Screening Your Staff: A Biblical Perspective on Due


Diligence and Accountability Nancy Lynn Roberts. Reprinted with permission.


Background screening and the Bible may seem like an odd mixture, but I invite you to take a closer look. Your organization is made up of people—flawed human beings who have chosen to follow Christ and who, like Paul, constantly battle with their flesh (Romans 7:15– 20). These same people are those whom you rely upon for recruiting, screening and selecting staff, leaders, volunteers, members and donors. Simply put, God’s people are not perfect. How then, do we choose the right people to do the right things in our organizations?


The Biblical Basis for Due Diligence


Placing the wrong person in the wrong position happens all too often. The cost of replacing a team member is enough to justify taking steps to get the right people into the right positions from the start. In a December 2005 report prepared for AARP by Towers Perrin, entitled “The Business Case for Workers Age 50+: Planning for Tomorrow’s Talent Needs in Today’s Competitive Environment” (http://tinyurl.com/hhgcozj), the recruitment and retention of older workers was examined from a business case perspective. This report found that replacing an experienced worker at any age can cost 50% or more of the individual’s annual salary in turnover-related costs, with even greater costs for jobs requiring specialized skills, advanced training, or extensive experience. Additional costs are incurred when you take into account the damages arising from a bad hire and the increased risk of injury/claims/litigation/damages arising from a wrongly placed person in an organization.


Organizations that enact a comprehensive screening program dramatically reduce the risks and costs associated with placing the wrong person in their organization. They do so by using best practices to obtain quality information to improve their people decisions.


How can we connect screening practices to our understanding of Scripture? Luke described to Theophilus how he himself had “carefully investigated everything from the beginning” and he had also “decided to write an orderly account for you … so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:3–4). Luke is describing the process of due diligence in establishing truth. He shares that he documented what he investigated so others could also know “the certainty” of what they had been taught. Likewise, we must validate and document what our applicants are telling us.


Accountability is unquestionably a biblical principle. Jesus tells us in John 8:28–29 that he is subject to the authority of his Father. In Ephesians 5:24 the church as a whole is called to obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostles operated under the authority of Jesus


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Christ as articulated in Luke 10. In Hebrews 13:17, Paul tells the church members to take direction from their pastor. We see in 1 Timothy 4:13–16 that Timothy was subordinate to Paul. Even Paul gave an answer to the church in all of his travels and teachings as he states in Acts 14:27. And, we are all called in Ephesians 5:21 to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”


Biblical Accountability and Background Screening


How does biblical accountability relate to background screening for our people? The Bible clearly calls us to live a life surrounded by fellow believers whom we must give the right to hold us accountable, and to whom we must also be accountable. Screening people before you bring them into your organization, and after they have been a part of your organization, reduces your legal liability (and sometimes satisfies your legal obligations), but it also fits within our Christian calling.


This means we as the body of Christ should be willing to let someone check out our past before they choose to engage in a future with us. We should be quick to disclose where things have gone wrong and give account for what we have done about it. We must accept that mistakes happen. We cannot be victims of our mistakes. We must instead be overcomers in those situations. In this way, we as the body of Christ will show the world what it looks like to be accountable.


Accountability as a Mutual Obligation


Accountability is a critical and mutual obligation of both individuals seeking new opportunities and the organizations evaluating them. As it relates to screening people, the body of Christ must take their responsibility to be accountable to one another and the world seriously.


Accountability is vital for people and organizations using screening. Organizations are required by federal and state laws to disclose what kind of information they use to screen their people, to obtain proper authorization from the individual and to specify the purpose for the report. (See the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 USC Sections 1821 et seq., and the Federal Trade Commission’s “Using Consumer Reports: What Employers Need to Know,” http://tinyurl.com/j2lptqr.)


Organizations are also responsible to ensure that an individual being screened is alerted to their rights to dispute any information reported and to be notified of any adverse information reported prior to an adverse action being considered. (See FCRA, 15 USC 1681(b).) It is imperative to use systems and processes that protect private identifying information.


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