Keri Caldwell’s path to a position with Accurate was prompted by a former colleague who encouraged her to apply for an open position. At that time, about 9 ½ years ago, she had been working at a company that manufactured ankle bracelets and monitored people who were on house arrest.

Initially, she worked in a role as an integrations analyst, handling integration projects with applicant tracking systems. But she wasn’t in that role long. About six months after joining Accurate, the person she was reporting to left the company creating an opening and an opportunity to step in to take on a very large custom integration project for a very large enterprise organization.

“I ended up handling their project and they actually gave me a performance award from their organization,” Keri recalls. “It was a great organization to work with,” she says. Years later she still comes into contact with employees she worked with back then. “They have a lot of long-term employees as well,” she says. That project, she says, was her first success story with Accurate and something she is very proud of.

But she’s also proud of the work she and her team have been able to do in building the onboarding team.

Streamlining and Standardizing the Onboarding Process

Today Keri manages the team responsible for client onboarding—welcoming them and helping them to make the right transitions and connections to integrate Accurate’s background check system into their other systems. When clients come to work with Accurate, they bring along with them some time of applicant tracking system, or ATS, Keri explains. That system then needs to be integrated with Accurate so that the application process is streamlined and seamless for clients.  “Integration keeps them from having to rekey a lot of information as people progress through the hiring process,” she says.

The department is a new one that draws upon much of the work Keri did in integrations, but in this new role, she’s been able to work with her team to streamline and standardize processes—both to better meet customer needs and to create greater efficiencies for Accurate. One example is the creation of an area on Sharepoint where people around the organization can easily get access to the information and documents they need. “I’m pretty proud of what we’ve been able to build out so that people are able to come to our page and find what they’re looking for with ease,” she says.

Candy Brackets

Keri’s onboarding team is very tight-knit, she says. Most team members have been promoted from within. “We try to promote from within as much as possible because in onboarding that knowledge transfer is invaluable,” she says. People coming from other operational areas of the company provide a good foundation or knowledge for the team.

The team works hard but they like to have fun as well. They’re often coming up with engaging ways to bring the group together and learn more about each other. Like a gingerbread contest during the holidays, trivia competitions, and even a “candy bracket” championship around Halloween, based on the popular college basketball brackets that take place every spring. “They just run with this kind of stuff,” she says.

All About the Culture

Accurate’s culture initially attracted Keri to the organization and it’s what has kept her there. It’s a family-like culture, she says, and that’s important. “Where you work is where you spend the majority of your time,” Keri says. “It’s important to feel like you’re part of the team and that you’re connected to a common goal and making a difference.”

Accurate’s culture is built on four core values pillars that unify the company with a common purpose, define where they’re headed, indicate what they’ll do to get there, what they believe in, and how they will behave with each other and their customers. They are:

• Take ownership: be accountable for your actions, your team, and the company.
• Be open: be open to new ideas.
• Stay curious: stay curious even as you move forward.
• Work as one: work together to create the best customer and workplace experience.

Keri’s response to a question about which of these pillars most resonates with her is a testament to interconnected they are. It’s hard to tease out anyone that’s more important than the others.

Importantly, though, the culture is built by the people and, by and large, Accurate people love what they do, but also like to have fun, with each other and with their clients. From Keri’s team to the rest of the departments within the organization, collaboration, communication, and camaraderie are the name of the game.