With faster hiring and a higher quality of candidate experience both key metrics for recruitment companies and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) providers, the adoption of digital technology to support this has now become a top priority. Robust screening and identity services are becoming a must in the process to find the right candidates for client organizations. But how can technology support quick background screening that is also compliant? The answer may lie in digital identity.
The Covid-19 years and the meteoric rise of remote working certainly accelerated the investment into digital IDs, as more employers and government authorities recognized that there is a more efficient way of verifying someone’s identity as part of a background check. And with so many countries around the world now establishing digital ID trust frameworks — a set of rules and standards which organizations agree to follow — the use of digital identity will only continue to grow.
For recruitment companies and RPO providers, being able to provide the latest digital employee screening and identity solutions will give them a competitive edge in being able to speed up hiring, guiding employers through the move to digital ID and enhancing the candidate experience.
Reusable IDs for Faster, Safer Hiring
For those who may be new to the world of digital identity, one of the big opportunities is the idea of a reusable ID verification that the applicant can carry across jobs. Think of a digital wallet but for a person’s identity instead. The premise is the individual need only go through verifications once rather than every time they wish to start a new role.
Apart from the benefits around streamlining and making recruitment processes more efficient, the other significant benefit of a reusable ID is that it can vastly reduce the risk of identity fraud. Any background or ID checks can typically involve the exchange of a lot of personal information, and the more times this is done, the greater the associated risk. And with ID theft on the rise and ever more sophisticated ways to commit fraud, candidates must be protected. A reusable ID gives them far greater control of their own data, preserving their privacy and thereby further enhancing the hiring experience.
Reusable digital identity will be valuable for everyone, but for the flexible labor market, this is particularly useful. Those in temporary, gig and contract employment often face burdensome administrative tasks before starting an assignment. Any means of reducing this time impact will be welcome for these groups — and that’s where digital identity is most valuable.
There are also benefits to RPOs and recruiters. Aside from the fact that they can provide a better quality experience for their candidates, it also gives them a competitive advantage. Firms will be able to provide quicker hiring solutions that don’t compromise on compliance. And, as with any new technological developments in the recruitment world, employers will be looking to their suppliers for both guidance and access to the tools they need.
It should be noted, though, that using and adopting these solutions will need to be tailored to regional and global nuances. The data that can be stored and how this information is collated varies across countries, and it’s important to be aware of which locations may have differing requirements.
Looking to the Future
It really is an exciting time in the development of digital ID solutions. The rapid development of trusted digital identity frameworks globally will hopefully get us to a point soon where a reusable ID can be shared globally, providing a seamless experience for candidates. This will greatly reduce the administrative burden on recruiters hiring across countries and tapping into global talent pools. This is only the beginning of the revolution as we inevitably move to a world of portable verified credentials. It won’t be long before we see digital career wallets become the norm, where all our work history and qualifications will also be stored and added to the digital reusable ID. For now, though, those firms that set themselves up to support the shift to digital identity will be in the best position to thrive as the world of recruitment continues to evolve.
