Statistics show that 1 in 3 Americans have been arrested or convicted of a crime. What does this mean for you when hiring? How can you navigate this statistic within the hiring process? Where can improvements be made to be fair, yet protect your business in the future?
Keep reading to learn more about why you should conduct a background check before hiring your next employee.
Minimize Turnover
Conducting a fast background check can help to minimize the turnover in your company in a few ways.Turnover is not a good look and costs your business money. The process to hire someone, train them, and give them specific job responsibilities that they are responsible for is not something that can be replicated overnight.
Finding out details from a background check can help you determine if the candidate is likely to stay with the company if hired or move on quickly to the next thing. If there is a history of issues in the workplace, they may be better suited for a role in which they operate alone. Having this person in a managerial or leadership role could cause issues for everyone.
Avoid Discrimination Issues
No company wants to be accused of discriminating in the hiring process of new employees. Running a background check before hiring can help prevent future lawsuits against your business. If someone poses a clear risk to the safety of your business and your current employees, you are not required to move forward in the interview process with them.
Details revealed in a background check can help save you from workers’ compensation costs and potential property damage if the employee has a history of getting injured on the job for money.
Change Money Discussions
Most people think that they should be paid more for the work that they do. By conducting a background check, you can get a better idea if the new employee should have a higher salary or not. If they have historically been involved in criminal activity or other suspicious accusations, you may be less likely to negotiate a higher salary or hourly wage with them.
Explaining that you need to see how they fit in the position first before increasing their pay can create an environment where they are working hard toward that promotion and staying out of trouble.
Determine Insurance Risks
One large component of operating a company is the various types of insurance that you need in order to function. There is auto insurance for each of the vehicles you use, along with property insurance for any damages to the space that you own or rent. There is also the insurance that you provide as a benefit to your employees. The cost of this will depend on the number of employees you have and the coverage you need, among other factors.
The more information that you are able to learn about an employee prior to hiring them can get you a better deal on the cost of insurance for that individual. If they have a deep criminal background or any type of assault charges, there will be a potential for the insurance company to charge more to keep them covered since they present more of a potential risk than someone with no record.
To Decide If They Are Qualified
Perhaps the biggest reason to run a background check on potential candidates is to see if they are truly qualified for the job in which they are applying. People can doctor their resume to make it look like they have years of experience in a certain field or have won awards for the work that they have done. A background check can help confirm if this is true. For example, if they claim to have 5 years of experience in a certain field but were in jail for a year during that period, they are likely lying.
This will also help you discover if they were good employees at previous companies. Altercations with previous managers could be a sign that they have difficulty taking direction. It is important to discuss the items you are concerned about with them in the event that there is more to the story and they were simply stuck in a bad situation.
Get Started Today
Don’t wait any longer to incorporate background checks into your hiring routine. You can have the peace of mind that you are making sound hires and not putting your business at an increased risk of trouble.
