I came late to the discussion a few weeks ago about fraud in recruitment but it seems that some collective solutions emerged – practical things like checking resondents' ID. While not strictly the same subject, I thought that this might be an opportunity to point us towards some details of the Recruiter Accreditation Scheme which is currently being developed by the AQR and the MRS, who are inviting consultation via their website. There is also a handy (if not blockbuster) video on the MRS website – if you want feed back to the MRS or watch the video click here
The scheme aims 'to raise the profile and status of qualitative recruiters, by devising a training and accreditation scheme that will recognise the knowledge, skills and competence of professional recruiters, and address the quality concerns that can arise from poor practices'. It is intended that research companies and particularly those in the MRS Company Partner Scheme will in turn be mandated to use accredited recruiters – in other words, it is being set up as a two-way commitment that will ultimately boost professionalism in our industry. Debrah Harding (who is championing the scheme for the MRS) has just written to the CPS members to share the above link and invite their feedback.
Training modules and guidelines are being developed and a roll-out planned for 2016/17 so there will be more news. While not an expert, I understand that new data protection laws and liabilities are on the horizon that have implications for responsibility around data and recruitment that we will all need to be on top of, as well as knowing that our recruitment partners are too (particularly around US clients). Please don’t ask me more about this … I don’t have the answers yet but it could be another conversation!