A growing number of small businesses — and churches are among them — are looking to rebuild their work force as the economy continues its long ascent from the prolonged recession. Many churches have trimmed their staffs in this recession, and even the larger ones are considered small businesses, by budget size.

Indeed, the National Association for Business Economics has found that more than one third of companies surveyed anticipate hiring staff within the next few months. Churches are looking as well to where they can add program leaders and support staff.

But truth be told, most managers may be a little rusty when it comes to hiring, having spent much of their time and energy during the past few years simply trying to hold on — rather than taking on new employees.

Exceptions to rules

To be sure, the rules of hiring have changed little, though with some notable exceptions.  For one, job postings today frequently draw hundreds of applicants, many with outstanding qualifications. To hire the individual best suited for a job, managers should follow certain tried-and-true steps in the screening process, such as using well-developed applications and position-specific job descriptions, and conducting thorough background checks. Look specifically at background checks and credit report checks.

Contacting a reference listed on an application or resumé, such as a former employer, is an easy place to start, but this method is cursory at best. Employers merely confirm or deny a former worker’s employment and job title, providing little or no insight into the person’s actual work habits and skills.

Smaller companies sometimes skip a more thorough background check because of the time and expense involved, but the information culled from such a review actually can be a cost-effective, protective measure for the company and its employees. A complete background check should include:

Review of work history. Ask the applicant to provide first and last paystubs to confirm length of employment and salaries at previous jobs.

Verification of Social Security information. Federal databases will help verify that a candidate is providing accurate information — and has a legal right to work in the United States.

Criminal background check. Inspect local criminal records as well as those in any jurisdictions where the applicant has lived during the past seven years.

Confirmation of education. Contact the school or university listed to verify the applicant’s attendance, degree and graduation year.

Review of driving record. Employers should obtain motor vehicle records on the individual whenever a job requires driving, such as for deliveries or sales calls.

Give a candidate some credit

Credit reports are an increasingly popular applicant screening tool. Indeed, 60 percent of employers now check credit histories, compared with 42 percent in 2006, according to a recent poll by the Society for Human Resource Management. Of these employers, 13 percent run credit checks on all applicants, while 47 percent screen selected candidates.

While screening an applicant’s credit history has been historically a tactic for positions that involve financial responsibility, many employers now run such reports for executive-level, HR and information technology positions, and jobs that generally have state-required background checks, such as day-care workers, teachers and assisted-living facility workers.

But credit reports can be misleading and may not provide a true picture of how someone may actually perform on the job. The recession has stirred debates in several states about the use of credit checks as a condition of employment. Many Americans have had financial setbacks due to job loss or reduced wages, and this may be reflected on credit reports.

Long-term record

One or two late mortgage payments, however, are usually less cause for concern than a bankruptcy or pattern of delinquencies going back many years. A handful of states have banned credit checks, and more than a dozen others are considering similar laws, so be sure to check local and state regulations before screening.

If credit checks are done, employers should strictly limit access to and be cautious in what they do with the information. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires employers to notify applicants and employees in writing that a credit check will be done, and that person must sign a consent agreement.

The law also requires employers to notify an applicant when major issues are flagged on a report that could adversely affect a hiring decision, then give that person the opportunity to dispute or explain the information.  Because there are other requirements under the FCRA, it is important to review such requirements with an HR professional or employment lawyer for compliance.

A recent survey by Administaff, found that 31 percent of small business owners plan to hire additional employees this year. The investment and process each goes through before saying, “You’re hired,” can help save and protect company resources down the line. When it comes to selecting new hires, doing a little homework first will always pay off.

Kenneth Randle is regional vice president of sales for Administaff, Dallas, TX, the nation’s leading professional employer organization (PEO).  www.administaff.com

Profile: TRAk-1 expands screening services

Trak-1 Technology is a nationwide screening firm that provides risk management consultation and services to employers, landlords, non-profit organizations, religious organizations, mortgage brokers, lenders, and business owners across the country.

Nancy and Dan Roberts are principals of the company in Tulsa, OK, and Oral Roberts was Dan’s great uncle.

The company is a service provider of Gallagher Insurance, which has a unique protection program for megachurches. Gallagher’s Peter Persuitti, managing director for its religious practice, spoke with the couple for Church Executive:

Dan, what sort of screening does Trak-1 do?

Trak-1 is certified to handle consumer information in a secure way and is committed to helping establish safe and healthy ministry, church, religious, non-profit service, workplace, residential living and financial service environments.  In short, we protect and serve people across the country.

In the last five years, we have literally remade the company from the screening platform to the databases to the compliance tools. All of the changes together mean our customers experience the difference of working with a professional provider of risk management tools. Today, we are taking Smart Track — an extension of Trak-1 — out to empower and mobilize the body of Christ.

Nancy, what did you first do when tasked with remaking the company?

When Dan first asked me to consider taking on the project of purchasing and then remaking a company that is committed to “protecting organizations through a variety of screening, training and risk management tools, the first thing I did was go straight to the National Association of Professional Background Screeners, where today I am on their board of directors. From this national perspective, we see a rising concern about consumer privacy, information accuracy and screening compliance. NAPBS just released a full-scale accreditation program to address these concerns and to ensure that our industry is known for its excellence.

Why is screening of employees and volunteers critical for churches?

Churches are most concerned with protecting their vulnerable populations — children, elders, the disabled. Statistics from the US Department of Health and Human Services show more than 3.5 million reports of physical or sexual abuse of children are investigated annually. From 20 to 30 percent of girls and 5 to 15 percent of boys are sexually abused by someone before age 18. Nearly 30 percent of abusers are a non-family member or trusted professional who knows the child victim.

State laws today support the concern about protecting children. The National Association of Child Care Resources and Referral Agencies reports employees of child care facilities, camps, schools, and more are currently required to undergo background checks in all 50 states.

Most facilities are also requiring child-related safety training. However, alarming is the reality that while most states have passed legislation to require state-wide criminal record checks, crime statistics from the National Crime Center show 40 percent of individuals with criminal records committed offenses in a state other than the state where they applied. So the legislative response to risks posed to vulnerable populations does not yet take the measures needed to protect those populations.

Moving from employees, we next ask what are churches doing about screening and training their volunteers?  In 2006, according to the National Center for Victims of Crime, 61 million people nationally volunteered and the largest users of volunteers by percentage (35 percent) were religious organizations. Total annual volunteer hours were the highest at religious groups. What we are seeing here at Trak-1 is that churches in almost every denomination are taking significant steps to screen both employees and volunteers.

Dan, what does the Smart Track system do that’s different?

The Smart Track employee and volunteer management, training and screening system is designed to offer a full web-based software solution for our customers. It starts with a decision to implement a risk management program that incorporates screening and training your employees and volunteers.

Then it takes it one step further. That additional step empowers our customers to not just “manage” but to actually “mobilize” the power of their employees and volunteers. Smart Track helps churches and ministries to capture an individual’s information, document the safety measures taken (screening, training, etc.) and then mobilize the person to serve. www.trak-1.com

By Michael Leahy

For years now, I’ve looked on as wary church leaders and their tech gurus waged an endless war on the growing threat that Internet pornography represents to their congregations. Like laborers digging ditches and building moats around the King’s castle, they’re dutifully committed to protect the inhabitants (their staff and congregants) from letting this powerful force intrude on their lives. So they tweak their network security settings, firm up their firewalls, and install the latest site blockers and content filters, all in the hope of keeping the enemy and his latest weapons from breaching the castle walls.

But what if the enemy is already inside the castle? What then?

In much the same way our nation has learned how to fight differently in the global war on terror, the church needs to change the way it thinks about the credible threat that pornography poses in creating a culture where sexual exploitation is the norm. One of the new realities we must face is that, more often than not, those who pose the greatest risk to our churches are already among us, and may have been for years.

Shocking example

Consider the case of Robert Tate, a respected music director for 34 years at a prominent church in Greenwich, CT. Tate created an internationally renowned music program at the church where former President George H.W. Bush attended while growing up. But two years ago, at the age of 66, he was convicted of possessing child pornography, sentenced to five and a half years in prison and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine. And it didn’t stop at discovering child pornography on Mr. Tate’s laptop computer. Prosecutors said he also permitted two sexual predators to remain in the church’s choir at various times. Tate rehired one person as an assistant organist who had been dismissed earlier for sexually assaulting a choirboy. Yet, when he became aware that the organist assaulted another choirboy, he failed to tell authorities.

Stories like this are becoming ever more commonplace. They’re the product of a perfect storm I’ve been warning church and ministry leaders about for years. In short, I see three equally potent and damaging storm fronts colliding simultaneously to create the unstable environment we all now face: (1) the influence of hypersexual media in establishing and normalizing new sexual norms as portrayed through music and entertainment (including adult and so-called mainstream media); (2) enabling technologies, which accelerates content development and broadens distribution; and (3) socio-sexual pathology which takes root as long-held sexual norms and values continue to erode and give way to valueless, sexually exploitive standards.

But that’s just one example of a multi-faceted problem the church now faces. According to a recent NationalChristianPoll.com survey, more than a quarter of Christian women have experienced sexual harassment, and of those, one fourth said it happened in a church or ministry setting. And no wonder; it’s been reported that more than half of all church pastors and ministers have struggled with sexual temptation and sexual sin.

Next generation leaders in the emerging church, men and women in their twenties and thirties, consider sexual temptation and sexual sin their number one struggle, and the lure of Internet porn easily tops the list. The new reality in this area of risk management is that we’re well beyond talking about prevention. Instead, the conversation should focus on restoration and steps our people should take to reclaim their sexual integrity.

The war is not over

The war is far from over. Fortunately, church and ministry leaders can employ new tools and concrete steps today to guard and protect staffs and congregations from threats on both sides of the castle walls.

The following are a few requirements for your immediate to-do list.

1. Make an individual and organizational commitment to being totally transparent and fully accountable today.

As a church or ministry leader, you owe it to God and to those you lead and serve to be building an organization that is totally transparent and accountable to others. That starts with you leading by example. Be prepared and make sure your leaders are ready to submit themselves to the same transparency and accountability measures and procedures that you’ll be asking others on staff to follow.

2. Conduct a sexual integrity and accountability audit.

Lately, I’ve had many more in-depth and confidential conversations with senior pastors, church elders and other ministry leaders who are growing increasingly concerned about the potential litigation risks they face in the area of sexual misconduct. My response to them is always the same: Facts are friendly, so conduct a sexual integrity and accountability audit to see where things really stand. It’s simple and straight forward, and at a high level it can often be accomplished in less than a day.

3. Get everyone trained and using Internet accountability software.

In one evangelistic ministry organization with which I’ve worked, 99 percent of their male staff and 95 percent of their female staff consider sexual temptation to be their number one sin struggle. Internet porn use is increasingly being cited as the root cause of staff discipline and dismissals, as well as a major factor in disqualifying new staff applicants.

Yet that same organization hasn’t yet made it mandatory for all staff  members to use Internet accountability software to help hold themselves accountable for where they go and what they do while surfing the Web!

Personally, I’ve been using a net accountability product called Covenant Eyes for the past seven years as an integral part of my recovery from a debilitating sexual addiction that cost me everything. I know I wouldn’t have made it this far without it. Knowing now what I didn’t know then about how naive and vulnerable we can be when faced with the schemes of the enemy, I just can’t imagine anyone in full-time or part-time ministry not using an accountability tool. My life without it was a constant struggle in this area. But with platform installed on my laptop computer and even my iPhone, I live in freedom every day from my addiction and I allow myself to become more fully known to others.

4. Establish a set of benchmarks and best practices that you can use over time to measure your progress and evaluate your results.

Be sure to start with an Internet AUP (Acceptable Use Policy). Add more details to it wherever necessary, but be sure to communicate these changes clearly to your organization, including the processes and disciplinary procedures to be followed in the case of policy violations.

Without a doubt, protecting your church staff and the church’s mission is getting more complicated and becoming a far riskier proposition. With your strong leadership, clear communications, and putting the proper tools and training in place, you can expect to mitigate those risks and sleep better at night regardless of where the enemy attacks next.

Michael Leahy is an international speaker, author and founder and executive director of BraveHearts, Herndon, VA, an organization the fights global sexual exploitation. [ www.bravehearts.net ]

RESOURCES FOR BATTLING ADDICTION

Porn Nation: Conquering America’s Number One Addiction (Northfield Publishing, 2008)

Porn@Work: Exposing the Office’s Number One Addiction (Northfield Publishing, 2009)

Porn University: What College Students are Really Saying About Sex on Campus (Northfield Publishing, 2009)

Leahy has also shared his compelling personal story with more than 100,000 students on 150 college
campuses worldwide in a multimedia presentation called “Porn Nation — the Naked Truth.”

For more information visit www.bravehearts.net.

LEAD BY EXAMPLE

With so many inappropriate Web sites and Internet temptations, what we do impacts our lives offline.

How does Internet accountability work? Covenant Eyes Internet monitoring service scores Web sites visited for mature content and sends a summary report to a person you choose. This friend, spouse, parent or other person you select is your Accountability Partner, and they receive your reports by email or may view them online.

Removing the secrecy changes how a person surfs the Web. Online accountability provides new strength. [ www.covenanteyes.com ]

For more information on Sexual Integrity & Accountability Audits sponsored by BraveHearts and Covenant Eyes, visit www.bravehearts.net.

By Mike Trader

Most people attend church events and services to identify with God, not with their fingerprint. But as new technology progresses and the pace of the world quickens, many “pen and paper” check-in methods have become obsolete, tossed aside as cumbersome and inefficient. In fact, using old check-in systems could be costing you money and lowering the safety of those participating in your church programs.

Biometric technology eliminates ID cards, safeguards members and children, prevents identity fraud, and offers a more convenient user experience. For faith-based organizations, these benefits can translate into better accuracy records, increased event participation and lower overhead costs.

Churches and schools can derive even greater value from biometric technology when it’s interfaced with third-party information management software, such as PeopleSuite or HeadMaster from ACS Technologies. Since 1978, these software products have helped to manage and organize church members, record attendance, take reservations, and much more. When interfaced with M2SYS’ Bio-SnapON biometric software, ACS customers can quickly and effectively retrieve member information with the swift scan of a finger while facilitating a faster check-in process.

Fingerprint always handy

With no numbers to memorize, or name tags and security cards to remember, only a quick scan stands between younger congregation members and fun-filled activities.

Northwoods Community Church in Peoria, IL is an example of one of the many successful implementations of biometric fingerprint technology for church member management. With 600 to 800 children checking in for events each weekend, five self-service kiosks, and thousands of adults who are attending services, it is easy to see why biometric was a clear choice.

For eight years Northwoods used a paper card system where each child was issued a name tag that matched a parent’s security card. These cards would frequently get lost or forgotten, forcing the church to constantly replace the tags. The new biometric system has streamlined their check-in process and grants them a fast and secure way of looking up parent records during church services. Jason Lee, the information technology director at Northwoods says, “Biometric scanning is very fast and efficient for check-in. We don’t have to worry about parents leaving their security cards at home or in the car.”

Using the biometrics system, parents simply place their finger on a fingerprint reader. Their fingerprint quickly retrieves the family profile that is stored in the church’s software, which prints parent and child security badges for that session. The biometric system uses a mathematical representation of the fingerprint called an “identity template” to perform its comparisons and does not store an actual image. Since the image cannot be reconstructed from the stored template, there is no privacy risk.

Anyone can do it

Although words and phrases like biometrics and fingerprint recognition software may sound a bit intimidating, the process can be completed by virtually anyone.

It can be easily used to replace any existing barcode scanner or name/password login procedure. “Sending screen shots of several scans to M2SYS has helped us learn to capture better scans during pre-registration, which has made the process work smoothly,” Lee says.

Securing children and expediting the check-in process isn’t the only benefit from the use of fingerprint technology. Tracking adults and staff is a breeze, and other transactions are conducted easily and securely. Northwoods Community is expanding the use of biometric scanning to the school teams for check-in at their events.

If you can operate a computer, you can use a biometric recognition system. Biometric technology has made everyday life easier; now only a fingerprint stands between your church members and more efficient service. They have used this innovative solution to replace ID cards, save money, and create a more enjoyable experience for church-goers.

Mike Trader is president of M2SYS Technology, Atlanta, GA, a company in biometric identity management technology. [www.m2sys.com]