Pre-employment screening: our guide to getting it right

What defines a good leader? Look for these six qualities

WHAT DEFINES A GOOD LEADER? LOOK FOR THESE SIX QUALITIES

Modern business challenges can require new approaches. Leadership will need to evolve in order to continue to guide organisations in tomorrow's world of work. But what are the characteristics of a good modern leader in the workplace - and how can organisations develop them?

Many studies draw parallels between effective leadership and solid organisational performance. But whether they’re a junior manager or a senior executive, the qualities that leaders need are changing.

Nearly 1,500 HR professionals ranked leadership development as the number one priority for 2025, with managers feeling 'overwhelemed' by the expansion of their responsibilities. In today’s unpredictable world, you must combine traditional leadership skills with new abilities. So, what does an effective modern leader look like?

1. Remember what makes a good leader

Before looking at the new skills future leaders may need, it is worth reflecting on what a leader actually is.

What are the qualities of a good leader? It’s not what you may think.

Being in charge of colleagues does not necessarily make you a ‘leader’. Former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg explains: “Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.”

Retired astronaut Chris Hadfield believes that good leadership is: “Not about glorious crowning acts. It’s about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it. Especially when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter.”

There may be varying opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of leaders. But overall, most people believe that great leaders motivate their team members to perform their best and achieve common goals.

What traits do you need to achieve this in the modern workplace?

2. Use blended leadership styles for a VUCA world

Stacey Philpot from Deloitte Consulting maintains that the core skills needed historically in leadership roles have remained unchanged.

“These skills allow someone to become a leader faster than their peers. This is even true in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment,” she says.

The core skills for leading in a VUCA environment include:

Pattern recognition
Motivation
Agility
Emotional intelligence
Ability to understand, control and express emotions

This represents psychological assessments of 23,000 senior leaders globally over the past 25 years.

Consider introducing servant leadership:

Leaders need new styles of leadership to deal with changing cultures. Being comfortable with not having the answer and owning failure can create an environment of trust and openness.

Collectively, these behaviours form ‘servant leadership’. The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) defines servant leadership as emphasising behaviours and values such as:

Active listening
Empathy
Leading by example

These are instead of opting for a more authoritative, ‘command-and-control’ leadership style. Leaders create the conditions for team members to excel by displaying vulnerability. But given the stigma around servant leadership, how can organisations encourage it?

How to combat stigma surrounding servant leadership:

Alsu Polyakova, HR Leader for GE Healthcare, says reducing stigma around servant leadership will take a specific strategy. Most importantly frequent performance appraisals for leaders.

“We give leaders lots of opportunities for self-reflection, so they understand how they behave,” she says. GE Healthcare’s most successful leaders help to encourage behavioural change, Polyakova says. The company measures success by how well employees rate leaders on achieving GE Healthcare’s ‘cultural pillars’. These pillars include inspiring trust and empowering employees.

3. Create a culture of trust in the workplace

Gaining workers’ trust is more important than ever. One way to build trust is for leaders to take action on issues such as climate change. 71 percent of employees consider their CEOs’ social awareness as critically important, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer.

Social awareness may yield rich rewards. The Edelman poll shows that workers who trust their employers are far more engaged and remain more loyal than their more sceptical peers.

Leadership styles are clearly changing. The most effective leaders will need to tailor their styles to suit different scenarios, says Professor Sattar Bawany. “Leaders need a broad repertoire of management styles and the wisdom to know when each style should be used,” he says. “In crisis scenarios like cybersecurity breaches, for example, leadership should be authoritarian because the scenario is unstructured.”

4. Adapt your leadership style for different generations

Managers must also balance leadership styles to suit different generations. Modern workplaces will soon house up to five generations under one roof. Therefore, there will be many people with differing preferences on leadership style.

As of 2023, millennials are the biggest group in the UK workforce, at 35 percent. Modern leaders must mix old and new leadership styles that meet the needs of younger generations. Doing so will future proof organisations. However, new leadership approaches cannot come at the expense of alienating older workers.

5. Commit to lifelong learning

With the workplace evolving so rapidly, leaders cannot rely on past experience alone to get by. Ben Farmer, Head of HR at Amazon UK agrees: “Experience is not always synonymous with wisdom and judgement. And naivety doesn’t always engender novel thinking and openness to change.”

Organisations should look for leaders who understand the future as well as those with experience. “Success comes from the ability to combine understanding of exciting, new trends with the experience required to put that knowledge into action,” says Farmer.

But what is the right balance? There is no one-size-fits-all approach when balancing experience with adaptability. Achieving the right balance will mostly depend on the organisation and the sector it operates in.

6. Be conscious of culture

Organisational culture is an important factor. Risk-averse firms may prefer experience over novel thinking. Leaders may be fearful of a backlash from stakeholders should novel thinking fail. To lower risk, companies should seek leaders who use both scientific evidence and intuition when making decisions.

Ultimately, there’s no single blueprint for an effective modern leader. Each organisation must tailor their approach to leadership development. There must be a focus on organisational culture, industry nuances and employee mix.

But above all, leaders should recognise that today’s reality may be old news tomorrow.

For more expert advice, take a look at the following articles:

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null Pre-employment screening: our guide to getting it right

PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENING: OUR GUIDE TO GETTING IT RIGHT

The rules around compliance differ in every company, but there are some basic introductory steps that everyone should undertake. There are many terms used to describe the compliance policies and checks that potential employees must undertake, including:

Complete background screening
Verification
Pre employment screening process (PES)

In this summary, we’ll discuss the basics that you should expect when looking to outsource to a recruitment partner.

Where to start with pre-employment screening

When outsourcing your recruitment, your provider should work with you to map out your current compliance and screening requirements. At this stage your recruitment provider will advise you on any legal obligations or requirements. Make sure your provider recommends any best practices and process improvements that you might require.

Common pitfalls of conducting background checks

Mismanagement of screening for contingent workers

It is commonplace to find that companies rely on suppliers to manage their contingent workforce. And although this supplier relationship may offer convenience, it can present risks when working with a large supply list.

In many cases managing the legal compliance of contingent workers may be the responsibility of your supplier. But do you know whether they check for requirements such as a client confidentiality form or a credit check?

When Enterprise Solutions manages an outsourced service, we make sure to ask compliance related questions, including:

Will this candidate be handling financially sensitive data?
Is a medical check required? Is this candidate going to be working with children or vulnerable adults?
Is the candidate eligible to work in the country in which you are operating?

We make it our job to help educate clients and to understand their business. By doing so, it becomes easier to decide which pre-employment screening checks you will require.

Define a bespoke hiring process for your business

Many companies can take a blanket approach to compliance for all roles and locations within their organisation. This can lead to a costly and lengthy on-boarding process when it might not always be necessary – or legally permitted.

Conducting employment background checks

In the United States for example, you can’t verify a job applicants’ right to work until after you have made an offer. For most other regions, this check would be conducted much earlier in the process.

You also need to consider data protection laws when carrying out checks, as this also differs by region. In Germany, it is not possible to photocopy or keep a copy of a candidate’s proof of eligibility.

In the UK, it is a legal requirement to view the original right to work document, certify it and keep a copy on file. However, in Poland it is not a legal requirement to view the right to work documents at all.

Carrying out reference checks

The process around obtaining employment references can also differ by region. In Germany, applicants often receive a letter of reference from their previous employer so additional checks aren’t necessary. Employers can still request references, but this requires explicit consent from the applicant.

Handling registration documents

Registration documents can also differ by region. In Singapore, Hong Kong and China we ask candidates to:

Declare that they are registering with Hays of their own free will.
Acknowledge this declaration on the registration form, thus providing their agreement to working with Hays.
Provide true & correct information.

Your outsourcing provider can configure their Vendor Management Systems (VMS) to identify all requirements at the requisition stage. This could be per location, job family, job title / grade or even by cost code or hiring manager. For example, a receptionist might not need the same level of checks that a financial analyst would.

Within your VMS, your teams should have the visibility to check that a candidate does have all of their compliance in place.

Pre-employment screening and compliance aren't just for new starters

Compliance isn’t just about upfront checks. Compliance is an ongoing process of ensuring Visas are valid and that all qualifications, memberships or certifications are current.

Make compliance part of the process

One of the most important elements within the recruitment process is managing expectations upfront. Both the client and the candidate need to know what to expect and how long the process will take.

To support clients and candidates we have produced some very simple process flows. Sharing these documents helps manage expectations around timescales. It also helps to highlight any delays along the way, such as negative references or failed criminal record checks.

By producing these process flows, we help to save you time and manage fallouts in the screening process effectively.

Consider roadblocks for your screening process

Finding the best candidate for a job, only to find they don't meet legal and compliance requirements, can be frustrating.

Self-elimination is helpful at the application and screening point. That’s why at Hays we make sure to educate candidates on the requirements. By educating candidates we ensure that everyone has the best possible experience and doesn’t waste their valuable time. We only show hiring managers CVs and interview candidates if we’re confident they will pass compliance and employment history checks.

If your business is looking to mitigate risk, consider outsourcing your contingent workforce. Speak to your outsourcing provider about implementing the right processes and technology. You will then be able to record, monitor and report on legal and company specific compliance requirements.

AUTHOR

Elly Boggis
Global Service Assurance Director, Enterprise Solutions at Hays

Joining Hays in 2005 as an onsite consultant for Hays, Elly went on to manage key accounts in the UK. Her experience includes working with diverse clients in the Financial, IT and Public Sectors.

After building expertise, Elly quickly progressed before taking an opportunity to move to Sydney in 2012. Elly worked across Australia and New Zealand and was responsible for the success of Enterprise Solutions accounts and their compliance function. These responsibilities were in addition to the project management of the implementation of expanded services to numerous clients.

Elly transferred back to the UK in 2014 and is now responsible for ensuring we have the correct tools and processes in place to mitigate risk in the delivery of our services to both our clients and candidates.

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