7 Reasons to Run a Background Check on Each and Every Employee 15 Nov 2017

For many employers, an employee background check is the last step in a process that they really want to wrap up.

Though the hiring process may have begun with a sense of excitement — thanks to the hope that the right candidate will bring in some fresh energy, fill a gap in your operations, and help you run a more efficient, effective organization — finding the right candidate can be a task.

This sense of excitement quickly gets bogged down in the amount of work required — sorting through resumes, scheduling interviews, meeting with co-workers — and that nagging anxiety about whether this person is really the right candidate for the job can turn the hiring process into a burden.

If you decided to hire someone, do you really want to go through one more hoop by hiring a background screening company to run a check on them? Everything seems right as far as experience goes, and their personality is such that they would fit right in. Why bother with a background check?

We realize that many companies are eager to make an offer and complete their hiring process, but there are at least seven good reasons why you should hold off until their background checks come back.

1. The bottom line. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the average cost per hire is $4,129. Translation: You’re investing a lot of money in getting the right person to clock in. But what if a few weeks after you hire them, they turn out to have a criminal record or to have exaggerated their credentials? It doesn’t even have to be a situation where they lied during the application process. For example, what if you hired them for a sales position that involves a lot of driving but it turns out they have multiple DUIs, preventing them from being able to legally drive?

Starting the hiring process all over again means spending even more resources. For a small fraction of the cost, Trusted Employees can run background checks in multiple areas to avoid such a costly restart.

2. Safety. As an employer, you have the responsibility to ensure that people come to a workplace that is safe and where they can be comfortable. A big part of this means hiring people who you know do not have a violent record, whether at home or in the workplace.

3. Insight into some intangible aspects. Even after rounds of interviews, you can only get a superficial picture of the person you want to hire. How someone is in an interview is not necessarily how they are on the job. Therefore, running an employment verification check can give you direct insights from previous employers about their personality, how they work with others, how they deal with conflict, and other highly important matters that do not necessarily come through in a resume or interview.

4. Avoid legal troubles. Workplace safety is a big priority for many employers, and often, this is motivation enough. If an employee does harm another employee and you failed to perform a thorough employee background check, you could be liable and charged with negligence.

Another legal concern is one of compliance. Depending on what industry you’re in, employees must have certain certifications to legally work in certain sectors. It’s easy for people to claim that their credentials are up-to-date when in fact they are not or nonexistent. In the best-case scenario you let this person go and begin the hiring process over again; in the worst-case scenario, you might be held legally negligent and be fined or even worse.

5. Peace of mind. To repeat an old cliche: Trust is earned. We hate to sound overly negative or cynical, but you need to be on guard when hiring. It’s a competitive job market out there, and even otherwise honest people will take liberties in order to get picked from the pile of resumes.

6. Are they financially responsible? Many employers want to know something about a candidate’s financial history, especially for positions that will require a candidate to handle money or make important financial decisions. Many background screening companies will run background checks that can tell you if they have ever filed for bankruptcy, have any bank liens, and what their credit history looks like.

7. Reduce turnover. We’ve discussed how hiring the wrong person can cost you time and money. Conversely, hiring the right person can, among other things, save you money by reducing your turnover rate. Verifying the information on their resume is true, and that their experience in other positions would benefit the role, are ways to tell whether the candidate is a right fit. If they are, it’s more likely that they will enjoy what they do and stick around longer. The longer they stay, the less money you’ll have to spend finding and hiring their replacement.

That’s why running an employment background check is so important; it confirms that you’re hiring the right person.

There are many background screening companies out there. At Trusted Employees, we take pride in performing thorough screenings on virtually every aspect of a potential employee’s background, from reference checks to criminal records, financial history to credentials. If you have any questions about our services, don’t hesitate to contact one of our professional team members today.