Just wanted to take a moment to plug a really cool event we are participating in later this month. It’s called the Recruiting Road Show and it is produced by well known industry insider John Sumser. Speakers include our good friends Joel Cheesman of Cheezhead fame and Martin Snyder of PC Recruiter. employeescreenIQ’s own Jason Morris will also be a featured presenter and will discuss emerging trends in employment screening and background checks. The event is being held on April 29, 2008 at the offices of PC Recruiter. If you are interested, please register now. I understand that they are limited to just 120 attendees and slots are filling up fast. It should be a great opportunity to learn and network. And it’s free. You heard me, free! (Alright, I’ll retire as a used car salesman after this post)
Greetings from the Nashville airport. I’m finally headed home after a couple days at SHRM’s Staffing Management Conference and realized I hadn’t posted anything is while (hold the applause). This year’s conference was . . . well, interesting I guess. The conference was sold out both for exhibitor’s and attendees. With both the economy and Nashville (no offense Tennessee readers), that kind of surprised me, but I’m not complaining. This year there were only 8 background screening firms represented compared to approx. 20 last year. (I’m also not complaining about this!). I suppose that my proposed conference name change to “The Employment Screeners Conference” doesn’t apply any longer.
We spoke with a lot of people at this year’s show. With a few exceptions, no one told us that the economy was drastically affecting their company. Everyone seemed rightfully concerned. Things have slowed down, but we didn’t hear about any anticipated layoffs, hiring freezes, etc. I think everyone has their fingers crossed that things will begin improving from here. Cheers to that!
Overall, attendees were very pleased with the educational opportunities offered at the conference. You’d have to be brain-dead not to notice a theme: everyone is looking for faster, more efficient ways to hire and train people. Any opportunities for consolidation an reduction of duplication is key.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by to learn about our employment screening services and to our valued client/partners who continued to heap on the praise (it never gets old).
Talk to you again soon.
Will we see you in Nashville at the SHRM’s Staffing Management Conference held at the Opryland Hotel? employeescreenIQ will be in attendance and exhibiting April 14th-16th. Please stop by our booth. If our charming personalities aren’t enough to win you over, we’ll have something free to giveaway and a chance to win American Express Gift Cards.
I wanted to send out a quick reminder that employeescreenIQ will be attending and exhibiting at SHRM’s Global Forum & Exposition at the Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel in Boston, MA on March 31st and April 1st. Please stop by our booth and say hello if you plan to attend. At the very least, I’m sure we’ll be passing out some free stuff.
employeescreenIQ President and COO, Jason B. Morris will be speaking at the HR in Hospitality Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, NV at the Wynn Hotel on March 18, 2008. The topic is “Trends in Employment Screening: What Foodservice HR Professionals Need to Know”.
Please be sure to stop by if you plan to be in Las Vegas then. We’ll look forward to meeting you.
Well, it certainly took them long enough to catch up to the rest of the country, but we are finally seeing some positive trends when it come to higher education institutions and background checks. I found this great article, Checking Up on Your Past on insidehighered.com (I’m sure today’s college students get a kick out of the name of this on-line publication).
The article focuses on last week’s annual meeting of the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (who knew there was such a thing? but I bet you background screeners will be flocking to it from now on). Evidently, the topic of background checks was all the rage. Noteworthy in this article is a study conducted by Stephanie Hughes, an assistant professor of management at Northern Kentucky University on the use of background checks among universities. See a snapshot of results below.
- 13% of university’s polled never engage in criminal background checks
- 87% perform checks for some staff positions
- 40% screen for some faculty positions
- 26% conduct checks on some student workers
These are good stats, but a little misleading since “The way the survey was phrased, a “Yes” answer meant only that in some cases, a person in that category would be subject to a background check. That means that a college that would investigate a potential professor being hired in a field where security clearances are necessary or for work with young children would have answered Yes even if the vast majority of professorial hires are never subjected to a criminal background check.”
Good article and even better trend nonetheless.
This week, I am attending the 16th Annual Service Quality Conference in San Diego, presented by the American Society For Quality. ASQ is a global organization whose role promoting sound practices has earned them worldwide respect. Companies all over the world have sent their staff to San Diego to learn cutting edge service techniques from respected thought leaders across a variety of disciplines.
We are a rapidly growing organization; both a function of increased demand and our performance as a best practices background screening provider. Taking advantage of the latest management and service philosophies ensures we continually meet our commitment to our clients’ changing needs.
From the looks of it, we are the only employment screening company in attendance. I will post several times throughout the conference with updates.
I just wanted to send out a quick announcement to let you know that we will be exhibiting at the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA) 43rd Annual Conference and Exhibition in Anaheim California at the Disneyland Hotel September 30th through October 1st. If you plan on attending, please stop by our booth and say hello. At the very least, we’ll have free giveaways and a chance to win an American Express Gift Card. Oh yeah . . . and you’ll get to meet me! What more could you ask for?
I don’t normally use this space to shill for those looking to promote their HR conferences. However, this one might be worth your time if you are in the Chicagoland area (and no, they didn’t ask or pay me to write this).
The Human Resources Management Association of Chicago (HRMAC) is having their Annual Summit at the Donald E. Stevens Convention center in Rosemont, Illinois on October 23, 2007. HRMAC always has great keynote speakers, develops relevant learning opportunities and creates a comfortable networking atmosphere attendees and exhibitors alike. The conference is first rate and so is the organization. They really have their pulse on the HR community and they have established quite a following among HR professionals at all levels in Chicago and surrounding areas.
And if that’s all not a compelling enough reason to attend, employeescreenIQ will be an exhibitor for the 3rd year in a row. (Sorry for the shameful plug, but you’ve got to weigh all the great benefits of attending).
The Annual Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Conference just wrapped up in Las Vegas and boy did it deliver! Record numbers of HR professionals descended on the desert and let’s hope that what happened in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas. The opportunities to learn, network and have fun didn’t end and are all experiences that should stick with us throughout the year. They add value to our jobs and the company’s we represent.
Highlights included an inspirational opening speech by Lance Armstrong, a CareerBuilder.com event featuring the musical group Bare Naked Ladies and a general buzz and optimism about the state of the HR profession and the value now placed on this essential function. SHRM even unveiled a new logo which was pretty cool and finally gave in to those of us have been referring to the organization as "SHERM" rather than "S-H-R-M".
In the eight years we have exhibited at the event, it is safe to say that this was by far the best. Attendance was up, enthusiasm was infectious and the desire to learn about the latest trends, techniques, products and services was evident. While the general state of the profession continues to grow, one wonders if the chosen city had something to do with it. If so, one could make the case that Vegas should be a repeat performance in the near future.
Hopefully you got a chance to stop by our booth and say hello, to experience our remarkable re-branding efforts, learn more about the latest trends in employment screening, or just to get one of a limited number of employeescreenIQ Rubik’s Cubes!
We’ll look forward to seeing everyone again in Chicago next year!
