and the level of opportunity offered all candidates. In order to be fair, the hiring journey must be consistent and ask the right questions of every candidate applying for the same role. Unfortunately, unconscious bias is a very real issue and as hard as we might try to avoid it, we are all susceptible to it.

When our unconscious bias takes over, the questions asked can lead to answers that result in a discriminatory hiring decision. Some common pitfalls of phone-based references include:

• Asking about a candidate’s family and marital status
• Asking if the candidate would usually be willing to work out of hours
• Asking questions that would indicate the candidate’s age

With Xref’s Template Builder tool, you can ensure you ask reference questions that are compliant and avoid slipping into the discriminatory territories that are often seen in conversational, phone-based reference checking.

Getting Smarter About Compliance

Beyond safeguarding your business, ensuring compliance can put you in a very favourable position with business leaders, for the hidden revenue-generating benefits it can offer.

Xref supports the HR and recruitment decisions you make, you will benefit from:

• Time savings - automated tech-based solutions take care of the repetitive, admin-heavy elements of critical compliance measures
• Productivity improvements - with a more efficient and motivated team, you will see a spike in the productivity they can achieve
• Better, more insightful data - as well as generating more data, smart tech-based solutions deliver valuable insights that recruitment leaders can confidently base broader business decisions on
• A positive brand impact - a more efficient, effective and secure approach to compliance ensures everyone involved in it - from employees to candidates, referees, and clients - is given a positive impression of your corporate image.

“Xref enables us to eliminate bias from our reference checking process. It’s crucial for us to get a snapshot of a candidate’s background and verify their work history, but Xref also creates a sense of privacy and security in the process.” Planit Software Testing

Move away from seeing it as a box-ticking exercise and you could see real value in the insights and impact a smarter approach to compliance could offer.