Todd Owens, COO TalentWise - Interview Transcript TotalPicture Radio

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According to their website, TalentWise is the industry-leading, comprehensive, and affordable process management and compliance solution that’s used by over 3000 businesses throughout North America. TalentWise offerings include background checks, drug testing, DOT solutions, driving records, assessments, verifications, on-boarding, credit checks, international searches, applicant tracking system integrations, and a lot more. Joining us today is the COO of TalentWise, Todd Owens.

Peter: Todd, thanks for joining us on Total Picture Radio.

Todd: Thanks for having me, Peter.

[0:01:19] Peter: Todd, I’d like to unpack some of your services so we can give the listeners a better understanding of things such as background checks. Why don’t we start there? Tell us about some of these services and why companies are using background checks so extensively today.

Todd: Absolutely. Peter, TalentWise offers a host of services that bring really order and efficiency to the hiring process. It is a process that tends to be the most compliance-heavy, paper-driven, fragmented part of the entire employment life cycle. We really come to play offering a suite of services that span the spectrum of background checks to resume verification services to credit reports and driving records, as well as skills and behavioral assessments and drug tests that ultimately allow companies to screen and on-board their applicants with confidence and with efficiency.

[0:02:19] Peter: And this is really a huge headache for a lot of HR managers, is it not?

Todd: It is a great headache. Interestingly enough the recruiting process has been served for quite some time by very mature software systems, and on the back end the employment process has been served by very mature software systems, but the hiring process is relatively un-served. Again, it’s a whole host of service providers, background checks, drug tests, tax credits, on-boarding forms management that have yet to be brought together into a comprehensive, seamless solution that mirrors the organization’s internal requirements and keeps them consistent and compliant.

[0:03:04] Peter: Todd, can you give us an update on some of the government regulations companies need to pay attention to today?

Todd: Absolutely. Of those services one of the most important one to pay attention to when it comes to compliance is the background checks. As most HR leaders know the marketplace is an ever-changing minefield of state and federal laws. Organizations really are doing the best they can with the help of their employment screening firm to make sure they understand the responsibilities under what is known as the Fair Credit Reporting Act. It is an act that is overseen by the FTC and frankly it is mirrored at the state level as well. It is not only a number of laws that we’re monitoring but the fact that they’re changing so quickly.

Additionally and more recently they also need to stay abreast of claims under Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits discrimination by employers on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. On that point a hot topic today is the use of credit reports and the disparate impact that it could have on African American and Latino classes in particular.

[0:04:20.9] Peter: Following up on that, Todd, do you as a general rule, when you conduct the background check, do you run a credit report on an applicant?

Todd: TalentWise packages are custom-built to mirror the searches that are most relevant to the role that the applicant will be filling at our particular client. Credit reports in particular would only be recommended for positions that have access to financially sensitive assets.

It would be relevant for individuals applying for a finance role, those dealing with cash, those that might have access to personal information, things that can be used to commit identify theft, or those that are dealing with credit card information. But in no way, shape or form would we ever recommend or, frankly, would our clients, “Screen everybody with a credit report.”

[0:05:08.6] Peter: Every recruiter I talk to will check with social networks, Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, and certainly will Google a candidate’s name of anyone that they’re considering. I want to read a quote of yours that’s in a Thalea Whyte paper titled “Social Network Recruiting: Managing Compliance Issues.” It’s “Social networking sites are in the unique position of sitting at the crossroads of an individual’s personal and professional life. Until applicants and employers realize the importance of keeping these worlds separate recruiters are in the precarious position of using the information on social networks cautiously and selectively.” Can you expand on this? What’s wrong with a recruiter going into Linked In and checking someone’s profile?

Todd: Nothing is wrong with it, to be very blunt. That said, it does bring with it a host of legal challenges that recruiters and HR organizations in companies need to be aware of. Let’s face it: social networking is here and it’s here to stay. Facebook I believe, at last count, has over 500 million profiles. Linked In, which tends to cater to a more professional audience, has over 100 million profiles.

It is a great way for a recruiter or frankly anybody that is developing business for a company to get an uncensored peek into the character and online reputation of a candidate. That is not only negative information they’re looking for; quite frankly they’re looking for positive information. It’s human nature.

A good example: Linked In. Very commonly the first thing that a recruiter will do before they pick up the phone is to check out that individual’s Linked In profile and see whether or not they have any positive references from friends or colleagues. It’s also a great way to compare resume information if you’re a little farther down the process in the selection process, so you can compare what’s on a profile with what they may have entered on an application for employment. And let’s not forget it’s free.

As a result it’s used throughout the recruiting industry, business in general, to quickly find out about an individual sometimes, and often, before picking up the phone. The challenges here are a little bit of a genie in the bottle situation. What do you do when a recruiter sees things that they may need to exclude from their decision-making process?

For example, religious preference or sexual orientation or perhaps an indication that the individual is expecting a baby; how are they supposed to deal with that? How to react to this information really I think is anybody’s guess.

[0:07:51] Peter: From what I understand, Todd, if you’re doing these kinds of checks on one person you really need to do them on everybody, right?

Todd: Right. Absolutely. It’s very important for companies to have screening policies that keep their programs consistent and job-relevant. It’s very common to screen people differently but always screen them similarly if they’re applying for the same type of role. For example, if you’re applying for a driving position it’s likely that you’re going to have a driving check performed on you.

That does not mean that you need to screen the receptionist or the finance manager for a driving record check. But if it is a search or a screening that applies generally across the spectrum of roles at your company then it is most advised to make sure that you’re applying that screening consistently.

[0:08:52.6] Peter: What are some of the steps that HR can take to make sure that when they’re screening candidates using these social networks that they’re not opening themselves up to civil rights lawsuits?

Todd: Right. It all starts with a level of respect for what’s happening here. Individuals are trying to get jobs, oftentimes they have been unemployed for quite some time, they may be recovering from a particular time in their life where things happened that might be on their record. It’s very important that they take that very seriously, number one.

Number two: the FCRA does not apply unless a consumer-reporting agency is providing the screening services. It’s highly recommended that employers follow the basic principles of the FCRA, that’s the Fair Credit Reporting Act. It’s basic stuff like obtaining the individual’s consent prior to doing this type of screening, letting them know specifically what you’re going to be looking for, and if you find something discuss it with them. Print it out, show it to them, give them the opportunity to dispute anything that you find on a social networking profile the same way that they would have an opportunity to dispute anything provided by a background check provided by your employment screening provider.

[0:10:20] Peter: I think that’s some great advice. You work with a number of companies: Taleo, iCIMS, Kenexa, Bullhorn. What advantages do these strategic relationships bring to your solutions?

Todd: It all starts with the customer experience. Everything we do with our partners is about processes, integrating processes and ultimately driving a more valuable solution to our end users. If we back up a little bit, the hiring process again is fragmented. It involves tons of paper and it’s got a bunch of disparate point solutions that are involved in this process.

To the extent that we can integrate with a system that is adjacent to us in the process we’re absolutely going to do that. At the end of the day it’s about efficiency, time to hire, and accuracy, and by integrating with a recruiting system we can effectively start the background check process where the recruiting process ends.

[0:11:20] Peter: For the people who aren’t familiar with who these companies are, most of the companies that I just mentioned are applicant tracking systems. They are the front end of any job application that you are going to submit with your resume or cover letter; they go through a Kenexa or a Taleo. What you’re telling me is that when these things start happening you have an API that’s built into these applicant tracking systems that allow you to start the whole process at the same time.

Todd: Absolutely. Recruiters and HR organizations are very busy people. We all know that. To the extent that we can manage an entire process from one system instead of two and with one click instead of many more and that they don’t have to reenter data that is already in one system into another system, that’s all benefit, that’s all value. Quite frankly that’s what TalentWise stands for is trying to innovate, drive ways that our end users can be more efficient, more compliant in their jobs.

[0:12:26] Peter: What are some of the trends relating to employment, candidate screening and government regulations that is on your desk right now, Todd, that perhaps we haven't spoken about?

Todd: Sure. It’s very interesting. If you think about the employment screening process it happens typically at the point of an offer letter or the point of an interview at the earliest. Rarely does it happen before that and yet companies are spending a lot of time through the interview and the selection process to get there.

What we think is going to be an increasing trend is creating services targeted, background screening services in particular, targeted at the consumer who is looking for a way to have their background vetted in advance of a particular transaction that is meaningful to them. I say transaction because it’s not just limited to employment purposes.

It could also be dating sites. We all have heard about the unfortunate situation that occurred with Match.com. It is unquestionable that if the individuals that are creating profiles on this site were able to screen themselves and take that credential with them into the marketplace that they would be more successful there.

That’s dating, it’s employment, it’s home contractors in perhaps an Angie’s List scenario, and quite frankly it’s in the world of social networking. That’s a service that TalentWise is very engaged in and in the early stages of addressing. We’re looking forward in the upcoming months to come into market with that.

[0:14:11.6] Peter: That’s different from the free credit report stuff that you’re seeing out there, the credit reports that you’re getting from Experian and the other credit rating services, is that right?

Todd: Absolutely. The services would necessarily be targeted at the particular use case, so in dating the fact that I have a validated employment history may not be as important as the fact that I’m not a criminal or a sex offender. In the world of employment we know that employers like to screen for criminal background checks most commonly and second most commonly the resume background, so highest degree earned and perhaps the last five years of employment.

The approach is the same. Effectively we will become a certification authority for this personal background information but the individual screening characteristics would be tailored to the specific marketplace or network or application.

[0:15:12.5] Peter: So if I’ve got my resume out there and I’m fudging on my income, let’s say my last position, I’m boosting up actually the amount of money I made it’s pretty easy for you guys to go in and figure out that that was a little bit inflated, right?

Todd: In that particular case, salary information is hit and miss. It’s not always possible to get it from the source. They may have a policy of not releasing that information. We do always request it and if we get the answer then we provide it to the end user of our reports. That said there’s a lot more information that we do get about your employment history including your title; that’s a big topic now where people are advertently or inadvertently fudging their title to increase their chances of getting a job. Start date and end date of employment, reason for leaving, and eligibility for rehire.

[0:16:11] Peter: It’s very common for you guys to get the title of someone, so if you were really an AVP and you’re putting down VP that’s not such a good thing to do. It’s very easy for you to verify someone’s start and end date, right?

Todd: Yes.

[0:16:28] Peter: But how about reason for leaving? I’ve heard a lot of companies really don’t want – especially if someone was fired – really don’t want to divulge the reason someone left the employment.

Todd: You’re absolutely right, and that also is hit and miss as to whether or not it will be disclosed by the company.

[0:16:48] Peter: Either way you’re going to know how accurate their resume really is.

Todd: Without question. This is at least a half a billion dollar a year industry. It is a function that a great majority of employers are doing as part of their screening process, and they’re doing it because yes, the information that can be obtained as part of a background check is very accurate and very complete.

[0:17:19] Peter: Todd, I saw a statistic from SHRM, the Society of Human Resource Management, that 53% of resumes are inaccurate in a significant way, meaning things like you were talking about with start dates, end dates, and titles. That’s a pretty high percentage.

Todd: Yeah, absolutely it is. You would be amazed how much information, and disparate information, is uncovered. That’s just a testament probably to the economy and the lengths that people will go to give themselves an upper hand in the job hunt.

[0:17:52] Peter: You had mentioned to me that you are working with this organization candiatecheck.com. Can you tell us about that?

Todd: This is very, very exciting. It’s interesting. Despite the fact that background checks have become frankly the standard in the private sector in the process of being placed in a job. It’s pretty much unheard of in the political sector. We have candidates that can effectively run for office – federal, state, local – and nowhere in the process are sent through a background check. Really it’s crazy to think that a receptionist at ABC company is being thoroughly background checked but a candidate running for state representative is not.

We have been asked by candidatecheck.com, a company that is in the mission of making sure that this changes, to power their background screening services. They are right now in the middle of the New Jersey election scene and have offered free background checks for all of the candidates that are running for office in this cycle in New Jersey.

We hope that this is going to be a step in the right direction and that the transparency and the confidence and the safety, quite frankly, that the private sector and the businesses are currently experiencing can now be transferred to the voter and the constituents in the democratic process. It’s very exciting.

[0:19:30] Peter: I think that is absolutely fantastic, and your right that is exciting. To your point, any receptionist is going to get background checked and yet somebody running for senator…it’s like they get a free pass, right?

Todd: Absolutely. It’s hard to believe.

[0:19:47] Peter: Todd, thank you so much for taking time to speak with us today on Total Picture Radio. I think this has been a really informative discussion we’ve had.

Todd: Thanks, Peter. It was my pleasure.

[0:19:56] Peter: Todd Owens is the COO of TalentWise. Their website is talentwise.com. We welcome your comments on our interview with Todd. Please visit our Facebook group Total Picture Radio to voice your thoughts and opinions. You’ll find Todd’s interview in the Inside Recruiting channel of Total Picture Radio. That’s totalpicture.com. While there, please sign up for our newsletter and remember you can subscribe to Total Picture Radio on iTunes. Just do a keyword search for Total Picture Radio. Join me on Twitter, @PeterClayton. Thanks for tuning into TPR, the voice of career and leadership acceleration. Our interviews can link your company with your clients, prospects, employees, and passive candidates.