Nina French, Managing Partner, Current Consulting Group. LLC

Grab a latte and pull up a chair and join us for a great interview with Nina French, Managing Partner, Current Consulting Group. LLC

Nina has a degree in Education and worked at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington before coming to the screening industry. She smiled and said, ultimately, my entire career has been in the screening industry.

Nina started in the industry in 1992 by answering an ad in the Washington Post for a 3-year old, family owned Medical Review Office. The company was founded by Ian Macdonald, MD (Dr. Mac). Dr. Mac served as Assistant Surgeon General and Acting Assistant Secretary for Health during the Reagan administration and also directed the activities of The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. She said “I was privileged to not only learn the industry under one of the very best, I was also privileged to work with a dynamic team and be instrumental in the growth of a small company into one of the industry leaders”. In 2014, she partnered with Bill Current and formed The Current Consulting Group, LLC (CCG). With delight in her voice she said, “Our team and our clients manage to keep me excited to go to work each day.”

She laughed and said, “After 25 years in screening I still love being a part of this industry. It is ever evolving and changing and I find that never a week goes by that I have not learned something new and been challenged to continue to improve. I also have the privilege of working with some of the most respected people and companies in the industry and believe that as a group we provide both an invaluable and quality service.”

Turning the conversation to the business she shared “My business partner, Bill Current, and I formed CCG with a single mission and we do not stray from that goal. We have assembled a tenured team of consultants who, independently and as a group, provide our consulting services to advance the industry. Our goal is to grow our team and our drug testing laws database – CurrentCompliance.org – to provide an economical resource to the industry and to employers directly. Inasmuch as growth is a goal for us, maintaining and improving the quality of information, education and best practices in the industry is critical for us to say that we are successful.”

When asked about any important announcements about products or services or future direction. She paused and said “There are many exciting things happening at CCG! We recently had two fabulous consultants join the CCG team. Dr. Donna Smith, one of the key architects of the Federal Drug testing regulations and Christine M. Jensen, SPHR®, CWDP, SHRM-SCP, an HR professional with almost 30 years of experience. This addition allows us to provide more expansive consulting in all aspects of DOT and human resources. CCG’s commitment is to be the best and our reputation is critical to our success. Dr. Smith and Christine are so well respected in their fields of expertise they are a perfect complement to the existing team at CCG.”

Nina added “The most important message is that there are template policies available for free, there are “wizard” software products on the market and there are law firms who do what we do…..and all of that is fine. But the team at CCG has developed their expertise in the same way that so many NAPBS, DATIA and SAPAA members have…through years of experience IN the industry. We believe that the screening industry is a vital part of employment and we work with the industry to constantly strive to improve.”

She said, “One more thing, if there are subscribers to The Background Buzz that don’t know who we are and what we do they should visit our two websites – currentconsultinggroup.com and currentcompliance.org and see how easy it is to work with us. We are a small business and we LOVE what we do – just like we know many of your readers do.”

I asked her about what she sees coming down the road for the screening industry and without hesitation she said, “As mobile technology becomes the norm for business and social media becomes ever more prominent in life, I believe background screening and drug testing will evolve in terms of technology, availability and speed. As these adapt we will see changes in predictive technology in candidate assessment and too, we will see a stronger use of these tools in the assessment of existing employees, not just candidates.” It was clear this was something she had thought about for some time.

Turning the conversation back to her personally, with that adorable smile of hers she shared that with four girls, Sydney (15), Olivia (13), and my twins Simone and Matilda (10) occupying my time outside of CCG, her recent reading has centered around the girls’ summer reading assignments. The freshman reading assignment ‘Feed’ by MT Anderson about a futuristic society where people have internet feeds inserted in their brains stood out for her and proved to be the most interesting book for her. She noted that it may not be that unrealistic!

When asked about who she would most like to meet, Nina smiled and said “I understand that this is where I should say someone who is historically relevant or important, but the honest truth is, I would love to meet Idris Elba. If readers know who Idris is, they should be able to understand……” (Note: Idris Akuna Elba is an English actor, producer, musician, and DJ. He is known for playing the narcotrafficker Stringer Bell in the HBO series The Wire, and starred in Prometheus, The Dark Tower, Star Trek Beyond, Pacific Rim, Thor, Obsessed, No Good Deed, to name a few.).

Finally before closing the interview Nina shared her favorite quote, “Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined” by Toni Morrison, my favorite author. She said, ”It reminds me that each of us owns who we are, who we want to be and what we will ultimately be.”

Thanks to Nina for a very insightful and thoughtful interview and for her genuine openness.

Nina can be reached at nfrench@currentconsultinggroup.com or on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-french-44971612/