In a working world where we are more remote from our colleagues than ever, monitoring unethical behaviours in the workplace is becoming a mammoth task for HR.
According to the most recent Fraudscape report from Cifas, ‘despite lower levels of recruitment, there were notable filings of dishonest actions and disclosing personal information to third parties.’
Although we’ve seen the physical distance caused by the pandemic, corporate crime has still been hitting close to home, impacting employers financially and reputationally. Cases of identity fraud, misuse of facility, facility takeover and insider threats have been discussed in the Cifas annual report.
Throughout 2020 Cifas members still recorded 309,849 cases of fraudulent conduct to the NFD, which is one case every two minutes.
Further, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has highlighted that public sector corruption steals $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion per year from the global economy in bribes and related costs.
This type of corporate crime is evidently common, affecting businesses of any size, in any location and industry. Insights such as this beg the question, ‘what can we do to protect our business from corruption?’
As the virtual workplace is now normality for many employees, consistent and repeat screening tools can be a helpful addition to the HR function, encouraging workers to act appropriately. Although we are pre-employment experts, we specialise in repeat screening too, with knowledge in several sectors across the globe.
Stay ahead of business corruption with professional practices that are becoming increasingly commonplace in businesses just like yours, with screening practices that can help fight corruption within the workplace.
Here are a few ways in which screening can support your business as an anti-corruption tool:
Red Flags
A code of ethics is key to any successful company, encouraging integrity from staff at all levels – particularly those in charge of data and finance. Sometimes required by industry bodies, annual employee rescreening can promote an environment of accountability, whilst hindering negative actions from staff such as unusual and unethical arrangements with clients and suppliers.
Staff Whistleblowing
Encouraging whistleblowing via an anonymous reporting system helps uncover bribery and corruption within businesses. In order to be fair to employees, it is important to outline this to all staff in a relative policy, whilst flagging that management investigation and police referral and inquiries are all possible results for those committing offences.
Annual staff rescreening can encourage staff to speak up to protect the business, whilst encouraging others to think twice before committing offences.
Criminal Record Checks
Criminal record checks are an important part of any background checking process, whether pre-employment or during the rescreening of employees. In the UK, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are used to confirm whether a candidate has any records of convictions, cautions, reprimands or final warnings. Completing these checks can act as an anti-corruption tool, encouraging employees to act within the law whilst in the workplace.
Vero is registered with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to conduct basic, standard and enhanced criminal record checks in England and Wales. We also have a relationship with Disclosure Scotland to process checks in Scotland. This means we can run basic, standard and enhanced criminal background checks on potential employees, throughout the UK.
Due Diligence
Due diligence is an important part of working with suppliers. We can conduct a number of background checks on your chosen suppliers to protect your business’ reputation. Risk assessments on all kinds of workers are becoming increasingly necessary to ensure that risks are minimised when working with third parties.
Repeat Processes
Initial screening whilst onboarding new staff members is common in this day and age, but increasingly so is having a rescreening policy. Annual efforts to review staff and their behaviours can keep you safe and in the know, allowing you to feel secure that you’ve done all you can to prevent bribery and corruption in the workplace.
