The Importance of Workforce Monitoring and Re-Screening

Hiring managers understand how important it is to include background checks as part of their due diligence in hiring. Companies that abandon this attention to detail after a hire is made, however, do so at their own risk.

While background checks in the hiring process are important, continuing to monitor employees’ backgrounds, credentials, and related statuses after hiring are just as valuable. From building stronger teams to maintaining legal and regulatory compliance, workforce monitoring and re-screening play a key role in helping a company meet both its obligations and business goals.

Why Workforce Monitoring is a Must

Monitoring your existing teams offers two key benefits: Compliance and improved teams.

Background checks performed during hiring are often done in order to ensure compliance with legal and regulatory standards. Such compliance is essential for any business that seeks to protect itself from liability and operate as a good corporate citizen.

After an employee is hired, however, any number of life events might change the situations they find themselves in, thus changing the information that might appear on a background check. Monitoring of the existing workforce helps companies keep up with these changes. A company that knows what’s happening with its teams can address any concerns before they become a legal or regulatory issue.

Knowing about changes in employees’ circumstances can also help managers build better teams in two ways.

First, managers that know about changes in employees’ circumstances gain insight into an employee’s ability to work effectively. Often, managers who have this information can help an employee who may be distracted or struggling to find their focus and footing once again. More information allows for better intervention, minimizing disruption to the flow of work.

Second, workforce monitoring helps managers hold their teams to a high standard. Most workers live up or down to their manager’s expectations. When expectations are high, and communication is clear, employees have a better understanding of how to best represent the employer and brand. They also know that their teammates are held to a similar standard, which can help engender trust on teams.

The Value of Monitoring and Re-Screening Your Teams

Workforce monitoring and re-screening have the same goal: To help employers ensure they know certain key pieces of information that may affect a worker’s ability to do their job. These two approaches differ, however, in how they acquire that information.

Re-screening most resembles the background check done at hiring. It is a periodic process in which an employer gathers information on an employee, then reviews that information to see if anything has changed since the worker was hired.

The intervals at which re-screening occurs are set by the employer, depending on their needs, the information required, and certain regulatory or legal timetables. An employer screening for whether workers’ credentials are current, for example, might choose to run this re-screening once annually, near the time at which credentials are likely to expire.

Re-screening can be valuable for information like credential expiration. The periodic and focused nature of re-screening allows companies to zero in on one particular piece of information, then address that item specifically with the workers or teams that require attention.

Workforce monitoring also gathers information on certain key variables that affect employees. Unlike periodic re-screening, however, workforce monitoring is an ongoing, proactive process. Often, workforce monitoring is done by software, which flags potential issues for human resources staff to examine.

Workforce monitoring may be preferable to re-screening for a large workforce or in situations where several pieces of information must be tracked for a large number of workers at once. Tools for workforce monitoring can flag information as it becomes relevant. In some cases, these tools can batch items that can be dealt with collectively, such as a credential expiring for every worker on a team on the same date.

Workforce monitoring software often comes with analytical tools as well. These tools allow employers to examine data gathered from monitoring in order to better understand the challenges their workers face. A deeper understanding, in turn, can improve the hiring process or help managers provide better support for compliance and other issues among their teams.

When To Monitor or Re-Screen Employees

Because employee monitoring and re-screening potentially involve a great deal of information, many companies choose to manage their time regarding monitoring and re-screening activities. It is common for a company to step up its monitoring or re-screening, for example, during any of the following events:

• Change in employment status.

  If a worker transfers to another department, takes on a different job role, or returns from a leave of absence, re-screening or monitoring their status can provide valuable insight.

• Consideration for promotion.

  A worker taking a promotion is also taking on a new range of responsibilities. If a prior background check focused only on those elements essential to a particular role, re-screening may be necessary to ensure the worker will be prepared for a new role.

• During an employee investigation.

  At times, it becomes necessary to investigate an employee’s role in a workplace event, such as an accident. Monitoring and re-screening data can inform managers’ perspectives.

• After a merger or acquisition.

  Monitoring employees for a period of time after a merger or acquisition, or re-screening key workers, can help an organization ensure the transition goes smoothly.

Finding Assistance With Monitoring and Re-Screening Tasks

Workforce monitoring and re-screening can be time-intensive, but it doesn’t have to be. The right tools and support can help ensure that your human resources professionals know what’s changing among your workforce without devoting undue time and effort to the process.

Chane Solutions can help your organization implement effective monitoring and re-screening processes. Technological tools like ChaneCheck help your organization understand your employees’ needs, stay compliant, and monitor ongoing changes in your workforce and legal and regulatory demands.