如果您的公司与当今的许多公司一样，劳动力全球化推动了增长并为您的组织带来了巨大价值。但伴随这些新机遇而来的是全球安全和人力资源部门面临的一系列新挑战。
本着包容的精神，跨国公司有时会调查其全球办事处，以了解有关就业筛选实践和程序的当前情况。当被问及背景审查做法时，外国办事处的回答并不少见，例如：
“有时我们会这样做。这取决于。”
“我们自己做。”
“我在警察局有个朋友，他……”
“我们在这里不这样做，因为这是违法的。”
毋庸置疑，这一系列的答案可能会让安全和人力资源专业人士摸不着头脑，想知道如何让所有这些人都在同一页面上，同时确保世界上的某个地方没有人危及公司资产。
如果在明年的过程中，您的公司计划将您的背景筛查计划推向全球，您可以解决以下问题，以提高您的全球筛查计划和您的公司实现其战略目标的机会。
1) 了解法规
每个国家/地区都有自己的法律和流程来管理哪些信息可以合法获取、如何传输以及完成特定背景调查需要哪些信息。一般来说，这些规定旨在保护申请人及其个人信息免受隐私侵犯，但这一崇高的目的增加了程序开发的复杂性。例如，在香港，包括雇主在内的第三方可能不会向警方要求提供犯罪记录，但申请人可以自行获取。
即使在对就业前进行犯罪历史检查的国家，记录的存储方式也会有所不同。差异可能是地理因素之一——一些国家在本地存储和报告，其他国家或省，还有其他国家，全国。而且，还有其他细微差别。带着申请人的姓名和出生日期前往拉丁美洲的部分地区，您可能会空手而归。
2）熟悉文化
语言、文化和政治环境与管理就业筛选的法律一样重要。我们去年在一个最近发生政府更迭的国家进行的验证很好地说明了当地环境如何发挥作用的一个很好的例子。当联系申请人的前主管时，他说他不认识申请人，而且他从未在该公司工作过。主管随后联系申请人并告诉他：“一家公司打电话问你，但别担心。我告诉他们我不认识你，你从来没有为我们工作过。” 主管只是对基于前政府做法的任何类型的调查持怀疑态度。幸运的是，申请人能够解决问题，
3) 保持一致
为了在整个组织中保持一致的安全和控制水平，必须在您开展业务的每个国家/地区均匀应用全球背景筛选政策。尽管您可以执行的背景调查类型因国家/地区而异，但尽一切努力保持一致的筛选程序是值得的。这将帮助您对一个在世界范围内被更清楚地理解和接受的计划建立更严格的控制。
4) 利用筛查技术
国际背景筛查的需求可能很复杂，但在筛查和审查过程中利用技术时，挑战并非不可克服或成本过高。许多国际筛查资源，包括国内研究专家和数据库，都可以通过成熟的筛查提供商通过互联网访问。由于基于网络的就业筛选解决方案与领先的申请人跟踪系统相结合，从而简化了安全和招聘流程，以确保一致的政策实施，技术也正在提高筛选计划的效率和控制。
5) 利用当地专家
技术还可以实现国际筛选最重要的组成部分之一——一个可以促进国内专家研究人员全球网络的平台。国内供应商最熟悉当地法律、文化和研究程序，并且最能驾驭当地系统。全球平台技术可以有效地将这些国家的专家纳入您的筛选计划，而不会失去一致性、审计或控制的价值。
随着组织建立其全球员工队伍，安全和人力资源专业人员还必须微调他们的筛选实践，以跟上这个不断增长的机会。确保安全的工作场所和保护公司资产是全球概念；通过牢记这些提示，组织可以在构建覆盖其公司员工的筛选计划方面取得良好的开端。
In the spirit of inclusion, global companies sometimes survey their offices worldwide to learn the current situation around employment screening practices and procedures. And when asked about background screening practices, it's not uncommon for foreign offices to respond with answers like:
"Sometimes we do it. It depends."
"We do it ourselves."
"I have a friend at the police station who…"
"We don't do it here because it's against the law."
Needless to say, this range of answers can leave security and HR professionals scratching their heads over how in the world to get all these folks on the same page while ensuring there isn't someone, somewhere in the world, compromising the company assets.
If, during the course of the next year, your firm is planning to take your background screening program global, here are some items you can address to improve the chances that your global screening program, and your company, will meet its strategic goals.
1) Understand the Regulations
Each country has its own laws and processes to govern what information can be legally obtained, how it can be transmitted and what information is required to complete a particular background check. Generally, these regulations are designed to protect the applicant and his/her personal information from privacy invasions, but that noble purpose adds complexity to program development. For example, in Hong Kong, third parties, including employers, may not request a criminal history from the police authorities, but applicants may get it for themselves.
Even in countries where criminal history checking is done for pre-employment, the ways in which records are stored can vary. The variance may be one of geography–some countries store and report locally, others by state or province, and still others, nationally. And, there are still other nuances. Go to parts of Latin America with an applicant's name and date of birth and you may come away empty-handed.
2) Get Familiar with the Culture
Language, culture and political environment are all as important as laws governing employment screening. A good example of how local context comes into play is best illustrated by a verification we performed last year in a country that had recently had a change of government. When the applicant's former supervisor was contacted, he said he didn't know the applicant and that he'd never worked for the company. The supervisor then contacted the applicant and told him: "A company called asking about you, but don't worry. I told them I didn't know you and that you never worked for us." The supervisor was simply leery of investigations of any kind based on the practices of the former government. Fortunately, the applicant was able to clear up the issue, but this indicates the importance of understanding the local context when checking references in different countries.
3) Be Consistent
To maintain a consistent level of security and control throughout your organization, a global background screening policy must be applied evenly in every country you do business. Although the types of background checks you can perform may vary by country, it's worth every effort to maintain consistent screening procedures wherever possible. This will help you establish tighter controls for a program that is more clearly understood and embraced around the world.
4) Take Advantage of Screening Technology
The demands of international background screening may be complex, but the challenges are not insurmountable–or cost-prohibitive–when leveraging technology in the screening and review processes. Many international screening resources, including in-country research experts and databases, can be accessed via the Internet, through a sophisticated screening provider. Technology is also improving screening program efficiency and control as web-based employment screening solutions are integrated with leading applicant tracking systems streamlining security and hiring processes to ensure consistent policy implementation.
5) Leverage the Local Experts
Technology also enables one of the most important components of international screening–a platform that can facilitate a worldwide network of in-country expert researchers. An in-country provider is most familiar with the local laws, culture and research procedures and can best navigate the local system. A global-platform technology can efficiently bring those country experts into your screening program without losing the value of consistency, audit or control.
As organizations build out their global workforces, security and HR professionals must also fine-tune their screening practices to keep in step with this growing opportunity. Ensuring a safe workplace and protecting company assets are global concepts; by keeping these tips in mind, organizations can get a good start in building a screening program that reaches as far as their company's workforce.
