Tim Dowd, who takes over as chief executive of job candidate-screening company Accurate Background in Irvine on June 1, is making sure that tech keeps everyone linked together during the pandemic.
That goes right down to the details of working from home.
“We make sure that when we video-conference we actually show our faces,” the incoming CEO told the Business Journal on April 14. “Some people think, well, work from home, you don’t have to shave. We want to make sure people can get that human interaction.”
The company provides numerous services for pre-employment, which include criminal history, drug testing, driving records and immigration-related work authorizations known as I-9 verifications.
Last year, the company was OC’s No. 17 fastest-growing large private company with $122 million in annual revenue according to a Business Journal estimate, and two-year growth of 19%.
Dowd will take over from current CEO and majority owner Dave Dickerson, who will move into the role of executive chairman.
No Disruption
Accurate Background has operations in the U.S. and India.
“We had to have our entire operating team working from home on two different continents,” on short notice, said Dowd, who will be moving up from his current post of chief operating officer and has been serving as the company president. “We were able to do that without any disruption of service or any degradation of productivity.”
“We’re adding more automation,” said Dowd of the company’s already streamlined services.
The company had moved a lot of processing to the cloud and “that allowed us to ramp up very quickly our work-from-home team,” said Dowd, adding the company has been working from home since mid-March.
Motivate, Energize
The new CEO sees the challenges facing workers as pressure builds to open up businesses again.
“How do you motivate, energize employees working from home?” Dowd asks rhetorically.
He said the company launched a work-from-home website for internal employees, and executives “are engaging with their teams on a daily basis.”
Furlough Returns
Accurate Background’s technology and service orientation will help companies deal with possible “surges in hiring” as the economy starts to gain momentum, including workers changing companies.
He said the company is launching a back-to-work program for companies recalling furloughed employees.
“We think it’s prudent to do some type of rescreen since people have been out more than 30 days as they come back to work.”
He said that’s to make sure they didn’t engage in any illicit activity, such as drugs, for example, while an array of other screening services will also be provided to make a consistent program.
Staying Profitable
Dowd, who joined the Accurate Background board in 2013, is confident the company will stay profitable this year with a strong balance sheet. He said that in a worst case, the pandemic may make 2020 revenue growth flat year-over-year as employment will continue to face a “headwind.”
Dickerson founded Accurate in 1997 and has grown it to over 16,000 customers and 1,700 employees. The announced leadership change follows Accurate’s recent acquisition of CareerBuilder Employment Screening. Accurate is now one of the largest employment screening companies in the U.S.
