The contemporary world is one marked by an increasing shift towards total digitisation. Pushed forward by a seemingly incessant series of technological breakthroughs and innovations, modern tech has transformed every single area of our professional and personal lives.
This applies to the overall recruitment process, and to criminal background checks in particular. In this article, we decided to take a bit of a closer look at exactly how modern tech is transforming criminal background checks, so that you can adapt your approach as appropriate.
Digital applications
The Disclosure and Barring Service (or DBS for short) now processes the majority of applications digitally. This is faster, cheaper and easier for both those requesting the checks, and those responsible for carrying them out.
It means that you don’t need to wait for paper documents to be sent all over the show, which is both a costly and time-wasting way of sharing data. Instead, everything is shared via a company in a split second over the internet, with overall waiting times being massively reduced as a result.
Interconnected databases
During the early years of digitisation, while there was a proliferation of online resources and digital spaces, many of those spaces remained unconnected. When it came to processes such as DBS checks, that meant that everything took a lot longer to process, with the likelihood of issues emerging remaining quite high.
Nowadays, there is an increasing level of interconnectedness between different databases. In the context of DBS checks, that means that there’s a lower probability of issues occurring, both in terms of missing potentially critical information and unexpected delays.
Efficient system management
If you’re an organisation that needs to carry out DBS checks, you likely won’t just be carrying out one or two.
You’ll need to have a system in place that manages all of the various tests that you’ve done, both to ensure regulatory compliance and to keep track of things internally. Modern technologies make this infinitely easier, with a range of automation services that help organisations approach data management in a structured and efficient manner.
Data security
DBS checks often consist of unearthing deeply sensitive and private information that the applicant wouldn’t want to be seen by everyone. As a result, the modern DBS check process is now covered by a range of data protection laws, to ensure that all information is processed in an appropriately secure manner.
Modern technologies can be implemented to help secure this process of data storage, from ensuring multifactor authentication for accessing various databases, to creating digital paper trails so that access to the relevant files can be tracked and controlled.
Keeping up to date with modern tech, and tracking the way it’s transforming various processes is crucial to remaining competitive in the modern era. In the context of DBS checks, these innovations offer a range of opportunities for both employees and employers, making the process more efficient and easier to carry out in a regulatory-compliant manner.
