Each organisation has unique goals and requirements when they choose to implement background checks as part of a pre-employment screening programme. Common in today’s marketplace, background checking delivers a number of benefits to organisations beyond reducing theft, revealing CV fraud, and reducing employee turnover.
The measurable benefits of performing background checks include the following:
- Significant reduction in costs associated with employee theft – saves money and security resources.
- Reduction in employee turnover and related costs – saves HR, recruitment, and training resources.
- Safer workplace – minimise work disruption, and improve morale by reassuring your employees that their co-workers are safe to work with and have a good track record.
After Screening 2 Million Candidates, our Statistics Tell the Story – 20% of people have a Red Flag in one or more references, and 30% embellish something on their CV. In some Industries the statistics are even greater.
- The removal of interview bias – we’ve never met your candidates, so our only motivation is to help you know who you’re hiring!
- Selection of a more honest, productive, and efficient team – our People, Process, and Technology combine to ensure accuracy and high quality, detailed information for every applicant.
- Protection from negligent hiring litigation – be sure that you only employ safe people.
- Assurance that thorough details are assembled prior to every hire - references, schools and employers call back on their own time – we’re available to answer every call and we update you in real time as results are available.
- Faster recruiting times – our business is background checking!
Job candidates may look to gain an advantage through dishonest means, usually in the form of exaggerations on their CV. Although only
12% of workers admit to embellishing, it is currently estimated that as many as
one in three jobseekers have included
some form of lie on their CV. Common misrepresentations include candidates lying about their reasons for leaving a job, possibly in an attempt to cover up a dismissal, as well as the candidate lying about the position in which they were employed, in order to appear more experienced. In the past, BackCheck has uncovered scenarios where candidates have gone as far as to completely fabricate a period of employment at an organisation which has
no record of them ever being employed.
Other serious offences include candidates lying about the level of education that they have achieved. Many jobseekers exaggerate the level of degree they have obtained, and some lie about having completed a degree at all! The existence of diploma mills and fake education institutions that exchange cash for counterfeit degrees means that checking that an individual actually graduated, and confirming the exact level of award claimed, is essential.
Read About Employment Verifications, Reference Checks, Education Verifications.
TThe average recruitment cost of filling a vacancy, is £4,667 per employee. This figure increases to £5,800 when calculating associated labour turnover costs. An effectively implemented pre-employment screening programme can help reduce turnover and the associated costs by ensuring that only the most suitable candidates are being hired for your positions. As more than one in five employees leaves within the first six months of joining a company, screening your candidates can help identify those individuals who will fit best within your organisation and be more likely to stay for the long term.
Screening will also help filter out candidates who may not possess the necessary skills to succeed at your company, which otherwise might result in the employee voluntarily leaving the organisation or being terminated for poor performance, both of which can be costly for the company. Reference Checks are an excellent way to obtain an evaluation of your candidate’s previous work performance, which is considered the best indicator of their future performance.
Read About Reference Checks and Criminal Record Checks.
Organisations have a duty to provide a safe place of business for their employees and their customers, and to ensure that their customers’ interests are protected.
As businesses attempt to navigate safely through the depths of the current recession, it is expected that workplace crime and fraud will continue to rise. According to BDO Hayward's FraudTrack, in 2008 alone, company managers, employees and customers were involved in fraud cases totalling £1.19B.
Screening candidates before they enter the workplace is the best way to evaluate the threat that they pose. If the old adage ‘desperate times lead to desperate measures’ holds true, the current global recession creates a climate where statistics show that people are more likely to commit criminal acts to profit.
Verifying the financial soundness of your candidate and uncovering any propensities towards dishonest behaviour can provide peace of mind that they will not be tempted to profit from the company through dishonest means.
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Criminal Record Check uncovers 96 Convictions
A woman applied to work at a call centre. On her BackCheck consent forms she claimed to have been convicted of assault. Her criminal record check told a different story: it turned out that this candidate had 95 other convictions including theft, counterfeiting, forgery, fraud, armed robbery, drunk driving, and more!The lesson learned is that we shouldn’t trust the honesty of criminals.
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