Upgrading Your Executive Background Checks with IntegrityRisk

The essential need for comprehensive, thoroughly executed background check services cannot be overstated. With 46 percent of HR professionals citing recruiting as their top priority in 2023, knowing exactly who you’re bringing onto your executive team and ensuring their past and present actions align with company values is more crucial than ever.

However, too many organizations are still conducting insufficient executive background checks or partnering with employee background check service providers who promise fast turnaround times and low costs but yield less than satisfactory results. Companies that have been tempted to rely on surface level hiring due diligence may face long-term negative impacts on revenue and reputation if misdeeds or scandals missed in a low-level screening were to come to light. Considering the time, effort, and resources that building a business demand, it remains surprising how often businesses fail to apply the same level of performance to the process of choosing people to lead that organization.

The adequacy of checks often bears no relation to the scale of the organization. Businesses of all kinds, including leading Fortune 500 organizations, have found themselves tripped up by shortcomings in executive background checks. In the fraught area of social media, for example, sanctions and even firings of C-suite executives over something they posted, regardless of how recent, that is deemed inflammatory, have become commonplace.

The public response to a bungled background check is frequently: “How could they not have known that?” Ironically, these same organizations have achieved the success they have by pursuing a systematic, quantifiably supported strategy every step of the way.

Shortcomings where executive background checks are concerned often occur in the same areas:

• Public records: Litigation and substantive public disputes, past and present, personal or professional, can reveal any potential issues involving the executive candidate but also be telling about performance at a prior company.
• Regulatory matters: Sanctions, fines, or investigations by government entities that are tied to alleged actions by the candidate, his or her prior firm, or one of its employees.
• Personal credit matters: An executive’s financial stability and credit standing can be revealing about their financial decision-making skills, as well as reveal potential financial hardships, which could leave them vulnerable to fraud or bribery.
• Internet and media: Social media posts, now the bane of most employers, as well as behavioral issues that have been reported, can reveal aspects of an executive candidate that could jeopardize the reputation of the candidate and hiring entity.

Enhanced executive background check services are the remedy to common challenges organizations face when adding new members to their C-suite. By investing in comprehensive background checks, companies can make informed decisions about executive hires, building a strong leadership team capable of driving success while upholding the organization’s values and integrity.

“The difference between a comprehensive executive background check and a cursory one can be a game changer. It can determine whether you win the business game by working with a team you trust or spend months – possibly longer – recovering from reputation and brand damage.” – Tom McWeeney, Chief Operations Officer

A 360-Degree Approach to Background Check Services

The cautionary tales of background checks gone awry all point to the same lesson: Researching the “whole person” must be regarded as table stakes. Regardless of where an executive background check occurs in the process of vetting and hiring a candidate for the C-suite, it needs to reflect a 360-degree scope if there is any point to conducting it at all.

The corporate jeopardy posed by inefficient background checks calls for the same systematic, intellectually rigorous approach that has lifted a business to its current level of success. Such a system must go well beyond any claimed professional and educational credentials and comprise an exhaustive review of public records to research past and current business affiliations, reputation, credibility, and potential liabilities.

A thorough executive background check does not need to be an arduous, painstaking marathon. IntegrityRisk has made a core competency of understanding the full scope of corporate integrity and how executive background checks fit into that ecosystem. Let’s dive briefly into how you can upgrade your hiring due diligence with IntegrityRisk’s executive background check services.

The New KYC: Know Your Candidate

In the midst of economic uncertainty, CEOs leaving positions in droves, and a tightening job market, standard resume reviews and surface level background checks are not enough. This new C-suite hiring landscape calls for a deep understanding of your candidates, as well as any potential risks that may arise from their personal and professional backgrounds. That is why we’ve created ExecCheck, executive background check services meant to help organizations level up their due diligence and enter the new era of comprehensive candidate investigations.

ExecCheck from IntegrityRisk has been designed to address every meaningful dimension of a candidate’s profile, leaving you confident that the profile that emerges from the process is a thoroughly accurate assessment of the achievements and reputation of your C-level candidates. ExecCheck provides you with instant access to today’s smartest technology, experienced researchers, and a hand-picked global network of over 250 on-the-ground experts spanning six continents through one easy-to-integrate, streamlined system.

ExecCheck employs a complete review of public records, professional and educational credential verification, media and internet data, and financial information, often across multiple legal and geographic jurisdictions and languages, if necessary.

It also includes meticulous reviews of global sanctions databases and international watch lists and discreet interviews with individuals who know the senior-level candidate, all of which are based on a formal, successful, repeatable methodology.

Attracting top, senior-level talent substantively contributes to the formation of a sustainable competitive advantage. Upgrade your executive background checks with IntegrityRisk’s ExecCheck and discover the advantages of securing the reputation and shareholder value you’ve worked so diligently to acquire.