Maybe they didn’t have 12,000 attendees, but those that were there were eager to learn all they could about the lastest trends in the human resources field.  No one needed to be reminded that this has been a difficult year, but the overall tone seems to be one of guarded optimism that things are getting better and will continue to do so.  So sure, everyone still wanted the free stuff on the show floor, but they also really wanted to know how exhibitors could help them improve efficiencies within their respective organizations.

As my friend Kevin Grossman from HRMarketer wrote following the conference, “Less than 7K [attendees]. That’s less than half the number of folks who attended the past two shows. But I gotta tell you, it’s been more of a blessing than a N’awlins voodoo curse.”

A Couple EmployeeScreenIQ Highlights:

• We released our annual background screening trends report for the coming year
• We recorded some great podcasts that we will be posting on the EmployeeScreenIQ Podcast Channel in the coming week, including:
  • China Gorman, SHRM Chief Operating Officer
  • Michael Layman, SHRM Government Affairs
  • College Recruiter’s President and Founder, Steven Rothberg
  • Cheezhead’s Joel Cheesman
  • Amanda Ellis, Director of Business Development at iCIMS
  • Intern Queen, Lauren Berger
  • And Many More
• We’re excited to learn more about SHRM’s new Social Network SHRM Connect
• Regular conference Tweets- Connect with through Twitter at www.twitter.com/employeescreen

Make sure to check them out starting next week!

Jason Morris and I recently sat down with HRMarketer’s Kevin Grossman to talk about some of the trends that made our list and what they mean to hiring professionals. Each week in June we’ll air a selected trend as we get closer to SHRM in New Orleans.

This week’s feature focuses on our Trend #1:

Greater hiring controversies due to social networking.

Jason Morris and I recently sat down with HRMarketer’s Kevin Grossman to talk about some of the trends that made our list and what they mean to hiring professionals. Each week in June we’ll air a selected trend as we get closer to SHRM in New Orleans.

This week’s feature focuses on our Trend #4:

Fewer employers will respond to requests for resume verifications.

This week’s feature focuses on our Trend #7:

Controversies over increasing attempts to enact privacy laws, redacting social security numbers and other background information from court records.

This week’s feature focuses on our Trend #10:

Litigation will increase over perceived discrimination in screening and hiring decisions.

From the IQBlog

• Mr. Background Check Went to Washington- Jason Morris and I recently spent two days in Washington DC meeting with our nation’s legislators about the issues that affect the background screening industry and the organizations we represent.  And no, there is no truth to the rumor that I spent the night in the Lincoln bedroom.
• People Lie on Their Resumes!- Say it ain’t so.  A recent CareerBuilder survey indicated that 57% of job candidates who lie on their resumes are automatically disqualified from employment.  Does that mean that 43% of the liars make it through?
• Goverment, Schools and Social Services Do Poor Background Checks- Okay, so we might have discussed this topic once or twice, but check out this recent state of Utah audit
• NFL Players Association and the U.S. Department of Treasury Putting Background Checks to Good Use- It’s about time we see some positive stories about background checks.  I guess no one is interested in hearing a story about a background check gone right.

From employeescreen University

• Struggle to Find Job Can Increase When School and Employers Don’t Recognize Law- employeescreenIQ research shows that electronic signatures are rejected 57% of the time when used to conduct background checks.
• Upcoming Conferences and Speaking Engagements- If the sound of our podcasts haven’t driven you away, maybe our meeting us in person will.  Below are some of the highlights.
  • SHRM Staffing Management Conference- We will be exhibiting and Jason Morris will be leading an educational session on Social Networking Sites.
  • Upper Ohio Valley SHRM Workshop- Nick Fishman will wax poetically on the emerging Technology Trends in Background Checks
  • Gulf Coast Symposium on Human Resources Issues- Jason Morris leads an education session about the Top Trends in Background Checks
  • 61st Annual SHRM Conference- New Orleans baby!

And Finally, Some Shameless Plugs

• IQBlog goes Mobile
• Follow employeescreenIQ on Twitter

That’s all she wrote!  Remember, for all you brave souls that you can listen to the podcast version of this installment of TWIB notes below.

As always, we’ll try to do better next time!

employeescreen University Guest Articles:

• Workplace Violence Prevention: Assessing the Risk to Your Business by Barry Nixon, Executive Director at the National Institute for Prevention of Workplace Violence
• Take It Outside: The Benefits of Workforce Management by Anthony Petraco, President & CEO at Valiant Solution, Inc.
• Why Employers Should Reconsider Facebook Fishing by Jackie Ford, Labor and Employment Attorney at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease

Legislative Updates

• Hawaii House Bill 31 Threatens Use of Credit Reports
• Connecticut House Bill 5521 Threatens Us of Credit Reports
• Town of New Haven, CT removes “The Box”
• New Mexico House Bill 103 Threatens to Remove Personal Identifier from Court Records

Blog Posts

• California Hospital Hires Rapist through Outside Contractor
• Can employment at disgraced financial institution hurt job seekers?
• Are Negative Employment Reference Recommended?

For those of you brave enough to listen to the podcast version of this update, happy listening!  As my favorite sports writer, Tony Kornheiser likes to say, “We’ll try to do better next time.”

• We’ve released the latest version of our quarterly newsletter, The Verifier.  Topics include:
  • Using Electronic Signatures to Expedite Your Screening Program
  • Maximizing the Value of Your Relationship with Your Screening Provider
  • Methods Consumers Can Take to Monitor Their Credit
  • And much more.  Check it out!
• New York State Correction Law Takes Effect February 1, 2009- Check out our podcast with Seyfarth Shaw’s Pam Devata
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished for Microsoft Corporation- See why they got in hot water over a conditional job offer.
• Employment Mills?- And you thought identifying Diploma Mills was challenging.
• NAPBS Accreditation- Sorry, no snarky comments for this.  This is a great thing for employers and our industry.

And that’s all she wrote.  Have a great weekend!

In the first quarter of the year, we launched employeescreen University and redesigned our blog.  We have used these communication vehicles (and sometimes soap box) to bring our readers up to speed on all things background screening.  We have also been able to bring important HR and Security issues to the forefront and could not be more pleased with the results.  Evidently, a few people have been paying attention as our following continues to grow.  In fact, earlier this month we received an iNova Award for Excellence in Corporate Websites!  We hope to continue this trend by adding many more exciting features to employeescreen University in the coming year.

In June, we launched the employeescreenIQ podcast series, This Week in Backgrounds Checks (TWIB).  This series brought us some exciting podcast interviews from various trade shows and our “weekly” (ok sometimes) show.  Through this medium we discussed issues such as Social Networking, Diploma Mills, FTC Red Flag Guidelines, and our 2009 Background Screening Trends. We also released our study “Facts About Education Falsification“, in addition to our new white paper “Known Diploma Mills Resource Guide“.

Towards the the end of the Summer and beginning of Fall we announced a few Applicant Tracking System (ATS) partnerships including iCIMS and MyStaffingPro.com. Both of these strategic alliances can aid our clientele in the quest to expedite the on-boarding process while saving both time and money.

Unfortunately, the story of the year is the economy.  2008 will be known as the year the economy went south.  The year started out strong for most, however there were signs of an upcoming disaster.  Economists argued about when a recession is actually a recession and pundits debated how hard we would be hit. We wrote often this year about the importance of performing background checks in a declining economy.   After the finger pointing ends (its still going on) and the dust settles, we will look back with relief that we are out of the worst economic times of our generation.  We can only hope this happens early in 2009!

The most viewed and debated post on our blog this year by far was the Chef Robert Irvine Story.  Food Network fired Chef Robert Irvine for lying on his resume.  We have received countless comments and commentary on this ‘controversial’ story.  We look for this debate to continue.

That’s all folks!  Thank you for your interest in this blog and for your feedback in 2008.  It has been an interesting year to say the least and we look forward to developing more thoughtful and informative content in the coming year.  As always, if you have questions or comments, send them to: podcasts@employeescreen.com

Listen to our TWIB wrap up show below:

Have a happy and healthy new year. See you in 2009!