How to Create a Fair and Transparent Recruitment Process in financially regulated businesses?

Hiring people is a vitally important function in financially regulated businesses. Progressive organisations approach their hiring decisions more as investing in people. Making informed hiring decisions is complicated because employers need to make their hiring decisions based on the limited information available. 

Employers, therefore, conduct background checks which could include: financial regulations checks; employment background checks; education verification; reference checks; criminal history; bankruptcy checks. This requirement becomes especially relevant in the financial services industry since the industry is subject to far greater scrutiny and accountability and is governed by extremely stringent regulations. 

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The regulatory requirements are highly demanding, and punitive consequences of any wrongdoing could potentially shut down operations. Therefore, organisations, especially those providing financial services, engage with background verification companies such as Veremark for reliable background checks of their potential hires.

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Attributes of a Fair Selection Process‍

A fair selection process judges individuals solely on objective criteria—their ability to do the job and not on any extraneous considerations or biases such as race, colour, sex, age, and religion.

A fair and transparent hiring process provides every candidate with a fair and equal opportunity to compete for the position. Background checking through reference checks and identity checks help in keeping the selection process fair. ‍

Additionally, a fair selection process ensures compliance with all local hiring regulations.
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Measures to Implement a Fair Selection Process‍

Conscientious employers adopt measures that ensure fairness of the selection process and guard against including any selection criteria that disadvantage or discriminates against any candidate by undertaking:

• A comprehensive and objective analysis of the job to identify skills, knowledge, and behaviour needed for the job. Identification of the assessment criteria related to the requirements for the job. No criterion superfluous to the requirements of the job is included.
• Design of a suitable assessment process to measure and assess the skills required for the job. Additionally, the adopted assessment process should enable even the candidates to infer the skills or traits that the tests intended to assess.
• Train the HR team and the hiring managers on equal opportunities, employment law, interview skills, diversity, and avoiding conscious/unconscious biases.
• Conduct job interviews that are consistent across candidates and test only the required skills and attitudes. 
• Any rejections are only for not meeting the laid down objective criteria.
• Carry out thorough background checking, and if hiring from abroad, international background checks can be undertaken. 
• At the end of the selection process, the process is validated by checking if the selected people go on to perform well on the job. 
• Meticulous maintenance of documentation at each stage of the process helps counter any legal challenge that might arise. 

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Why Is the Transparency of the Selection Process Important?‍

Just as a job applicant is expected to provide factual details of employment history, education, and skills, the employers are expected to provide a complete and factual description of the advertised job. 

This two-way transparency establishes mutual employer-employee trust. Employer transparency enhances the engagement of the employees with the organisation’s goals. ‍

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The Making of a Transparent Selection Process‍

Transparency in the hiring process helps attract the best talent. Bad hires are expensive and disrupt workplace morale. Some simple measures can help in making the selection process transparent:

• Quirky job titles appear “cool” but cannot substitute a well-written job description. Job descriptions should include complete details of responsibilities, skills, educational requirements, and other background information required for the hiring decision. 
• Disclose salary/salary range - aligning salary expectations saves employer and candidate time spent on queries and clarifications.
• Indicate the expected process timeline, number of rounds of interviews, reference checks, etc.; this helps reduce candidate correspondence seeking clarifications on these issues.
• Make employee reviews available to potential hires; the best talent values employers who are transparent about their strengths and weaknesses. 
• For candidates who do not make the cut—while apprising them of their strengths, also provide them with constructive feedback on their weaknesses and areas of improvement. This is demonstrative of the firm’s genuine interest in its growth and success. 

While the performance judges businesses and organisations that they can demonstrate, a fair and transparent selection process speaks for what the organisation stands for. Together with the performance results, it brightens the organisation’s brand value.

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