Why should you conduct background checks?

Why do background checks? The benefits of comprehensive employment background screening include: increased applicant and new hire quality, reduced workplace violence, reduced negligent hiring liability, reduced losses from employee dishonesty, making the right hire the first time, and avoiding negative publicity. The bottom line is that pre-employment background checks help an organization be more successful. That means greater profits to for-profit organizations and greater impact for non-profits.

Background Checks allow an employer to better determine if an applicant poses a potential threat to other employees or customers. Also, because employers have a moral and legal obligation to provide a safe work environment, knowing whether a potential employee has been involved in criminal or dishonest activity (such as drug or other substance abuse, reckless behavior, theft, or dangerous and violent behaviors) allows the employer to better determine if an applicant is appropriate for the job and work environment.

Fortunately, conducting the background check isn’t hard, especially if you’re hiring a third party to do it for you. But even then there are many issues you should be looking for. Here are five things you need to know when conducting a background check on a prospective employee.

Here are some of the benefits of running background checks on your staff:

• Identify the individuals with criminal records – with background check, you can easily identify candidates with past criminal records or candidates with any form of moral issues like theft, dishonesty, corruption etc.

• Get a full picture of your applicant and not just what he/she presents in a resume or at the interview – people have a way of acting during interviews that allows them portray their best qualities. Thus, burying their weaknesses. With background check, you get the opportunity to meet, know and have a deeper insight into an individual’s personality.

• It highlights dishonesty, false credentials and exaggerated CVs – at times, people lie on their CVs. Anyone can make up any job experience with any firm, get friends to pose as referees, present fake credentials just to get a job. There is no way you can easily identify these irregularities without carrying out proper background check on these individuals.

• It improves the quality of staff you hire as your staff would be competent and reliable – imagine having done a thorough background check on every individual at your firm, it makes it easier for you to entrust them with confidential company information.