Man With A Mission: Danish Thanvi

Danish Thanvi is one of the pioneers in Background Screening business in Pakistan. It’s been more than a decade now since Danish has been involved in Risk Management business and establish a specialized background screening / Primary Source Verification company in Pakistan 5 years ago.

Now his company, RiskDiscovered.com, has the honor of being the largest Primary Source Verification provider in Pakistan and serving governments and corporations across Middle East and South Asia.
Danish is also the founding member of National Association of Professional Background Screeners, a US based non-profit organization founded in 2003 to represent the interest of companies offering tenant, employment and background screening.

About RiskDiscovered™

RiskDiscovered™ is the brand name of BackgroundCheck Private Limited (formerly DataFlow Pakistan Pvt. Ltd), the largest and prestigious Primary Source Verification provider in Pakistan operating since 2007. Hundreds of clients from corporations to governments and individuals trust RiskDiscovered™ as their partner in mitigating risks associated with staff hiring, issuing work permits and vendor selection. We verify thousands of applicants identify hundreds of red flags and contribute in saving invaluable reputation of our esteemed clients. RiskDiscovered™ brand is focused on fostering awareness about the risks and providing free and unique technological solutions to make background verification process faster, more organized and hassle free.

What are the major issues and challenges you often face?

DANISH: We face major challenges in convincing our potential clients in Pakistan about the importance of employees verification as unfortunately HR departments and decision makers of organizations think that only verifying degrees is sufficient to cover the risks however this is not the true case as real red flags can only be uncovered during a full background check when employment history, media databases, local criminal records, address verification and civil litigation checks are performed. We identify hundreds of red flags every month for our clients that cannot be identified by just verifying education. There is also a lack of knowledge about Diploma Mills and Fake employers so usually HR departments get the verification done from a Diploma Mill or a fake employer without knowing that the issuing authority of those documents is actually fake. We also face lots of issues because companies think that they can handle employment background check internally however they don’t understand that if they use their internal resources in this practice then they will never be able to get accurate results as such internal verifications may not be unbiased ( as compared to a third party who don’t know the candidates) , the resources who are involved in such tasks are not trained and focused on this work hence they never go out of box to get the verification done in proper order.

Your major function is verifications of records-how do you manage what method you adopt?
We provide Primary Source Verification means we verify documents from the originating source. We carry out verifications by directly contacting universities, professional organizations, government registries, banks and employers by phone, fax, email, courier, personal visit or a combination of all these to request their cooperation to verify the information that has been provided. We will also check if a university is accredited or not.
We always send a copy of the letter of authorization signed by the applicant to the entity from which we are requesting the verification, if they require it. Our reputation allows no compromise on the quality of our work and the professionalism in which we carry it out.
We continuously invest in the enhancement of quality procedures through the ongoing training of personnel, operating in an environment of continuous improvement and the active encouragement of audits from clients and industry regulators.
This is in addition to an internal policy of conducting background check on each of our employees and an independent audit team which undertakes random audits on a regular basis for all our processes.

In your view what steps should government to take for prompt actions?

Government should consider automation especially in Universities and other registries as we have observed that due to lack of automation in government departments there is no proper records management and it opens up lots of holes for corruption and fake documents. For example some of the largest universities in Pakistan don’t have proper records if you go back from early 90s because either the records are missing, eaten by rats or burnt in fire.

Your vision in the future?
We live in an age of abundant information, technology and communication. Of itself, this is neither a good nor a bad thing. The digital revolution is a remarkable and ongoing event in our lifetimes. However the global financial picture remains bleak for many who are struggling to support their families and worry about what the future holds. We are witnessing the beginning of new age that is a fusion of technology and new economic models. I just hope as Pakistani businessman that our leaders, both political and financial, realize the challenges ahead that cannot be met without changing the course of actions as a united nation not as a group of individuals severing only personal interests.

What facilities do you provide your employees?

We consider our employees as the main asset of our business. They are the revenue generators and core of our business so we cannot compromise in fulfilling their needs and requirements. We provide them all the room for growth, our processes makes them self accountable so they could improve without intervention of their managers and we keep their pay scales up to the market level or above ( as per their performance) so they could meet their financial challenges and focus on their work. Besides this we also provide trainings and consoling for their personal and professional growth.

Do you have any plan for further extensions?
Yes we have expansion plans for our company and will soon start our business development offices in Lahore and Islamabad.

What are the common threats if you face any especially with reference you job?
I think the dilemma of our country’s political and economical conditions is a threat to all businesses operating in Pakistan. Investors are not interested to invest in a country where they don’t expect their return of investment due to instability. Unfortunately the Pakistani mainstream media is only engaged in political drama and negativity rather portraying a better image. Pakistan is one of the most thriving and progressing nations ( just compare it to Europe and Africa ) however the picture of Pakistan being painted by local and international media is diametric.