How a global MNC halved background verification time with Managed Services

A global multinational company faced significant challenges in managing its background verification (BGV) process and vendor ecosystem. The issues included delays in onboarding new talent, difficulty coordinating with multiple vendors, and misalignment across teams. Time constraints and recurring discussions with candidates for employee verification and vendors to validate credentials, along with rising discrepancies, created roadblocks that slowed hiring and extended decision-making timelines, bringing operations to a standstill. In addition, the need to engage multiple vendors, each with different procedures, further complicated the management of operations. Overall, high turnaround time and lack of coordination in pre-hiring checks delayed the deployment of chargeable projects.

The fragmented approach not only increased administrative costs but also led to concerns about potential risks as existing verification processes could not be followed in a timely manner. The organization recognized the need for a streamlined and cost-effective solution capable of delivering BGV reports in record time. The company’s need to reduce operational complexities, cut costs, and eliminate human errors highlighted the growing demand for managed services in background check services. 

The multinational company engaged EY to implement a system to address vulnerabilities associated with manual processes while effectively reducing the turnaround time. The initial phase involved comprehensive discussions with HR, legal, and other departments to assess the organization’s existing BGV protocols and ensure objectives and expectations are aligned.

In the next phase, EY collaborated with the organization to define the project scope and focused on consolidating processes, including tech-enabled analytics, tracking, and closure. Defining a clear timeline and recognizing areas that could be standardized led to establishing of policies, procedures, and service level agreements (SLAs). These were communicated within the organization and to vendors for consistency and adherence to organizational standards.

The next step was to align the organization and vendor’s processes. EY seamlessly integrated the Human Resource Management System (HRMS) system with the vendor's workflow application, facilitating a smooth flow of documents. Additionally, dedicated employee helpdesks were set up to enhance the candidate experience during employee verification.

The adoption of managed services not only enabled the organization to reduce costs associated with in-house employee background verification and vendor background checks but also freed up resources for more strategic initiatives. This approach promoted consistency in handling observations, leading to swifter decision-making. The engagement also enhanced vendor governance through better performance tracking and inventory management. 

Implementation of managed services 

Incorporating managed services into the organization’s existing BGV process enabled the seamless onboarding of 25,000 new employees and improved vendor performance. The employee background verification process witnessed a significant improvement in resolution timelines, increasing from 56% to 91%, which is critical for mitigating risk and accelerating onboarding. Also, 47% of employee verification was completed even before the employee joined, and another 42% were completed within 20 days from the date of joining. In addition, vendor performance, measured against SLAs, showed marked improvement—rising from 72% to 97% for one vendor and from 66% to 87% for another.

Beyond improved SLAs, EY also supported the firm in establishing a decision committee for the adjudication process, ensuring swift action on cases marked as insufficient or discrepant during employee background verification. Prior to the implementation of the managed services module, flagged cases took as long as 90 to 120 days to resolve. With this new approach, 84% of the cases were cleared within 30 days, which also allowed the organization to avert potential risks.

To ensure continuous improvement, the organization has established and implemented rigorous feedback mechanisms, regular reviews, monitoring activities, and compliance frameworks.