HireRight, a leading provider of global employment background checks has released findings from its 2018 Global Enterprise Spotlight Report. The Spotlight Report features insights from HireRight’s 2018 Employment Screening Benchmark survey, focusing on companies with more than 2,500 employees in the US; Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Asia Pacific (APAC).
The report reveals that hiring forecasts are strong on a global level, with the strongest projections in APAC, where 39 per cent of enterprises expect to increase their workforce by 6 per cent or more. Similarly, in EMEA, 33 per cent of large companies plan to grow by 6 per cent or more. In the US, projections are slightly lower, with 31 per cent of enterprises expecting to increase the size of their workforce by 3 to 5 per cent.
Respondents shared the challenges they are facing in meeting these goals:
- Making HR processes more efficient was found to be a top concern for EMEA and APAC enterprise companies, with 61 per cent and 46 per cent citing the challenge, respectively.
- Finding qualified job candidates was a top concern for US enterprises, with 55 per cent citing the challenge.
- Forty-six percent of companies in EMEA and APAC said creating a strong brand and distinct company culture to attract talent is a challenge. Only 26 per cent of US respondents agreed.
Investment priorities across regions were reflective of the major challenges faced:
- Making HR processes more efficient was a top investment priority in the US (64 per cent) and APAC (68 per cent), and 58 per cent of APAC companies indicated that adding more technology may be part of their plan to improve acquiring and managing talent.
- US respondents said they plan to prioritize finding and retaining qualified employees (59 per cent reported both as priorities).
- Finding qualified candidates was more of a priority to EMEA than APAC (55 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively), while the response was reversed when it comes to retaining good employees (42 per cent in EMEA and 46 per cent in APAC).
“The findings from our Global Enterprise Spotlight Report illustrate that large companies are facing talent shortages on a global level, the specific challenges they’re facing and the strategies they’re using to overcome the shortages vary by region,” said Guy Abramo, chief executive officer at HireRight. “HR departments are finding that it is important to be flexible and forward-looking in their recruiting, hiring and retention strategies, and that background screening supports these goals by finding more qualified candidates and increasing safety, security and compliance. Employing a comprehensive background screening program will allow companies to continue focusing on increasing their workforces while helping to mitigate risk.”
Across all regions, companies consistently cited better quality of hires, more consistent safety and security, and improved regulatory compliance as the top three benefits of background checks. At least 96 per cent of respondents in every region reported finding misrepresentations on resumes. The EMEA region led with 49 per cent of respondents saying that at least 11 per cent of individuals misrepresented information on their resumes or job applications.
The type of screens used for international job candidates are consistent across regions but differ in their priority and subjects.
- More US respondents conduct global criminal background checks than their counterparts in other regions; while EMEA companies prioritise global education checks and APAC organisations emphasise global work experience/reference checks.
- Notably, EMEA was far more likely to screen employees hired for financial roles than other regions (EMEA: 22 per cent; APAC: 13 per cent; US: 10 per cent).
- Almost 90 per cent of all regions report screening contingent, contract or temporary workers.
