In our last post, we covered the importance of an on-demand talent pool. A significant criterion for such a pool to work is that there should be an easy way to get a new hire through the door. Often at very short notice.
However, some jobs require clearance before work can begin. If your new hire is left with nothing to do whilst waiting for clearance, it is a huge waste of their time and your money.
How do we manage it at Mindful? We recognise time is of the essence when it comes to contract hiring and onboarding.
In this post, we explore five ways you can make your new hire useful whilst they are not formally in the organisation.
Can dispensation be applied for?
It might be possible that dispensation can be obtained from your security team. Firstly, you will need to send an email request to your security team. They can then do some initial checks on the new hire.
For example, the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) can be utilised. Although it is not a formal security clearance, its rigorous and consistent application underpins the national security vetting process.
This is a far quicker check than a full security clearance and will allow your new hire to get started in the organisation.
Can I hire a co-working space?
A new hire might not get a building pass until they get full security clearance. If site access is necessary for the work, see if you can hire a co-working space as an overflow capacity.
There are a number of organisations such as WeWork which offer flexible workspaces to help empower your distributed teams. This space also serves as the first point of entry for new starters awaiting clearance and other onboarding facilities.
Can classified documents be shared?
The Government Security Classifications document describes how HM Government classifies information assets. It is important to understand the different document classifications; official and official-sensitive. Documents which are official can be shared on an as-needed basis with minimum controls in place.
According to the document document, this must include appropriate recruitment checks (e.g. the BPSS, or equivalent). As well as reinforced personal responsibility and duty of care through training.
Nevertheless, the general tendency is to not share any documents. But a better understanding of this classification can help hirers decide what can be shared.
Find out how programmes can stop losing their contractors before they are fully onboarded in our blog post, How to Stop Losing Contractors Before Their Start Date.
Can I send information to external domains?
If IT / environment access is necessary for the work, see if colleagues can print off material for the new starters whilst they are awaiting IT. Additionally, armed with knowledge of security classification, you will be in a better position to judge if requirements can be sent to external domains.
A common problem is that many contractors don’t have their own domains. Also sending to a Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail account can feel a bit risky for the client staff. If this is the case, your intermediary can add value to the process by supplying the candidate an email address on their own domain name. You could go even further, by applying for whitelisting your intermediary’s domain name with your Security team.
Can sensitive information be redacted?
A way of sharing documents with your new hire awaiting security clearance is to redact sensitive information on documents before sharing. There is very handy redact tool on Adobe which allows you to permanently remove visible text and graphics from a document.
In place of the removed items, you can have redaction marks that appear as coloured boxes, or you can leave the area blank. This is great way of making documents available for your new hire before they receive full security clearance.
Final thoughts
Too often, a new hire is left in limbo whilst they are awaiting security clearance or other bureaucratic onboarding processes.
However, being left on the periphery with nothing to do for four to six weeks is demoralising. Not to mention the money you’ve spent paying their salary during this time.
Learning how to make use of your new hires right away will not only benefit your new hire, but your organisation as well.
