A note from Shawn (CEO, deverus Inc.),

The 4^th annual Pre-employment Screeners Conference will be held from November 13 to 16^th It should be a great show. If you will be attending we invite you to stop by our booths.

We would love to meet you and explain how our technology, experience and expertise can help you diversify, compete and grow in a changing marketplace.

In the mean time enjoy the news and best wishes!

Click here for Shawn's Article

Again, thank you for your interest in our newsletter. I look forward to sharing our industry knowledge and personal views with you each month. I would also appreciation suggestions, comments, and thoughts. You can email me at shawn@deverus.com

Accurate Background, Inc. Introduces Web-based Online Verification ...
… Accurate Background, Inc., a leading provider of international employmentscreening services, announced today its patent pending Internet Verification ...

Private Schools May Check Workers …
High school referees, vending machine deliverymen and plumbers have to undergo extensive criminal backgroundchecks now under a new sex offender ...

KT Associates: New Pre-Employmentscreening service …
...ERI is a pre-employmentscreening method used widely in the USA since 1986 and is suitable for any level of employee from shop floor staff to managers. ...

Compli and AbsoluteHire Partner to Develop Enhanced Liability ...
…The two companies will integrate into the Compli DLMS system the AbsoluteHire applicant tracking and pre-employmentscreening software. ...

Integrated Screening Partners Announces Unprecedented " ...
…Integrated Screening Partners, Texas' leading provider of pre-employmentscreening and background checks, officially announced today an unprecedented four ...

i-BackgroundChecks.com Provides Advice on Criminal Background ...
... In order to limit the likelihood of negligence lawsuits, employers should consider criminal background checks as a standard pre-employmentscreening tool. ...

Info Cubic's Next Generation EmploymentScreening System …
… Info Cubic has launched an innovative new employmentscreening system that eliminates an employer's costs associated with background checks. ...

First Advantage Acquires Road Manager Financial Services, Inc. ..
... First Advantage's portfolio of trucking-related services, including motor vehicle records, business credit reporting, employmentscreening, substance abuse

HireRight Expands Background Screening Services to More Than 200 ...
... of how critical background verifications outside the US are, and as a result, global checks are one of the fastest growing services in employmentscreening. ...

i-BackgroundChecks.com Explains the Need for Employment Background ...
... Another type of pre-employment background check included in the "investigative consumer report ... or associates and is an approved method of screening under the ...

Shawn's Article

Building The Business Case For Background Check Data Integration

Part II

Cost Savings

One of the first things to look at when determining the ROI on an integration is cost savings. The questions are: Will this particular integration save you money? How will this integration save you money? Will the cost savings be tangible or intangible?

It is important to understand the difference between tangible and intangible because they are a valuable means for measuring a thorough ROI. For our purposes “tangible” means something that is capable of being identified and valued through observation. An example of tangible cost savings would be looking at your data entry process and associating the number of hours worked with the amount of data entered. If you changed the process and found that you decreased the number of hours worked and increased the amount of data entered, you would say you saw a tangible cost savings for implementing that process.

For our purposes “intangible” means something that cannot be directly seen or evaluated but in the long run somehow saves costs. An example of intangible cost savings would be the perception your employees have that your integration improves accuracy so they spend less time worrying about possible errors and focus more on being proactive in customer service. Although you cannot tie a direct value to this benefit, you know that it is there and end the saves your money.

If an integration is done correctly you should notice one major benefit immediately: a dramatic reduction in the amount of data entry because the two systems are tied together passing data freely, 24/7 365, without human intervention. The thing to do now is list all the tangible benefits associated with this outcome.

If you achieve a successful integration, then you can expect the following tangible costs savings:

• Reduced Manpower for Manual Processing (Time)
• Reduced Resource Needs: Paper, Hardware, etc. (Materials)
• Reduced Service Needs: Long Distance, Telephones, etc. (Services)
• Reduced Customer Service Calls Requesting Status (Time)

These areas should be closely examined and potential benefits calculated based on real dollar amounts saved. For example, you can calculate how many hours it takes for a data entry person to process a certain number of requests daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly, and then multiply the number times their hourly wage and you get the amount paid for this process.

If you have two employees spending 8 hours daily entering requests, 40 hours weekly, with hourly wages of $10 per hour, your costs are $38,400 a year. If you can find an integration into a data source then you have the potential of eliminating most if not all of the data entry associated with these positions.

The point is whether it’s a decrease in customer service calls or saving money in long distance, you should be able to tie a direct monetary value to it and compare the costs associated with the way you are currently doing it versus having an integration. .

Now we can make a list of all the intangible costs savings as a result of our integration:

• Improved Accuracy
• Faster Return Times
• Better Security

Although it is difficult to tie a direct number to improved accuracy, you know that over all you should see a decrease in customer service calls and hassles associated with inaccurate reporting due to data entry mistakes. One of the major cost savings benefits, however, is liability. If you improve your accuracy then you are less likely to be exposed to liability issues. This is a perfect example of an intangible benefit because we never know exactly how much it will cost us if we are the subject of a liability case, but we know that potentially it can be devastating. Having peace of mind because your data is handled less and thus increasing accuracy is an intangible benefit of an integration.

Faster return times can be tangible and intangible because on the one hand you can add up all the hours your staff is spending on checking status or dealing with the slow results and comparing the numbers to what would happen if an integration dramatically reduced phone calls. On the other hand, faster return times can lead to intangible cost savings because it is difficult to determine how much money you can save from your staff being able to focus on proactive customer service, sales, or further streamlining processes, rather than making status check calls.

The important thing to note is that there are both tangible and intangible cost savings that need to be considered when doing a proper ROI on integrations. We can determine the tangible benefits by observing and calculating all the direct cost savings from eliminating data entry. We can determine the intangible benefits by looking at the indirect cost savings associated with the bi-products of eliminating data entry including improved return times, accuracy, and security.

We’ve talked about the potential costs savings of a successful integration. It’s also important to discuss the potential hidden expenses.

One of the main expenses associated with integrations is programming time and maintenance. For an integration to work, careful design, development and execution must be put into the effort. This can take a lot of time and money. Some integrations can take between one week and three months depending on the resource available on both sides of the integration. This means that even if you have the best programmers committed to making the project successful in a short time frame, the project is still dependent on the other side. If they are not committed to the same goals, then your project can take much longer and cost much more than expected. It’s good practice to know who you are working with, their available resources, time frame, and most important their track record for getting projects completed on time.

Once the integration is built, maintenance will still be a key issue. You will want to have the technical resources, expertise, and time to make sure that the integration is running error free. This means constant testing on both ends. This will take more expensive resources than data entry although once the integration is running; the time for testing should be minimal. Depending on the complexity, it shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours monthly.

In order to make sure that the cost savings outweigh the technical disadvantages you need to make sure that your technology team knows how to integrate and can give you a solid time and cost estimate, then hold them to it. Once you have this number you should be able to compare cost savings versus expenses.

Enhanced Operational Performance

The second criteria for determining the ROI on an integration is enhanced operational performance. We highlighted some of what follows in our cost savings ROI. It is mostly repeated to continually stress all the tangible and intangible benefits that need to be considered when developing a true ROI for integrations. When we say operational performance we are talking about all the benefits of efficiency and productivity.

The best thing to do to figure out whether your integration enhances your operational performance is list all the possible benefits associated with increased productivity and efficiency. Make sure that your list is limited to things that will be truly impacted by the integration. You will want to include things like:

• Improved Customer Service
• Employees Focusing on Revenue Increasing Projects
• Improved Relationship with Vendors
• More Competitive
• Lower Overall Costs
• Higher Margins

Although mostly intangible, the above benefits are extremely important when determining the ROI on integrations. When properly evaluated, many have exponential benefits that can actually determine the success of your overall business.

Let’s follow the reasoning. If more efficiency and productivity through an integration allows your employees to focus on revenue increasing projects instead of reactive vendor management, then you can utilize these employees to help execute on strategies that actually move you closer to your overall goals. The result should make you more efficient, productive, and competitive.

For example, perhaps you have a few customer service people who are great on the phone. Instead of having these people focused on the reactive process of status checking whether on the customer or vendor end, you could have them validating your superior services by calling customers and asking them what they like about your service, what could be improved, etc. They could then generate reports for sales and management to discuss ways on improving your overall offerings. This is just one way you could use freed up resources on revenue enhancement instead of reactive processes. The question is how much intangible value do you get from these freed up resources? Is it enough to justify an integration that would increase efficiency and productivity?

When looking at enhanced operational performance it’s good to take a deep look at how an integration will impact every department’s overall efficiency and productivity. If you can see where an intangible benefit like a competitive edge or a redistribution of resources will result in exponential gains, then the ROI could be made on this case alone. This is why it is important to consider as many factors as possible when determining whether an integration is worth the effort in the short and long term.

In the next issue we will visit how integrations can help with industry compliance and overall customer satisfaction. The final part will focus on how integrations can help connect background check suppliers to new marketplaces and be an important tool for achieving short and long term corporate goals. Stay tuned!!