Should You Conduct A Background Check Before Hiring (An Employee)?
In the popular drama series Suits, Harvey Spectre recruits college dropout Mike Ross as an associate for a leading Manhattan law firm. The decision backfires, as Mike’s academic status is discovered, putting the firm’s business at risk.
Arguably, Harvey’s unprecedented hiring decision was written for dramatic effect. But does it mean that no one at the firm questioned Mike’s academic status on resumption? Maybe. It’s more reasonable to conclude that there were no structures for a background check at the firm. A background check scrutinises a new hire’s history and helps the recruiter or HR decide if the hire is a fit, given the company’s standards.
This article addresses what a background check is and why you should run background checks at your company.
What is A Background Check?
A background check is an examination or evaluation of a candidate’s work history to determine their eligibility for a role. It usually scrutinises details such as academic qualifications, employment history, guarantors/referees, the validity of identity, and occasionally, criminal records, if any.
Background checks for different roles may vary…a thorough background check prevents a disastrous hire.
The average background check is completed within forty-eight hours. A thorough background check prevents a disastrous hire; they also help recruiters determine a potential employee’s ability to excel in a new role. Recruiters can discover the employee’s performance at their previous jobs, their honesty and integrity levels, and their strive for excellence.
Background checks for different roles may vary given the technicalities of the role and the employment policies governing the company’s geographical location.
Benefits of Running A Background Check
Workplace safety is pivotal for growth and development. Background checks mitigate possibilities of fraud, forgeries, embezzlement, and other known job hazards.
Employers also run background checks to improve the quality of the candidate hired to contribute to the business. With a background check, you can determine if an employee will respect colleagues, be positively disposed towards teamwork, will keep the company’s data private, and will be committed to their associated tasks.
When performing background checks, it is important to maintain proper record-keeping to ensure compliance with industry standards and any abiding government regulations.
How to Conduct A Background Check
You may choose to outsource an employment background check to a professional service, or you can run one yourself. To get started, do the following:
- Inform your employee of your intent. Preferably, notify them before you commence any checks. With this, you gain their trust and obtain their consent to probe.
- Revise policies and regulations to stay compliant. Are there binding policies that restrain you from poking an employee’s past? Be sure to check specific laws on what is within your scope of research.
- Contact guarantors. Your employee’s references will supply adequate information about their work ethics and skills. Set up a call if you can.
- Review previous work experience and academic credentials. Validate the previous companies they worked for, their educational background, etc.
- Review the results from your checks. If you don’t feel comfortable about moving forward with an employee, notify them of your decision. Don’t hire a candidate out of pity, if there are red flags.
Obtaining clean feedback from a background check boosts your confidence in hiring a candidate, a critical first step in building an excellent, world-class team for your company.
Recruiting New Talents?
Recruiting can be overwhelming. Being a multi-step process that includes talent-sourcing, interviewing, negotiating offers, and onboarding, HRs juggle multiple duties. Eager to conclude the recruiting process, it isn’t surprising to see HRs rush a new hire’s onboarding.
Onboardly automates HR processes such as contract signing, offer confirmation, and integration of tools for new hires. With Onboardly, you can create offer letters, invite an employee to join your workspace, and introduce them to their teams within minutes.
New to Onboardly? Simply sign up for a 14-day free trial today. To get started with automating your HR tasks.
Read More on Hiring New Talents
- How Onboarding Improves a New Hire’s Time To Productivity.
- What HRs Miss When Sending Offer Letters
https://blog.onboardlyhq.com/contract-offer-letters-what-hrs-get-wrong-fc03f25a06b9
