If you represent or work for a charity, then this article is for you. These types of questions are often asked by not-for-profits, about our service.
Program Overview – Please give an overview of the program, including the beneficiaries the program aims to support.
We are on a mission to help charities create Trusted Workforces. Our Program delivers a “Suitability Assessment” designed from the ground up to be incorporated into the recruiting, screening and appointing of Responsible Persons and Volunteers. By using Cleard Life, traditional background checks are augmented by expert one-one-one interviews plus a fast-yet-fair integrity assessment which the charity hiring manager uses to assist with the decision-making process. Charities can initiate a Suitability Assessment via the Vetting-As-A-Service Portal and candidate interviews are conducted online and via telephone. Beneficiaries include charity boards, hiring managers and most importantly it safeguards children and vulnerable people.
Program Outcomes, Impact, Measurement & Evaluation – The proposed program needs to display a sound rationale and evidence base and demonstrate the capacity to deliver positive, long-term change for participants. There must be evidence of realistic, measurable and achievable outcomes and you need to outline how you intend to report, evaluate and articulate a social return to the beneficiary families and/or communities.
Outcome 1: Strengthen ACNC Governance Standard 4: Suitability Screening
Outcome 2: Strengthen ACNC Governance Standard 10: Mitigate Reputational Risk
Outcome 3: Meet Community Expectations: Leaders and Volunteers Assured as Trustworthy
Impact #1: Hire Quality People. Reducing the risk of hiring an unsuitable person leading or volunteering has never been so pronounced as it is today. It was reflected by the recommendations handed down in the Royal Commission on Sexual Abuse which included advanced background screening to be mandatory. The impact is that the charities can safeguard their organisation while increasing the quality of hiring decisions by up to 70% by implementing our advanced vetting process.
Impact #2: Mitigate Organisational Risks. A Risk Register will/should list counterproductive workplace behaviour as risks. The damage to a charity’s assets, people, information and reputation must be assigned significant, grave or catastrophic, depending on the event. The frequency of a bad hire can be as high as 1:4. The financial cost of a bad hire are large (rehiring, retraining, morale and insurance premiums) some suggesting 2.5x annual equivalent salary. Adding our Program as a risk mitigation measure will reduce the risk and frequency of violence, sexual misconduct, illegal drug use, theft, and the disclosure of personal information etc. by staff. This is a strong positive impact and value proposition.
Impact #3: Pleased Community. If the community understood that 1 in 6 Working With Children Check holders have a criminal record which is intentionally not screened, they would be shocked. Our Program covers illegal conduct (not just disclosable court outcomes) and as well as other dimensions of a person background and life which is aligned to community expectations. Higher Assurances, Higher Trust, Higher Donations.
Measurement: After each candidate has been interviewed by a vetting officer, an assessment/evaluation is done. The Result is sent to the charity (example below).
Evaluation: The Program can be evaluated by third party auditors to ensure that the information gathered, the assessments analysis and results are completed in the appropriate way.
Program Outcomes – Provide a clear and concise description of how the proposed program will deliver positive, long-term change for participants.
Our Program has its origins in Commonwealth standards and adjudications. More than 400,000 people in Australia have been screened using these protocols. It is by far Australia’s most widely used and consistently applied integrity standard, using unique “Whole-Of-Person” methodologies. It has not been available to charities, until now. Our Program makes positive strides towards having safer charity personnel and environment while strengthening our national integrity system, one charity at a time. Parents do not to have to worry as much about the leaders or volunteers. A Cleard Life check assures all that those who take care of their children are trustworthy and this can only be evaluated as a positive measure. The participants (eg. children or vulnerable people) will be in safe and safeguarded environments. Ultimately, the charity’s goals have the best chance to succeed because the charity has assured competence and character when selecting staff.
Organisational Governance – Detail the governance practices in place at your organisation.
As a national security clearance service provider to the Commonwealth government for many years, our quality management program is stringent and compliant. We have physical security practices, IT security and personal security measures in place. We have security cleared personnel and the information is held on PROTECTED servers.
Organisational Strategy – Briefly detail the strategic objectives of your organisation and how the proposed program aligns with your strategic aims.
Our Program addresses an issue that is not currently being satisfactorily addressed in the NFP sector. Scoping documents for the Royal Commission stated that a Police check and Referees are ‘futile’ in safeguarding an organisation. Furthermore, advanced screening processes are normally difficult to quantify and standardise.
Sometimes they can be too broad. eg. Have you ever been the subject of a complaint of harm to a child; breach of a code of conduct or policy; or a decision made to preclude you from attending or participating in a charitable event?
In other contexts, screening can devolve into an ever-growing and expensive series of personality tests or black-mark databases checks – checking to see if something adverse ‘shows up’. If nothing shows up – then they are trustworthy, honest or resilient.
If something does show up, a hiring manager normally does not possess the expertise or experience to make a proper determination. For example, 1:4 complaints to the Australian human rights commissioner is due to criminal history discrimination. It is our experience that when a one-on-one suitability interview (like ours) is conducted, adverse behaviour is placed into context and with experience and expertise, good determinations arise.
Our Program addresses these current, relevant and emerging issues in an innovative and scalable way. Using a blend of augmented intelligence, qualified human vetting officers and the latest HR technology platform to deliver the Program, it fits perfectly into our mission and strategic aim of strengthening the national integrity system and helping to create trusted workforces.
Manager & Employee Skills & Experience – Briefly detail the skills and experience of your operational staff delivering the proposed program, outlining their capacity and capability to ensure its success.
Over the past ten years, we have conducted thousands of national security clearances error free and on time at the highest levels. We understand how to discover hidden risks and how predispositions and stressors impact on a candidate’s ability to be Honest, Trustworthy, Tolerant, Mature, Loyal and Resilient. We have successfully managed a number of Commonwealth Government contracts. Our vetting staff are official Vetting Officers and hold security clearances. They have all been awarded the Cert IV Government (Personnel Security).
Quote – Chris Field, Western Australian Ombudsman
“Integrity has a clear intrinsic value – it is inseparable from the idea that it is better in any walk of life, including life serving others, to act reliably and with virtue, with fidelity and honesty, responsibly and appropriately, with a clear sense of proper, legitimate purpose and unaffected by the corruptive and perverse. What becomes quickly apparent about those countries at the top of the Prosperity Index is that they are countries that have fundamental adherence to the rule of law, a significant absence of institutionalised corruption and high levels of integrity in governance. The exact opposite correlation is observed at the bottom of the Prosperity Index.”
Conclusion
Research says you can detect early indicators of a hostile act before they happen. We know its true.
Get in touch today! We look forward to serving your NFP, charity, church or community organisation.
Bonus. Here are some poignant examples of some bad hires:
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/brisbane-woman-found-with-22kg-of-drugs-in-her-car-wins-blue-card-bid-20191020-p532d0.html
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-13/queensland-teacher-passes-out-drunk-in-front-of-grade-2-class/11597644
“Nobody in my daily life would have ever thought that I was using ice. Nobody”. 1:50 employees are on ICE.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-07/australia-talks-ice-user-reveals-addiction/11567814
Further reading:
