Security & Risk Management Seminar

Conducting Background Investigations

Presentation Abstract

If you are your institution's Security Officer, one of your most important duties is to protect the image and integrity of the institution -- and its employees. Developing, administering and monitoring a comprehensive background investigation process should be an integral part of your Security Program. It's not the Human Resources Department's responsibility, because it often creates conflicts of interest. And the savvy institution doesn't just use this process for pre-employment purposes -- the background investigation process should become a routine component of the institution-wide, evolutionary process that provides a safe and secure environment for our employees to work -- and for our customers to do business.

The primary purpose for conducting a background investigation is to obtain the information necessary that allows the appropriate manager or executive to make an intelligent and informed decision about initiating or continuing a relationship with a person or a company. The most common reasons for conducting background investigations include:

l        Offering initial employment to an applicant

l        Readying a current employee for a promotion or a transfer

l        Nominating a non-institution-affiliated party for a position on the institution's board of directors, audit or supervisory committees

l        Screening potential third-party service providers for necessary contract services

l        Conducting a due diligence investigation prior to granting a loan or line of credit

l        Investigating any suspected theft or misuse

Conducting any kind of an investigation can be risky. Conducting an investigation that involves people’s criminal history, character, finances and relationships may change the lives, careers and relationships among all of the participants -- forever. Recent changes to existing regulations, new privacy and information security regulations -- and emerging industry-standard security practices -- have created a variety of legal, moral and ethical issues for every institution's board of directors, and for the persons and companies conducting the background investigations.

This presentation provides a logical and strategic model that's designed to help Security Department personnel understand the true scope of the processes used to conduct comprehensive, effective background investigations. By understanding the cause and effect relationships between the background investigator's strategy and the investigative result, the background investigator may use this model to design and implement a standardized, institution-wide background investigative process.

Presentation Topics

l        Introduction

l        The Security Department Should Be Responsible

l        Pre-Employment Background Screening Regulations & Guidance

l        Background Investigation Program: Policy & Procedure Components

l        Sample Background Investigation Program Guidelines

l        Initial & Continuing Background Investigation Practices

l        Background Investigation Strategies

l        Learn About Offenders

l        Primary Sources Of Information

l        Case study exercises

l        Summary

Presentation Objectives

This presentation is designed to help you:

l        Determine the background investigator's duties and responsibilities -- legal, moral and ethical

l        Comply with current regulations and emerging practices that mandate pre-employment background screening for employees and third-party service providers

l        Develop a background investigation policy and procedure that makes the best use of the institution's resources

l        Locate and understand the significance of the primary sources of information that are accessible to the background investigator in every community -- including public, agency, private company and financial institution records

l        Describe how certain types of offenders generate particular and predictable records

l        Understand why conviction records alone may not be enough -- and where you can get additional information about arrests and diversions

l        Determine how you can apply the same source information to other functions, such as asset recovery

Presentation Audience

l        Security Officers

l        Security Assistants

l        Board of Directors

l        Auditors

l        Human Resources Managers

l        Training Managers

l        Compliance Officers

l        Retail Operations Managers

Presentation Tools

l        Workbook text

Last updated on January 7, 2008