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Description of Pre-Employment Screening Tools

Below are descriptions of various screening tools, including type ofinformation, why the information is important, and their limitations:

Criminal Record Search
What? Felony and misdemeanor convictions, and pending cases, usually including date and nature of offense, sentencing date, disposition, and current status. A search generally goes back seven years. Employers can also search federal court records.

It is critical to search both for felonies and misdemeanors in state court, since many serious violations can be classified as misdemeanors.
Why? Critical information to protect your business and employees. Protects employer from negligent hiring exposure and helps reduce threat of workplace violence, theft, disruption and other problems. Failure to honestly disclose a prior criminal conviction can also be the basis not to hire. Many employers check all jurisdictions where an applicant has lived, worked or studied in the past seven years.
Limits Some restrictions on having certain information (such as arrests not resulting in convictions), or certain minor offenses. Employment cannot be automatically denied based upon a criminal record, but must show some sound business reason. Contrary to popular perception, criminal records are not available by computer nationwide. Background firms must check the public records at each individual county courthouse that is potentially relevant.

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Driver’s License Search
What? Driving history and verification of driving privilege.
Why? Gives insight into applicant’s level of responsibility. Determine whether applicant keeps commitments to appear in court or pay fines, has a drug/alcohol problem, and license status. Also helps verify identity. “Driving for work” is very broadly defined in most jurisdictions and is not limited to driving positions.
Limits This information can be accessed by an outside agency on an employer’s behalf. The alternative is having applicants personally go to the DMV to obtain their own records, which is not practical and is subject to fraud.

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Social Security Number Check/Identity
What? Provides names and addresses associated with the applicant’s social security number, and may indicate any fraudulent use. May verify other applicant information.
Why? Helps verify that applicants are who they say they are. Assists in determining where to conduct criminal searches. Critical to ensure employer is not the victim of a fraudulent application by someone with something to hide.
Limits Where employer does not have a sound business reason to obtain a business credit report, the social security check gives information to help confirm identity and to uncover fraud.

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Credit Report
What? Credit history and public records such as judgements, liens and bankruptcies. May include previous employers, addresses and other names used. 
Why? Helps determine whether an employee is suitable for a position involving handling cash or the exercise of financial discretion, as well as a possible way to gauge trustworthiness and reliability.
Limits A credit report should only be requested when it is specifically relevant to a job function and the employer has appropriate policies and procedures in place to ensure that the use of credit reports are relevant and fair.

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Employment Verification
What? Basic verification includes dates of employment, job title and reason for leaving. Some employers will verify salary. Usually obtained from HR or Payroll. Some employers have the information recorded on a 900 service.
Why? This information confirms your applicant’s resume, and verifies their previous job history. Helps eliminate any unexplained gaps in employment, which ensures that appropriate jurisdictions have been checked for criminal records. Critical to verify past employment even if past employers will not give a reference. 
Limits Employers are often hesitant to give recommendations and may limit prior employment checks to the basic information. This service can be limited if not allowed to contact current employer, if past employer is out of business or cannot be located, or if employee was working through an agency.

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Employment Reference
What? This is a more in-depth reference check that seeks job duties, performance, salary, strengths and weaknesses, eligibility for rehire, and other detailed information. 
Why? Allows an employer to have a realistic assessment of a candidate from former employers. It promotes a better fit, confirms the hiring opinion and protects the expensive hiring investment.
Limits Although most employers would like references, few will give them due to concerns over legal liability. However, an employer should still attempt to obtain references in order to demonstrate Due Diligence.

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Personal Reference Check
What? Contact personal references to ascertain additional information about your applicant concerning fitness for the job in question.
Why? Personal references can provide valuable information as to a person’s character as it relates to the job opening.
Limits Reference should be asked about relationship to the applicant in order to evaluate the information. Can also contact “developed” references for a better picture. 

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Education Verification
What? Will confirm degrees, diplomas or certificates and dates attended.
Why? Confirms education and ability to do the job.
Limits Industry sources show that 30% of all job applicants falsify information about their educational background. Some schools require a fee, or will only fax to an 800 number.

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Professional Licenses
What? The type of license, whether currently valid, dates issued, state and licensing authority.
Why? Confirms whether an applicant has the required credentials or licenses.
Limits There is a high incidence of job applicants making up or falsifying licenses or credentials.

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Civil Records
What? Date of filing, case type, case number or file record, jurisdiction and if available, identity of parties involved.
Why? Discover whether your applicant has sued former employers or has been sued for reasons that are relevant to employment.
Limits An employer should use this information where it is relevant to job performance. It is advisable to have standard policies and procedures for use.

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Worker’s Compensation
What? Information about Worker’s Compensation Claims and previous injuries.
Why? Employers use data to conduct post-job offer review in compliance with strict standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Limits Federal and state laws regulate the use of these records. Employer should contact labor attorney before obtaining.

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©Lester S. Rosen, Employment ScreeningResources, 2001. 


The information contained here is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion.

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Checklist for Safe Hiring

The following could be placed in every applicant’s file prior to applicantcoming onto premises:

Applicant:
Position:
Location:


Task Yes/No Date/Initial Notes
Application Process
Did applicant sign consent for background investigation?      
Is application complete?      
Did applicant sign and date application?      
Did applicant leave criminal questions blank?      
Did applicant indicate a criminal record?      
Did applicant explain why he or she had left pas jobs?      
Did applicant explain gaps in job history?      
Did applicant clearly identify previous employers?      
Did applicant provide supervisor names?      
Were there excessive changes?      
Interview
Did applicant explain excessive changes?      
Leaving past jobs: Did applicant explain satisfactorily?      
Leaving past jobs: Was reason consistent with application?      
Employment gaps: Did applicant explain satisfactorily?      
Employment gaps: Explanations consistent with application?      
“Our firm has a standard policy of background checks and drug tests on all applicants. Do you have any concerns you would like to share with me about our procedure?”     Response:
“When we contact past employers, pursuant to the release you have signed, would any of them tell us you were terminated, disciplined, or not eligible for rehire?”     Response:
“When we contact past employers, pursuant to the release you have signed, what do you think they would tell us about you?”     Response:
“When we contact the courthouse or police department, would we locate any criminal convictions or pending cases?”     Response:
Reference Checks
(by employer or third party)
Have references been checked for at least the last five years, regardless of whether past employers will give details?      
Have efforts been documented and placed in the file?      
Discrepancies between information located and what applicant reported on application:
a. dates/salary/job title/duties
b. reason for leaving		      
Background Check
Submitted for background check?      
Check completed?     By:
Background check reviewed for discrepancies/issues      
NOT CLEAR or SATISFACTORY, action taken per policy and procedures.     Describe:

Notes (Use back of sheet, if necessary. Initial and date all entries):


 


 


©Lester S. Rosen, Employment ScreeningResources, 2001


The information contained here is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion.

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What to Look for in a Background-checking Company

The perfect fit between a background checking vendor and an employer depends on the employer’s objectives.


There are vendors that will provide a low cost, “down and dirty” search to provide some protection from negligent hiring liability at a low cost. Other vendors provide more extensive and accurate services focused on assisting employers concerned with safety and security or on making the most informed hiring decision.


Regardless of the whether the employer wants the minimum or something more, it should make sure that the vendor complies with all federal and state laws governing employment background checks. The background-checking company should be able to demonstrate its knowledge of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the EEOC, and other federal and state regulations that address employment background checks. It should also be able to demonstrate compliance procedures in place in its company.


One quick measure of compliance with the FCRA is whether or not the company requires you to have an applicant-signed release authorizing the background check before conducting the search. This is an FCRA mandate (along with several other requirements) and no check conducted by a vendor should be completed without having first obtained this authorization.


Additionally, employers should ask the vendor about the legality of its data sources. You certainly don’t want to be the recipient of illegally obtained information.


Of course, make sure you have an attorney familiar with the FCRA review your service agreement, making sure that it specifically describes the services provided, liability, and compliance roles of the parties involved.


Other common selection factors are:


  • Can the company provide all the data that you need to make a hiring decision based on your goals?


  • Can it provide the information in a timely manner?


  • Is the data collected the most accurate available (primary sources)?


  • Does it have a national or regional scope?


  • Does it have sufficient staff to handle the volume they service?


  • Does it offer convenient methods of ordering (Web, software, fax, phone, e-mail, etc.)


  • Does it offer customer service hours for the full business day in your region?


  • Can it provide regulatory guidance (especially the FCRA)?


Source: HireCheck

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The ABCs of Background Checking

For some employers, background checking has been a step taken grudgingly. They order only the bare minimum background check, mainly to protect themselves against claims of negligent hiring. But, like so many things in the world of work, September 11 has opened many employers’ eyes.


Now, a very thorough background check has become the order of the day, says Eric Boden, president and CEO of Irvine-based HireRight.


“Employers are looking at this a little bit differently now,” Boden says. “Before, it was perfunctory, without much thought to quality. Now a number of our customers are asking what can they do to improve quality of the processes on their end, and what other services we have to give them more comfort.”


Background checking can’t give employers everything they want (“There’s no known database for terrorists,” Boden says). But there are databases and sources for many, many other kinds of information: nurses’ aide registries, sex-offender registries and workers’ compensation histories. And, of course, there are the usual — and critical — background checks, done to screen for criminal, employment, and educational history.


Creating a safe, profitable workplace
One expert recommends that HR think about background checking this way: it’s not the last thing you do after selecting a candidate. It should be your first consideration, and the centerpiece of how you organize your hiring, says Les Rosen, an attorney and president of Employment Screening Resources, based on Novato, California.


“Safe hiring takes place well before background report,” he says. “It starts before the first ad goes out.” Rosen calls this a PTA process: You need a program for safe-hiring, training in it, and auditing of it. The auditing ensures that everyone is following the program, he says. (Two tools that Rosen and ESR created, a safe-hiring audit and a safe-hiring checklist, accompany this article.)


Rosen recommends that companies put their safe-hiring commitment front and center: Widely announce that you do background checking. Put it on your Web site. Put it in your classified ads, he says.


The firms that do that have a lower rate of “hits” — that is, background screenings that come back with something negative in them. Rosen says that’s because the announcement of screening has prompted some applicants to opt out so they wouldn’t be scrutinized. Boden says such applicants turn instead to companies that they know don’t do background checking. That’s “adverse selection,” and you don’t want your company to be in that group, he says.


The second advantage of letting people know that a company background screens is that “you encourage applicants to be open about their past indiscretions,” Rosen says. It opens up some frank and important discussions that let employers make better hiring decisions. It might not matter to you that the applicant had a DUI conviction 15 years ago, but at least your candidate has leveled with you about it.


What background checks cost
A comprehensive check, including criminal, employment, education, plus a few other specific checks, typically ranges between $100 and $200, says John Long, president and CEO of HireCheck, based in St. Petersburg, Florida. A basic criminal check could be as little as $25. “It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind,” says Boden.


If your company is very small, and even $150 sounds like a lot, visit Employment Resource Screening‘s Web site, and read “How to Avoid Hiring a Criminal for under $20.”


The cost of not checking
Perhaps, despite September 11, your company still feels that background checking is unnecessary. Perhaps you’re in a small community, and your referrals from current employees, so you feel that you know who you’re hiring. But that attitude is not going to help your company if it’s sued for negligent hiring.


“Because of increasing incidents of workplace violence, more and more governing bodies and courts in the United States have created laws or made rulings regarding employers’ responsibility to make sure they know who they are hiring before they put clients and employees at risk,” says Long. “By conducting a reasonable background check, employers should have the information needed to make better hiring decisions. By not conducting a check, the employer may be subject to lawsuits and crippling penalties and court awards if an unchecked employee commits a crime against a client or fellow employee.”


The average jury award for negligent hiring against a company was $870,390 in 2000, according to Barry J. Nadell, president of Chatsworth, California-based InfoLink Screening Services. Contrast that with the $25 your company would spend on a basic criminal background check.


What to check
The major background checking vendors offer a variety of reports that address the needs of employers in different industries, Long says. Although specific industries have some specialized search reports, the most common background reports include:


  • county criminal (felony only, felony and misdemeanor, misdemeanor only)
  • prior employment verification
  • education verification
  • licensing verification
  • motor vehicle record
  • credit
  • Social Security number
  • reference checks

Employers who are only concerned about avoiding liability will do a minimal search that would be considered “a reasonable” effort by the court system — protecting the employer if a negligent hiring suit arises, Long says. Since “reasonable” has not been defined by law, an employer doing a minimal search is probably protected from negligent hiring claims, Long says.


Typically, this minimal search would include a criminal search in the applicant’s county of residence, along with the counties where he worked and went to school, background checking firms say. Employers also can choose a statewide criminal background check in the state of the employer, but not all states have reliable statewide criminal-record repositories. That means the most reliable criminal checks are done county by county (and there are more than 3,000 jurisdictions in the United States, with more than 10,000 courthouses). There is a national criminal-record database, but it’s for law-enforcement use and isn’t open to background checkers and employers (with the exception of checks for outstanding arrest warrants).


To decide what checks apply to which applicants, employers should look at the jobs people do, and match the check to those classifications. “The reports ordered are dependent on the position, though all positions should be subject to a criminal records check,” Long says. “For instance, there is usually no need to conduct a credit check or an education verification on a forklift operator position who has no contact with corporate assets and possibly limited educational requirements.”


Employers also have flexibility in the extent of the search by choosing how far back they want to research, Long says. For criminal records checks, employers can obtain arrest information back seven years and conviction information back as far as the source can provide. (Note that some states, like California, generally do not permit employers to even ask applicants about arrest backgrounds, let alone consider arrests in the hiring decision. Make sure your background-checking company understands your state’s law.)


For applicants who would earn more than $75,000 in annual salary, an employer is allowed to obtain all information back as far as the source can provide, Long says. Typically, a diligent background check would encompass a minimum of five years on non-criminal searches and the maximum allowable time for criminal records, Long says. Here’s the critical thing to remember about these criminal checks, Rosen says: “The EEOC says you can’t automatically disqualify someone because of a past criminal record. You can take it into consideration, but you have to have a sound business reason” for not hiring someone with a conviction.


Although most background checks are conducted pre-employment, there are instances when periodic checks are in order, Long says. Driving records should be checked periodically for all employees on the road on company time. “Credit reports should be pulled periodically for employees handling company assets to monitor their personal financial condition: sudden improvements may indicate a newfound source of income — perhaps your company coffers,” Long says.


What HR should do as a partner with a background checking company
Here are a few hints for doing your part of the job right.


  • Understand the basics of the federal laws that govern background checks. The primary one is the Fair Credit Reporting Act.


  • Make sure you get two forms of ID. You should already be doing this to complete the INS’s I-9 form. Someone might be able to create a fake driver’s license, but perhaps not that and a passport, or a birth certificate. Without a real identity to check, the background screening company can’t do its job properly.


  • Require applicants to fill out a job application. “Without one, you have no way to collect the information you need,” Rosen says. “You can’t gather information such as, ‘Why did you leave your last job? And ‘Do you have a criminal record?'”


  • Compare the application to the résumé. “Usually people who aren’t truthful forget their stories and make a mistake,” that makes the two documents inconsistent, Boden says.


  • Finally, when the background report comes back, read it. “It may seem very basic, but we have cases where the report isn’t read,” Boden says.


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Table of Contents November 2001

Peacekeeping HR, tech trends for 2002, the power of envy, and more – all in this month’s issue of Workforce magazine! Subscribe Now!

Features

Lessons from a Crisis: How Communication Kept a Company Together
Aon Corporation faced a catastrophe on Sept. 11. In the face of confusion, death, and destruction, its partly planned, partly improvised crisis communication network helped keep the company on its feet. Here are some lessons from Aon’s HR and IT crisis team.
By Patrick J. Kiger
In Uneasy Times, HR Renews Its Peacekeeping Mission
The faces of terrorists fill newspapers and television screens, heightening tensions that can spill over into hate in the workplace. Now is the time for HR to rededicate itself to keeping the peace, through training and open lines of communication.
By Monica Ballard
Make Smarter Business Decisions: Know What Employees Can Do
Developing systems that track employee skills and competencies, from word-processing, to the knack for managing change, is an HR necessity now.
By Samuel Greengard
Why Deep Layoffs Hurt Long-term Recovery
The worker-cutting frenzy pleases Wall Street, but companies that slash too deeply hurt their chances for a strong recovery. HR can help set a saner course.
By Eilene Zimmerman

Special Advertising Section
Technology Trends 2002
Technology is helping organizations recruit, train, run benefits, and manage workflow. It has fundamentally changed how HR does its job – for the better.

Departments
Between the Lines
HR’s work in a darker world.
Mailbox
Getting the Hispanic story right • It takes more than money to motivate
The Buzz
Jim Martin goes from HR hotshot to Jesuit priest • Well Done: Better reviews yield great results • HR & Pop Culture: The unbearable strangeness of temping.
On the Contrary
Shari Caudron remembers a summer of courtesy folds, the Karens she hated, and reflects on the gifts that envy brings.
What Works
It only took a lemonade stand to turn Tom Terez into the kind of command-and-control manager he hates. But his two young business associates set him straight.
Dear Workforce:
Should they rehire the marijuana man? • Sept. 11 aftermath: Who helps HR? • Help for the chronically tardy
Small, Medium, Large
Traditional benefits administration is a paperwork blizzard, and guess who is buried in it? Here’s how HR in three companies dug their way out by putting their processes online. They saved money, time, and untold amounts of aggravation.
Legal Insight
Relocations that move into legal quagmires • A harasser who makes house calls • Discharge after an FMLA leave
Think Twice
You don’t have to move mountains to make a difference in your company. Todd Raphael has some suggestions for quietly radical HR ideas that work.
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Dear Workforce How Do We Compensate A Business Development Specialist

Q

Dear Workforce:


Our start-up company, which provides corporate communications services, wantsto hire a person for a commission-only business development position. Whatguidelines would you suggest to help us calculate a fair commission rate?


— Lacking sufficient historical data, executive,publishing/communication/advertising, Cresskill, New Jersey.


A Dear Lacking:


Be prepared to consider the following issues:

  1. What influence does the business development person have on sales? Doesthe incumbent open doors, close sales, or generate leads?

  2. Does the business development person (if selling) have control oversetting prices and ultimately profitability or does this come from elsewhere?

  3. Is the business one that requires selling, or will the businessdevelopment person merely be involved in order taking?

  4. What is the length of the selling cycle?

  5. Are sales recurring, or one time only?

These fundamental issues affect the design of commission plans regardless ofwhether it is in early stages of development or after there is cash flow. Asliding scale generally works better when successive sales are easier or moredifficult (remember, the scale may slide in either direction depending on thebusiness needs).


Conceptually, the commission program is about sharing a portion of theprofits from a sale with the individual who generated it. The degree of sharingis typically driven by the unique expertise required to produce results withinthe confines of what a business developer can control. For instance, the greaterthe value success is to the company in this area, the larger the commission thatwill need to be paid. It’s also important to remember that should any of thefactors that influence commissions change, the underlying commission schedule ormethodology may change also.


A good starting point is to determine what an appropriate pay would be foraverage performance, model it into sales and profit objectives and then leverageit for better-than average and less-than average results. If the businessdevelopment person also has control of pricing and/or profitability the scheduleshould be adjusted to reflect this.


SOURCE: Howard Goldsmith, VicePresident, The SegalCompany, New York, N.Y.,May 30, 2001.


LEARN MORE: See “HR 101: Compensation“


The information contained in this article is intended to provide usefulinformation on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice ora legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

Ask a Question

Dear Workforce Newsletter
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Even in Hard Times, SAS Keeps Its Culture Intact

For many companies, it’s farewell, free soda. Good-bye, beer and pizza. So long,special training. The economic slump is moving many companies to reduce — orentirely eliminate — nontraditional perks established in recent years to attractand retain workers, according to research firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas.But at the SAS Institute, the world’s largest privately held software company,the M&M’s are still flowing freely.


    Renowned for its employee benefits and winner of several “best place towork” honors over its 25-year history — including a Workforce OptimasAward for general excellence in 2000 — SAS is making headlines as one of thefew high-tech companies that aren’t laying people off.


    Unlike Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, and other big high-tech firms, SAS hasn’t handedout a single pink slip. “Like many companies, we have slowed down hiringrecently, but our approach has been a little bit different,” says SAS spokesmanJohn Dornan. “(CEO) Jim Goodnight has always tried to limit head-countgrowth to about 12 percent a year. That’s why the company — while it may nothave had the skyrocketing growth of some tech companies — has always averageddouble-digit revenue growth annually.”


    Nor has the company cut any of its celebrated employee perks. Its Cary, NorthCarolina, headquarters boasts four subsidized child-care centers, an on-sitehealth-care facility with a staff of 38, and a 55,000-square-foot fitness centerwith an indoor pool. Employees at other locations enjoy subsidized child-carebenefits at centers of their choosing, and the company picks up the tab fortheir fitness club memberships.


    Then there are the free refreshments. SAS is widely known for its “breakstations,” which are stocked with breakfast pastries, fruits, six varietiesof snack crackers, and soda, juice, coffee, and tea. Every floor also has freeM&M’s served in bowls that are replenished on Wednesdays. The company goesthrough an estimated 22 tons of M&M’s annually. The Cary headquarters alsooffers employee conveniences like on-site car detailing, massage, dry-cleaningpickup and delivery, and a hair salon.


    Even the simplest perk is part of a highly developed business strategy designedto attract and retain employees, and to reduce the cost of turnover. How canSAS afford all this largesse?


    “Knowledge-based companies need knowledge workers,” says CEO Goodnight.”Looking at … services that keep employees motivated, loyal, and doingtheir best work as merely an expense and not an investment is, I think, a littleshortsighted.”


    Stanford University researcher Jeffrey Pfeffer has studied SAS extensively.He estimates that the company saves over $70 million per year as a result ofits low turnover.


    “You can pay that money to employees in the form of benefits, or you canpay headhunters and corporate trainers to fund the revolving door of peoplecoming in and out,” Goodnight says. “To me, it’s a no-brainer.”


    At SAS, each benefit is studied and reviewed before it is implemented, to makesure it fits with the company’s culture and is cost-effective, Dornan says.


    The plan seems to be working. Sales at the 8,000-employee organization areup 10 percent this year. Goodnight expects they’ll reach $1.2 billion in 2001.That pays for a lot of M&M’s.


    “I think our history has shown that taking care of employees has made thedifference in how employees take care of our customers,” Goodnight says.”With that as our vision, the rest takes care of itself.”


Workforce, October 2001, p. 21 — Subscribe Now!

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The Keys Are Within Reach

The future of your organization is directly linked to your employees’depth of experience and their skill sets, especially with those employees whoknow the business inside out and can solve difficult problems. What will happenif one or more key players leave the company? Are you equipped to identify andprepare talented candidates for succession?


    Analytical people-planning software applications canprovide business intelligence about talent at all levels. From recruitment andorganizational development to affirmative-action applications, they enhancea company’s ability to attract, develop and retain the most talented people.


    By leveraging technology, you can reduce time to hire,cost per hire, and have a plan in place to deploy the right person in the rightposition at the right time. Web-based applications can integrate every aspectof these processes to simplify and streamline the process.


    This technology can allow your HR team to collect essentialfacts about potential and current employees (performance, education, competencies,training, and career paths, for instance) and then seamlessly analyze and disseminatethe information. Recruiters in any location around the world can then sharethe information, enhance productivity and quickly place the right people. Thefinal result: your organization will expend fewer resources to attain, train,and retain critical talent. Call Peopleclick today for your recruiting, organizationaldevelopment and affirmative-action needs: (877) 820-4400.

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Keeping Expatriates Safe

Safety abroad always is a top priority. But personal security for American expatriates, international business travelers, and foreign expats working for American firms catapulted to the top of the list for global HR managers on September 11.


Of course, you can hire a security firm to help you create an entire program with complete crisis management planning and evacuation assistance, but if you don’t have the budget and need to take steps today, you can still do a lot to protect your international assignees and business travelers.


What you can do today
Find out where all of your expats are right now. This may sound simplistic, but you’d be surprised to discover how many HR managers and security directors don’t know exactly where everyone is. Once you know where they are, you need to create a system to continually update that information.


Next, everyone needs to know who they will contact-either a specific person or a dedicated crisis team-to report their whereabouts during times of tension. When an incident triggers an alert (and the organization should establish what those triggering events are), each person also should know who they need to contact to report on their location and safety.


Make sure your assignees know how to conduct themselves. “Give them simple, common-sense advice, says Elaine Carey, senior vice president of Washington DC-based Control Risks Group. “Tell them not to advertise that they’re American or from an American company. Don’t wear Nike or Reebok or some such symbol emblazoned on everything. Dress down, don’t wear a lot of jewelry, and don’t look like you have a lot of money.”


Employees should take a good look at their routine and use common sense. For example, if they hear some noise or disturbance somewhere, oftentimes expats are curious and want to take a look. But it is wiser to remember that an American in a foreign location these days isn’t always safe. Instead, go the other way. Move to a distance away from the disturbance, to a safe place, until it is possible to ask someone who understands the local culture and indicates that it is safe.


Furthermore, tell your employees to be sure that someone knows where they are at all times, especially in locations that are potentially volatile. Be sure that managers know where employees are staying (if in a hotel), what office they’re working out of on a particular day, and what clients they’re seeing each day.


Use government resources. The United States Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs issues a variety of warnings and travel information all the time. Be sure your program managers and expats know about the service, and consult it frequently.


Create a phone tree. Unfortunately, this isn’t the time to fully rely on the U.S. Embassy. Usually, it is a good source of assistance, but have your assignees create alternatives just in case the governmental agencies cannot perform the kinds of duties they usually do. If you can, try to help them construct a phone tree within the community where everyone has a few people to call in case of an emergency.


Next steps to take
Find out what other companies are doing. New York-based KPMG conducted a Web-based survey of global employers starting September 28, to get an idea of what international companies are doing and thinking. Over 60 organizations participated. “We were getting many nervous calls from our clients asking what other companies were doing…people are conscious of overreacting, but they don’t want to under-react either,” says Timothy Dwyer, national director of KPMG’s International HR Consulting Services.


The most surprising thing, he says, is that companies do not know what they should do in a crisis. In fact, only 12 percent of the participants had specific emergency plans in place for locations where they have expat employees. This is surprising because three years ago, when there was instability in Indonesia, many global HR leaders viewed it as a time when their procedures were shown to be lacking. As now, many then didn’t know how many people they had living in the location, nor how many were there on business trips. They expressed a desire to improve their preparedness. But apparently, that desire wasn’t carried out.


“If I were a program manager, one of the first things to do would be to contact other companies in the area and figure out what they are doing,” says Dwyer. “One of the lessons from Indonesia was to make use of others’ networks in the event of an emergency.” For example, if a large company has chartered a plane to evacuate their people, a smaller company might buy a seat or two on it for their employees.


How to find which other companies are in your region? Ask the expats. The expat community is very small, and they will know a large percentage of the firms that are operating in the countries where they’re located. In addition, you can ask your tax-consulting firm.


Become familiar with places to which you’re sending people. Program managers need to be informed about these regions, countries and cities. The more expertise you have, the better off your employees are. It’s easy. Use governmental information sources such as the State Department resources listed below, travel and educational Web sites including Lonely Planet and Infoplease, and general media outlets. These can lead you to other expert resources to deepen your knowledge about the countries’ cultures.


You can also begin by buying a map. Don’t laugh, but many managers don’t know where-specifically-the expats live in a given territory or city. For example, what is the proximity of expat community to the American Embassy or consulate? Where are the American schools and clubs? Where is the airport? Are there areas of risk nearby?


One of the anomalies of this current crisis is that normally very safe locations, such as London and Paris, also carry a degree of risk for Americans. Currently, American Embassies or American Cultural Institute are just not very safe places to be hanging out these days. Post the map, and mark the locations of your people, your facilities, and key American institutions with push pins.


Create a crisis team and a crisis plan. “If organizations have expatriates, they should have a crisis team,” says Ray O’Hara, VP of the Western Region of Pinkerton Security. “This team becomes the eyes and ears and should be able to make sound business decisions regarding the movement of people.” The team consists of senior managers, including HR, legal, security, PR, but not the CEO or president because in a crisis, the team needs to be making decisions about expats and not be distracted by other strategic issues.


The team should meet to create a crisis plan about what to do in the event of a disaster. The team must then discuss scenarios with what-ifs. They should play out the contingencies. For example, what if you need to evacuate people? What airport would you use? What alternatives ways are there to get the people out of the country? Where will they go to be relatively safe if you cannot get them out? What type of communication will you use? What if the telephones don’t work?


This team should also be part of the group that is involved in knowing where people are traveling. They will be the first to know if there is trouble brewing and if there is a reason that employees should not be sent to the location.


Take advantage of security information. Currently, Control Risks Group’s Web site offers a lot of free information and specific guidelines about high-risk locations. You also can subscribe to information services from Control Risks, Kroll, and Pinkerton that will track activity in a variety of locations. They can update you on which neighborhoods or specific locations to avoid during particular periods. For example, there might be the anniversary of an uprising and that’s when there are demonstrations that could turn into riots.


Security firms offer policy development and consulting. They also offer 24-hour-a-day crisis intervention that supplies employees with whatever they need to get to safety.

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What HR Can Learn from PR — and How the Two Can Work Together

At many companies, the public relations department’s job of getting the corporatemessage out is considered a very different function from internal communicationwith employees, which is part of HR’s job. As a result, communications expertssay, there sometimes is little coordination between PR and HR, and the two departmentsmay end up sending messages that are different in substance as well as style.


    In a catastrophic event, that split can become all the more acute. Corporatemanagement may concentrate on crafting the external message, while neglectingthe internal one. “They’ll say, Well, HR can take care of that,” saysWilliam Furlow, a former Los Angeles Times editor who nowworks as a crisis-communications specialist in Tustin, California.


    He says that’s a serious mistake. He recommends that companies give equal attentionto their internal and external statements in a crisis, and says that PR andHR need to work together. “For one thing, companies have an obligationto keep their employees informed-it’s just the right thing to do.” Beyondthat, Furlow says, employees play a crucial role in getting the company’s messageout and reinforcing it with the larger audience. “They’re the ones whoare out in the community, the ones who are meeting with customers,” hesays. “They’re going to have to talk to people who ask them about the company’ssituation, and they need good information so they can explain it.”


    Furlow says that HR and PR both bring something valuable to the table. TheHR staff has the best feel for how to get the message across inside thecompany-whetherto use meetings or e-mail or posters, or some combination of different media.Unlike PR, “they’re the ones who deal with people across all the departments,”Furlow adds. “The sales force may see the world differently than, say,the production staff. HR presumably knows all that.”


    HR, in turn, can benefit from PR professionals’ skill at identifying the relevantinformation and presenting it in a persuasive manner. Instead of a bland, laconicannouncement or e-mail memo, PR can help craft an eloquent internal messagewith the same sort of rhetorical tools that make external messages powerful-“anecdotes,examples, metaphors that underscore the point you’re trying to make.” Thatsaid, Furlow cautions that the most crucial tool is the truth. “When aclient starts talking to me about spin,” he says, “I say, that’s notwhat we do, because that’s an indication to people that you don’t have confidencein your story, that you have to make up some BS to make yourself look good.What works is being honest, on the outside and the inside.”