Who We Are

Veris Benchmarks understands that trust sustains all lasting business relationships. We believe that companies have a responsibility to their customers and shareholders to better understand their employees’ ethical and moral composition.The staggering costs of making poor judgments around whom to trust fill the newscasts and social networks day after day. The big stories unfold on a grand scale involving fraudulent fund managers, self-serving financial advisors, rogue traders, or dishonest politicians. Failures of trust also happen on a personal scale involving accountants, attorneys, physicians, domestic help, and insurance agents. We all face situations where we are called upon to place our trust in those professionals who can choose to work for our mutual best interests or exclusively for their own. The reputational risks associated with not addressing these issues today are severe. The most cost-effective way to prevent the problem is to prevent hiring those who are at risk for committing white collar crime.

After four years of analysis and hundreds of hours of research, Veris Benchmark’s experienced scientists have crafted the first evidence based Professional Trust Assessment which provides for the ability to measure and benchmark an individual’s level of trustworthiness. We have identified through our research -eight personality traits that differentiate business professionals who are more likely to engage in irresponsible behavior from those who do not. We then measure those assessment scores (Veris Trust Index) against the scores obtained from both white collar criminals (using our White Collar Criminal benchmark) and white collar professionals to evaluate and better determine chances that an individual will exhibit improper and irresponsible behavior.  High scorers on the Index show more solid integrity and rule compliance at work, while low scorers have increased probability of irregular or improper actions, even violations of regulations and laws.

Background checks have grown into a multi-billion dollar industry, but they can only detect those who have been caught and documented in the process of committing crimes. Criminologists tell us that 70-80% of professionals who commit crimes don’t end up in criminal record databases or county courthouse records. Integrity tests have been in place for many years. Unfortunately, they dwell on detecting theft and other counterproductive behaviors that take place with hourly workers in retail, hospitality, restaurant or medical facility settings

So if the professional talent you need to trust is not someone you have observed over time and you don’t have an associate who can offer a solid reference, what then? Most people rely on unreliable or inaccurate factors such as appearance, credentials, or the answers provided in an unstructured interview. Research since the 1950s confirms the low accuracy of decisions based on appearance or unstructured interviews. That is what leads to spectacular failures of judgment around whom to trust. That is why we created the Veris Benchmarks Professional Trust Assessment.

The world needs a faster, more accurate, and more objective way to KNOW whom to trust.