GI-Group is one of the largest players worldwide in the field of HR services.

GI-Group is one of the largest players worldwide in the field of HR services. Générale Industrielle (GI) was founded in Italy in 1998, and since 2015 they have also established themselves in the Netherlands. GI-Group is active in the field of temporary and permanent staff deployment, outsourcing, recruitment and selection and HR consulting. GI-Group has more than 500 offices worldwide, 150 onsites (offices at customers' locations) and 5,500 employees.

Fleur van den Heuvel: 'What makes GI-Group unique in the temporary employment sector is that we respond personally and quickly. We respond to changes and always provide tailor-made advice. We look at the options for each customer and create a tailor-made solution. GI-Group is digitizing as many processes as possible worldwide: we call this 'Digital Priority'. In the Netherlands we are at the forefront of this and are very progressive in this regard. Most processes are automated, we are in the optimization phase.

We live in a world that is changing ever faster. Technological developments follow each other at a rapid pace, laws and regulations follow or are adapted to keep up with developments. But how can a company like GI-Group continue to comply with all relevant local and international standards, laws and regulations?

Fleur van den Heuvel: 'We are under the supervision of the ABU (trade organization) and Dutch standardization organizations such as SNA and SNF and we have certificates such as NEN 4400. We also have a number of international certificates. The requirements of these organizations and agencies ensure that all controls are already built into our system. Audits sometimes require us to make minor adjustments to continue to comply with all rules and laws. These audits are a moment for us to check our processes, but each time it turns out that we are already doing very well. We even try to actively monitor changes through the trade organization ABU, for example by keeping a close eye on their newsletter. And we involve our suppliers in the process. We rely on expertise from companies such as DataChecker to keep up with rules, but also new possibilities.

Nowadays, the onboarding of new employees is largely done online. GI-Group is progressive in the field of digitizing processes, but there are still companies in the flex world that do not have a digital solution for this process. Candidates are received at a location, or a consultant comes on location to physically carry out the process. This also happened at GI-Group before the solution was integrated with DataChecker. What has that migration meant for the reliability of audits?

Fleur van den Heuvel: 'Before we used the services of DataChecker, our consultant checked a physical ID document. We also had a device for that, which often did not work. This meant that we relied on the expertise of our consultant, who all have a basic knowledge of identity documents, but they are of course not document experts. That is why GI-Group is so happy with the DataChecker service. After all, an error is human and we overcome it with double checking. For example, think of all the residence permits from all over the world that pass by, the start and end dates of those permits must be carefully checked.

Checking the data in a residence permit or work permit is a small part of a larger onboarding process, but one with major consequences. A date entered incorrectly can lead to illegal work and ultimately a huge fine. GI-Group uses DataChecker's ID verification and RTW check (Right to Work Check). The ID verification is used to find out whether the candidate in question is actually the person he or she claims to be. An RTW check determines whether the person is allowed to work in the Netherlands.

Fleur van den Heuvel: 'An RTW check can be quite complicated in practice. For example, identity cards in some European countries are very similar to residence permits. Through DataChecker's RTW Check, GI-Group was able to prevent someone with an Italian residence permit from being employed in the Netherlands. The previous employer of this lady had missed that this lady only had a residence permit and no ID (the difference between an Italian ID card and a residence permit is minimal). So she had been working in the Netherlands for a while before she joined GI-Group. With only an Italian residence permit you are not allowed to work in the Netherlands and her previous employer was therefore in violation.

GI-Group came into contact with DataChecker through the collaboration with software partner MySolution. The MySolution platform offers companies in the flex world a total solution in the cloud. The platform is linked to DataChecker technology. This way, companies in the flex world can verify identity documents in one system, but also do their financial administration, for example. GI-Group has direct contact with DataChecker about integration and any questions that arise during the process.

Fleur van den Heuvel: 'We are very positive about the collaboration with DataChecker: everything is going well. We are particularly pleased with DataChecker's support department. If something goes wrong, or a document is not approved immediately, we can immediately send a chat message. A response to our question is always very quick, so the problem can be resolved quickly. Our account manager also plays an important role in this. In our opinion, a nice development in the future would be that Mysolution integrates all DataChecker services. Inviting people to identify themselves in a secure environment (the Secure ID link) would mean a great optimization for GI-Group in the future.

In short: the connection with DataChecker helps GI-Group to automate the identification and verification process. The RTW Check ensures that GI-Group is certain that all non-Dutch candidates are actually allowed to work in the Netherlands. The digitization of this process helps GI-Group to stay ahead and work more efficiently.