Hiring the right employees is crucial to the success of any business. A bad hire can cost time and money and damage the company’s reputation. To ensure a robust, reliable workforce, employers are increasingly turning to background checks as a powerful tool in the hiring process.
A new hire could mean great things for your company if you find the right candidate to fill the position. But what happens when you hire the wrong person for the job? This article will delve into the significance of background checks and how they can help you make well-informed hiring decisions.
The Consequences of a Bad Hire and How it Affects Your Company
Many companies rely on their recruiting teams to conduct a thorough interview process. From the initial point of contact to various steps of your company’s interview process, your recruiting team is responsible for vetting the best of the best, someone that suits your company’s needs for the particular role that needs to be filled.
A recruiting team works hard and spends money to identify possible candidates to interview for the open position. While best efforts might be put forward, sometimes, a new employee ends up being a liability for the company.
There are several potential consequences of hiring the wrong person for the job.
Financial Costs
The recruiting process comes at a cost. When hiring a new employee, there are costs associated with onboarding, salary, benefits, training, and more. If a new employee proves to be a bad hire and is let go, the costs of interviewing, hiring, and training become a loss, and you will be putting additional money into finding their replacement.
Team Workload
Hiring a bad employee can also affect the workflow and workload of other team members. When a new hire isn’t completing the work you hired them to do, other employees are stuck with longer hours, more projects, and increased responsibility. Hiring a bad employee at the expense of capable and loyal employees can leave you in a bad spot as an employer.
Employee Morale
Consider your current team of employees. How would a bad hire affect the atmosphere and overall team morale?
While company changes may contribute to team morale, a bad hire can negatively affect how the team functions. When a bad hire brings a negative attitude into the workplace, it rubs off on everyone else. With a negative attitude and lower team morale, work quality and output will likely decrease.
Client Issues
Building and maintaining a strong relationship with your clients is essential to any company. Teaching employees how to communicate and manage clients properly is also key to building revenue.
When you make a bad hire, navigating client issues pertaining to that particular hire may be a challenge. If a new hire doesn’t complete client projects or leaves essential deadlines looming, you may face credibility issues when dealing with clients. How can they trust a company that doesn’t come through on time?
What is a Pre-employment Background Check?
A pre-employment background check is similar to a standard background check. This process uses the individual’s name, birth date, social security number, and other related information to gather information about the individual from public and restricted access points such as court records, police reports, and more.
Pre-employment background checks typically cover several points.
- Identity verification — Verifies that the applicant has supplied an accurate name, social security number, and citizenship status.
- Employment history — Provides an overview of the individual’s work history and includes where they have worked and the dates they worked in each job.
- Educational background — Verifies the accuracy of any degrees or certificates an applicant or new hire has claimed.
- Criminal history — Learn if an applicant has convictions of any crimes, is on a watchlist, or has any other legal situations that may interfere with the workplace.
- Government-issued licenses — Many roles require state or federal licensure to apply and go through the hiring process. A pre-employment background check confirms an applicant has a valid license in the required areas and shows the expiration date for the license.
- Motor vehicle records — Informs you of all citations, warnings, accidents, and other information included in an applicant’s motor vehicle records.
- Credit check — Use an applicant’s credit report to determine an applicant’s or new hire’s financial responsibility.
Benefits of Pre-Employment Background Checks
Recruitment teams in your company should consider implementing a screening program into the interview and hiring process. Not only will the return on investment (ROI) be visible, but the cost per hire will also decrease over time.
Here are some benefits of implementing a pre-employment screening process.
Improved Quality of New Hires
Once your recruiting team begins using a pre-employment background check system during the hiring process, you’ll notice a considerable improvement in the quality of your new hires. Accuracy behind applicant information, like their experience or personal background, is important when considering who to hire, and a pre-employment background check will ensure that accuracy moving forward.
Maintained Security and Safety
Consider what information may show up in a background check. Comprehensive pre-employment background screenings can reveal previous incidents or behavioral characteristics that could pose a threat to your team/company and help you to prevent workplace violence or other issues.
Decreased Turnover
One of the top goals of many recruiting teams is to decrease employee turnover to build a strong, tenured staff, resulting in a consistent team and successful output of results for the company. Conducting pre-employment screenings will reduce turnover by eliminating those “bad seed” hires as much as possible, giving you top-tier candidates and preventing wrong hiring decisions.
Reduced Substance Abuse
Part of the pre-employment screening process for many companies includes a drug and alcohol screening. Without this crucial step, you may risk hiring someone with a history of continued drug or alcohol abuse, leading to liability issues, low productivity, tardiness, crime, etc. Implementing a thorough screening process can reduce these harmful effects on your company.
Choose Pre-Employment Investigations for Professional Candidate Screening
Background checks help companies protect the health and safety of their organization. Therefore, choosing a trusted partner to supply accurate, legally compliant information as quickly as possible is essential.
Look no further than the team at Pre-Employment Investigations for your company’s pre-employment screening needs. With a no-fuss electronic system with easy-to-reach, friendly customer service, our team has the best pre-employment screening solution for you. From court searches to credit reports, DMV searches, and more, our team will provide valuable information to help you make a well-informed, comprehensive, and objective decision on every applicant.
Contact us to get started with professional screening services today.