5 Reasons Human Resources Departments need Quality Background Check Systems
1. Keep your employees safe
Keeping employees safe is the humber one priority for most businesses. According to the United Stated Department of Labor Occupational Health and Safety Administration, 2 million workers report being the victim of workplace violence every year. 4,679 fatal workplace injuries happened in 2014 with 749 of those deaths being ruled homicides.
Protecting your business from the threat of violence must be a top priority in order to create a safe and productive space for your employees. Employees shouldn’t be anxious about their safety and neither should you.
Increased emphasis on pre-employment background checks can keep potentially violent people off of a company’s payroll. Annual background checks of current employees will help detect changes or rising threat levels before anything bad can take place. Private investigators can screen employees for red flags and let you know about them before it’s too late.
2. Save money through employee retention
“Where do you see yourself in five years?” Some form of that question is asked in every single interview across America. Businesses don’t want to hire people for the short term. They want people that will stick around and be part of their company for years to come. Long term employees bolster company culture and cohesion. They also save businesses money on training costs.
The Center for American Progress reported in 2012 that the average cost to replace an employee fell between 10% and 30% of that employee’s annual salary. Searching for new employees sucks time and money from other activities managers could be working on. Improved background checks will protect any company’s investments by helping them make the right choice the first time they fill a position.
3. Protect your assets
Employee theft is a major problem for businesses. Costing up to $18 billion annually, everything that can be done to prevent employee theft must be done. Companies won’t always know before hiring someone if they’re more likely to commit theft, but expansive background checks can help detect early warning signs.
Credit checks are an excellent indicator of an increased risk of theft. For years the government and military have run credit checks on all personnel seeking security clearances. The higher someone’s debt and lower the credit, the higher their chances of being compromised by financial gain.
Has the employee stolen before? Do their former coworkers consider them honest? Beyond credit checks, a deep look at past employment can help indicate if someone might steal. Private investigators can find all this information and more.
4. Investigate social media history to prevent going viral for the wrong reasons
Going viral is all the rage for companies in 2016. Everyone wants to be the talk of social media and to trend on FaceBook and Twitter. Companies spend a lot of money on marketing and promotion aimed at creating the next online sensation. But what happens when you go viral for all the wrong reasons?
in 2012, Jessica Harr was a bartender for Proof Nightclub in Chicago when her Facebook page regrettably caused the club to become the talk of the internet. In an extremely racist FaceBook post Harr described African Americans as “ignorant” “stupid,” and “apes.” Harr even swore she’d never hire an African American for those reasons.
The post quickly went viral and numerous people threaten to boycott the club. Other club owners came out and said they’d had issues dealing with Proof Nightclub as well. Harr was quickly fired, but Proof’s brand was damaged and they had to commit serious time and money to repairing their identity.
In the age of social media, companies cannot afford to ignore their employee’s social media pages. One post is all it takes to stoke outrage and retaliation against a business for those they employ. If your background checks don’t include extensive online research then you need to make a change fast. Protect your brand and go viral for the right reasons.
5. Trouble with past employers
When companies interview job candidates it’s important they not only verify their work history, but investigate it as much as possible. Verifying the dates of employment is a good start, but finding out how the candidate interacted with coworkers and management is vital to thorough vetting.
Private investigators are perfect for building a profile of any candidate to better evaluate their chances of success if hired. Was the candidate considered a team player at their last job? Did they show up early and leave late or cut corners to get out as quick as possible? Don’t waste your time on employees who won’t give your company 100%. Find out who they are before you pay them for who you think they might be.
For Private Investigation Inquiry contact Thomas Lauth, Lauth Investigations 317-951-1100
