How Background Checks Are Helping Businesses To Hire Better And Faster?

The times are changing, and the wave of great resignation and quiet quitting has intensified over the past few years. According to CNBC, in 2022, about 50.5 million people will have voluntarily quit their jobs. It is creating a massive shortage of talent across the globe. Now, this talent shortage is turning into a talent war.

Among all these, a few people are creating fake profiles using artificial intelligence (AI). Not just that, a few other candidates lie on their resumes and try to fake their identities in front of recruiters. Hiring potential employees for such fraudulent activities is not easy. A survey done by ResumeLab says that 93% of people know someone who lied on their resume, and research says that only 31 percent of this percentage were caught. The most common lies were about their work experience, skills, and job duties.

Also, another research says that 75% of employers said they hired the wrong person for a position, which affected business in many ways. A bad hire costs them nearly $17,000 on average.

Hence, as the talent war heats up, firms must implement workable changes. Taking careful steps toward hiring can help employers streamline their hiring processes and give them a competitive edge.

So, where do the businesses start? How can organizations hire potential employees?

Well, background checks are a great place to start. In this article, we will conduct a deep analysis and learn about the various reasons, types, essential steps, and strategies.

Reasons to Conduct Background Checks

The top reasons why every company must run background checks during hiring are as follows:

• Job Competence: The expectations of employers are also increasing with the high competition in the market. There are a lot of freshers with extraordinary qualifications, giving high competition to each other. It has become hard for recruiters to find the candidate that fits perfectly for the position. Background checks make it one step easier for you and help you find the best suited for the job role.
   
• Workplace Safety: One of the duties of an employer is to establish a safe working environment for employees, customers, and visitors. Also, ensure that the recruit does not create any disturbance or chaos in your workplace environment. Background Checks save you from getting involved in such scenarios and help you know if the employee is safer for the company.
   
• Goal Achievements: The growth of a company is directly influenced by its workforce. So, hiring employees that actively participate in the process with full enthusiasm for better output is crucial. They must be honest towards work and teams and must bring the best for the company. Moreover, managers can take advantage of effective performance management software to keep track of the employees’ targets. 
   
• Loyalty: During recruitment, it is crucial for the employer to test the candidates for their honesty and must understand whether they hold the proper qualifications for the job or not. Keeping fraudulent data in the resume is a sign of dishonestly and harmful nature.
   
• Workplace Theft: Workplace theft is something that organizations can not ignore. The regular loss of assets can be an act of workplace theft done by an employee. Workplace theft is not only limited to assets, but also includes meeting data, targets, and additional sensitive information.

 

Types of Employment Background Checks

Let us now see the types of employment background checks.

• Identity Checks: A candidate usually uses a different identity to skip background checks or limit their tax burden. So it is suggested to verify the new hire's identity thoroughly. And, if any issues are found companies should not consider the candidate and hold every right to report them.
   
• Criminal Background Checks: Most companies conduct criminal background checks. Sometimes, companies go by the new hire's personality and skip criminal background checkers. These background checks help companies know if there are any arrests or warrants against the candidate.
   
• Educational Background Checks: Employers hardly perform educational, license, or certification background checks. This is what most candidates lie about in their resumes. They lie about their years of experience, degrees, and more. It is not a good idea to hire people who do not have the right qualifications for the jobs. Moreover, it shows the disobedience and disloyalty of a candidate.
   
• Motor Vehicle Record Reports: If companies are hiring for a job where someone needs to drive a company car or truck, companies must issue a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR). Moreover, MVR checks recruit driving history, license status, class, endorsements, traffic citations, etc.
   
• Credit Score Background Checks: These checks give insight into debt issues, tax data, poor credit, or other money issues. Even though, it is not wise to rate a person's trustworthiness with credit scores. But 5% of bankruptcies are due to reckless spending, while 62% are due to medical bills. It is seen that 60% of bankruptcies filed are those of people who earn less than $30,000 per year. So, it is more likely that a candidate is not good at managing money.
   
• Fingerprint Background Checks: These are similar to criminal score background checks. But they are more precise and accurate and virtually fraud-proof. A candidate may lie about their age, name, or other information linked to a crime but can not change their finger and toeprints. The only issue associated with this is that it takes longer time than any other check, and the results can take up to two or three weeks to arrive.

 

Essential Background Checks steps to consider while hiring employees

Now that we have talked about the reasons and types of background checks. Let us now check the essential steps that a company must consider while hiring employees.

• Ask for Permission: Make sure you have the individual whose background is being checked for permission before looking into the history. Also, you must have written consent from the person regarding the same. According to the laws and acts, the company must highlight the intention and needs in front of the candidate.
   
• The authenticity of Background checks: Every government must protect its citizen’s rights and background checks. And every state must follow the rules that include giving options to the employees in running pre-employment checks. Some rules do not allow companies to check employees’ employment, criminal, and educational history. Hence, following the rules and asking for the candidate's permission before the pre-employment check is essential.
   
• Ask For References: Ensure to look at the recruit's professional profiles, if available, before hiring them. Moreover, you can ask their previous employers about their employment, nature, and legal information. Such details help the employer trust the candidate. Many companies have referral hiring as their fundamental process. This ensures that employees might have a good employment history.
   
• Perform Drug Tests: Drug tests ensure the safety of your workplace and ensure high productivity. Thus, employers must verify if the candidate is into drugs or other harmful intakes. These substances are contagious, and no employer wants their employees to get into something like this. For example, you must tell the candidate to take physical checkups, which include drug tests. Such a condition is essential to follow, especially when businesses are hiring for civil services, transportation, and other government jobs. 
   
• Outsourcing Agencies: Background checks take lots of time to give the results. Thus, for large companies, it is best to hire an outsourcing agency. Moreover, if the organization is large, it is better to outsource a background check agency. They help you provide faster results in less time, with 100% compliance with the laws.
   
• Offer A Second Chance: Lastly, if a candidate accepts their truth or the mistake, offer them a chance to clear the mistakes. In addition, sometimes it is hard, to tell the truth, so if a candidate has extraordinary skills, offer them another chance. Sometimes, such candidates turn out to be crucial assets for the business.

 

Strategies to hire and onboard the right talent

The few strategies that businesses can follow to ensure the right hiring are as follows:

• Checks after Hiring: Postpone all the background checks until the candidate is hired or onboarded. In this strategy, all background checks are conducted during their probation period. Candidates must also be informed regarding the background check, and an appropriate clause is added to their employment agreement.
   
• Perform Database Background: In this strategy, only database background takes place, and all other checks are postponed until after the candidate is hired and onboarded. Database results give instant results, making good strategies. All other checks such as employee employment, criminal, and educational history can take place during the probationary period.
   
• Required Search: Businesses only do the essential searches when they are obligated to. And no more searches are conducted until the individual is hired and onboarded. Also, background searches may differ from one business to another. For instance, background checks are required in the healthcare sector, but not in the banking sector. Hence, it allows industries the freedom to carry out highly recommended searches to help reduce the risk of noncompliance or another type of harm.

 

To Conclude:

A background check is a crucial tool for hiring a new candidate. When background checks are done with all the appropriate and necessary steps, they help businesses recruit smarter and onboard new employees faster. This helps employers put the candidates to work faster while maintaining a secure workplace environment. It helps companies retain their integrity and improve their product names.

So, if you are hiring and want to know more about how background checks can help your talent managers and business, feel free to contact us. We at jiWebTech have experts who will answer all your queries and help you hire smart with reliable and cost-effective background checks.