Checks Keep BEHR Bullish & Safe

by President & CEO Magazine, August 2001

BEHR Process Corp. manufactures premium-quality architectural coatings such as paints, stains and varnishes for the do-it-yourself market. BEHR is headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif., with distribution facilities throughout North America. The company claims many firsts in its innovative 53-year history, such as being the first to introduce custom-color matching in the marketplace. For the past decade, the company has experienced accelerated growth, doubling sales every 30 months. For Edie Miller, vice president of human resources at BEHR, this has meant growing the employee population of the company from 98 to more than 1,300 in just the past 12 years.

Anyone who has experienced such expansion knows well that growth brings its own special problems. For Miller, this particularly has meant finding not only the desired quantity of appropriately skilled employees but also finding quality employees who would excel and help to drive the company growth. Additionally, the new hires had to fit the corporate culture and successfully interact with the staff already in place. “Recruiting is an art that combines objective and subjective elements,” says Miller. “The challenge is to find those individuals who will best serve and fit the organization and, at the same time, to avoid hiring those who would harm the corporation and its employees. Throughout the employment process, there is a need to verify the information the employment representative is receiving.”

In some fields, such as health care, security and teaching, background checks are legally required. In other fields where employees have access to customer homes and property, background screening is a virtual necessity even though it’s not a legal requirement. Companies operating in these fields have found out by observing court-levied penalties that it’s safer to check out employees at a fairly nominal cost than to bear legal risks, which could bring them to bankruptcy.

With these considerations in mind, Miller knew that she wanted to add the services of a professional screening company to the hiring process at BEHR. “I realized from the onset that there is questionable validity to a character test, but there are behaviors that a person has evidenced, whether positive or not, and these should be part of the consideration in hiring them,” she says.

Miller’s choice was InfoLink Screening Services Inc., a firm with national capabilities whose home office is in Chatsworth, Calif.  “I met Barry Nadell, the president of InfoLink, at an employment law conference in January 1995,” says Miller. “Barry had a very simple display and presentation, but I recognized he was offering exactly what we needed. We worked with InfoLink to develop a standard package of background checks for employees, along with some expanded packages for particular positions in the company.” Miller adds that 100 percent of their employees in the United States and Canada are screened.

Similar to conducting background investigations, BEHR also conducts post-offer pre-employment drug tests for all employees.  “As the company grew, setting up test sites became increasingly problematic, especially where we only had one person to be tested, say a potential sales representative,” says Miller. “Again, InfoLink was able to provide a service to BEHR. InfoLink has the ability to arrange test sites throughout the United States at a competitive rate and in a timely manner.”  The relationship between BEHR and InfoLink continues today.

“Competitive pricing and a full range of services are normal considerations and part of the picture,” says Miller. “Another important element is keeping abreast of the law. Barry Nadell is very proactive in keeping his clients informed of changes in laws and regulations. Another important concern is confidentiality. InfoLink has introduced an online version of their service, and we switched from the fax machine to the Internet. This is a more secure process than before. We take precautions with our screening results. The distribution of information is very limited. In order to be fair, whenever there are negative findings that may influence our hiring decision, we send a copy to the applicant by registered mail and invite them to clarify or correct the negative information contained in the report.”

Looking back over the past 12 years, Miller believes that the decision to use InfoLink has been an important contribution to the company’s ability to employ the best. “By using an outside screening firm, we get the information we want at a reasonable price, and we save time,” concludes Miller.

© 2002 Hughes Communications, Inc.