Background Checks: 3 Key Benefits of Screening

Big, small, local or international – whatever your business and wherever you are, industry leaders agree on these three key benefits of conducting background checks:

• Attracting and hiring better quality candidates
• Improving safety and security
• Meeting regulatory compliance

What challenges do recruiters face?

Hiring new staff is never plane sailing. You are dealing with individuals that are likely even more diverse than your customers and their individual demands.

The three main complaints we hear from recruiters are:

• Lack of suitable candidates
• Candidates not responding to calls and emails
• Spam (junk) applications from unqualified job seekers

Apart from the human factor of individual personalities, skill sets and experience, recruiting is a numbers game. To fill just one position in a small company you might have to process hundreds of applications.

According to recruitment analysts Glassdoor, HR managers in a typical company can expect to receive at least 250 resumes for a single job vacancy. You’ll only want to interviewing between 4 and 6 of those candidates to select the most suitable applicant.  

This lengthy process makes the average cost of a single hire about $4,000 and takes up to two months from start to finish.

The more efficiently you can whittle down the number of applicants to the handful you want to invite to interview, the less time and money you spend making the right hire. You also avoid the risk of making a bad hire and the damage it can cause to your company’s image and finances.

Attract & Hire Better Quality Candidates

Industry standards have vastly improved worldwide in recent years. Countries once considered ‘rouge nations’ have upped their game immensely during the past decade or so, raising their standards to be on a par with developed nations.

As such, companies in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region have come to rely heavily on background screening to ensure they continue to improve standards and attract competent candidates.      

• Verifying candidate credentials ensures you employ someone that can do the job you hire them for.

• Candidates that know they don’t have the skills and experience required to fulfil the position won’t waste your time by applying if they know they will be screened.
• Background screening prevents candidates from trying to lie or misrepresent themselves on their application forms and resumes.

• Candidates that are aware you conduct background screening checks will likely be more transparent during the interview stage.

As hiring is costly and time consuming, undertaking background screening checks is worthwhile for the long-term benefits, including employee retention. The last thing you want is to hire someone who quits after a few days or weeks because they don’t have the skills, experience or qualifications to fit in with your existing team and the work involved.

Improve Safety & Security

Most employers agree that maintaining consistent standards of safety and security is a major benefit derived from conducting background screening checks.

Vetting applicants early on in the hiring process is a common-sense preventative measure against potential collateral damage from the fallout of a bad hire.

At a glance you’ll know if there’s anything about a candidate’s profile that would make them unsuitable for the position.

Applicants that know you conduct thorough background checks will take your company seriously. It also deters applicants that don’t possess the skills or qualifications for the position from applying.

Rescreening existing employees is often overlooked but equally important in maintaining a high standard of corporate security. Continuous monitoring is the kind of due diligence that allows you to stay on top of any changes in the circumstances of individuals in your workforce and mitigate any developing risks.   

Meet Regulatory Compliance

The hiring process for even the smallest companies is a quagmire of rules and regulations which can drag you down in litigation if you are not careful.

Employers in the UK and US have to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act as well as abiding by any additional local state, provincial or district labour laws.

A background check on an applicant might reveal information which would cause you to consider rejecting that application but if you do so for no other reason than the existence of a criminal record you could face fines and other legal action for discrimination.

Employers in Ban-the-Box states cannot ask applicants on job applications whether they have a criminal record.

The way you handle private information about individual job applicants is especially challenging in the US. With some states and cities recently adopting ‘Ban the Box’ regulations, your company’s location as well as where the applicant resides determines the kind of questions you can ask prospective employees on their application forms.

To ensure that you follow the rules in the Fair Credit Reporting Act you must get written permission from applicants before performing background checks.

How we can help you

Our job as a screening agency is to stay abreast of the latest developments in rules and regulations  for our international clients so we can advise them on the best practice for their specific location and industry when recruiting.

Learn more about our range of background checks for employment.

***Disclaimer***
Intelimasters is a background screening agency, not a law firm. This article is for informational purposes only. Nothing in it should be considered as legal advice. We encourage you to consult with legal counsel regarding your specific business and/or individual needs.