Pre-Employment Background Check

The most successful companies realize just how critical each and every employee is. One weak link can cause serious problems, so it's important that every hire is a good one. That's why 90 percent of American corporations perform background checks. This simple process can prevent many common workplace issues, allowing your business to meet its full potential. A winning team is the key to productivity, and a pre-employment background check helps build that team.

Before hiring potential candidates, you need to know if they're going to be an ideal fit. It's difficult to determine someone's character, lifestyle habits and qualifications just from a few initial job interviews. A pre-employment screening is essential for ensuring the safety and morale of your other employees and for verifying that the possible hire is indeed qualified for the position. Over half of the job applications you receive contain inaccuracies, and 10 percent of background checks reveal serious flags. Do you really want to take that risk?

Another reason why a pre-employment screening is so necessary is because the actions of your employees can be your company's responsibility. If employees do something out of line, and you hired them without looking into information that would have prevented the hire, you and your organization can be legally responsible because of negligent hiring. A pre-employment background check is part of your duty and an effective legal precaution that shouldn't be overlooked.

A background check can also be an excellent way for you to streamline the hiring process. In today's competitive world, many job-seekers are using whatever means they can to stand out from the other applicants. If you have people applying with a resume and a completed background check, that saves you time, money and effort. Additionally, someone who clearly has nothing to hide is usually a safer bet than someone who reluctantly agrees to a mandatory background check.

When you consider background checks, you also need to think about the bigger picture. You want your employees to be able to trust that new hires are going to be competent, mentally stable and tolerable to be around. Building this culture of trust does take time, and one mistake can crush it entirely. As a hiring manager, you're going to be the one being scrutinized if something goes wrong with someone you hired. Protect yourself, your positive work environment and your staff by implementing a background check in your hiring strategies.

Every individual you bring into your company makes a difference. Whether they make a positive or a negative one is largely up to you. Even the keenest instincts sometimes miss the mark, and a background check is just another tool in your hiring arsenal. As the saying goes, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

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