In the past few months, employee vetting has been at the center of the
debates regarding two major public relations nightmares.
One is the case of Edward Snowden, the
Booze Allen employee who exposed the NSA’s PRISM program. Some have claimed
Snowden provided false information on his resume yet somehow still successfully
passed his background check. Gaining access to the information available in
this position is what both prompted Edward Snowden to apply for the position
and allowed him to expose the government’s dealings in dark data. In response,
legislators are attempting to overhaul the
background check and security clearance process.
The other is the current murder investigation focusing on former New
England Patriot Aaron Hernandez. When Hernandez played at the University of
Florida, he began displaying a propensity for violence and
even took a photo of himself with a glock. Over
the past few years, Hernandez has been connected to many violent encounters which
have ultimately been publicized in light of the current investigation. In
response to the investigation, the New England Patriots released Hernandez and
lost approximately $250,000 on a jersey swap program that
allowed fans to swap out their Hernandez jerseys for another player’s. It also
spurred EA to remove Hernandez from
two upcoming game releases.
In both cases, officials and commentators often cite the failure to
properly assess the employee’s background and character prior to employing them
as one of the major causes for these incidents. These incidents have brought
bad publicity to both organizations which could ultimately prove to be costly
and fundamentally damage their reputations. To avoid making this mistake, it is
important that organizations embrace a holistic approach to employee vetting
that goes beyond standard background check objectives.
Traditional Background Checks
Aren’t Enough
Most organizations employ a standardized method of employee vetting. Companies
traditionally use premade application forms and a prepackaged public records background
checks to complete their evaluation of candidates. However, as we havepreviously covered, public
records data can often be inaccurate or out of date. Similarly, these premade
application forms may no longer capture the information vital to the needs of
an organization. Standardized methods do not provide a comprehensive means of
evaluation, especially for visible and sensitive positions which require a
deeper dive into the daily lives of individuals.
Recently, our analysts worked two cases which clearly demonstrate this
point. We were asked by a client to investigate two individuals who were hired
for security-based positions. These positions required individuals to have a
clean criminal record, be drug free, and refrain from having connections to
potentially harmful influences, such as gangs. Both of these employees
indicated refraining from substance abuse in their applications, passed their
drug tests, and showed no history of legal troubles in their public records
searches. However, their social media footprints revealed a much different
story. One individual had a history of posting stashes of drugs and money on
his social media accounts as well as discussing his marijuana smoking habits.
The other had a brother who was affiliated with a local gang; his brother posted
photos of himself both smoking marijuana and standing in a field of marijuana.
These social media investigations revealed that both employees posed potential
security threats.
Continuous Evaluation is
Necessary
Once employees are on the job, organizations cannot afford to go without
continuous evaluation. The circumstances in employees’ lives can change. New
financial hardships may arise which make them more susceptible to bribery.
Individuals can make new connections to individuals and organizations which put
them at risk. People can get into legal trouble during the course of employment.
No matter what new circumstances may arise, periodic reinvestigations, similar
to those done for security clearances, are necessary to ensure compliance with
company regulations and policies. These evaluations can help head off any
potential incidents before they manifest themselves.
The Value Added
When organizations conduct tailored, thorough employee vetting
investigations and continuous evaluation, they can ensure they are doing their
due diligence. This can help them control their image by finding obvious
sources of data which exist in social media. Social media data can identify red
flags during the pre-screening process which can help organizations avoid
marring their reputations by curtailing public relations debacles. In a world
in which inordinate amounts of information are available to the public, it is
important for employers to ensure they access the intelligence vital to
mitigating organizational risk.
