If you’ve ever worked in a company, you know that it is essential to conduct background checks as part of the hiring process. If you are unfamiliar with this process, here is a brief overview: A business hires a new employee, asking specific questions about their past.
It helps them decide if the person can be trusted or has made any mistakes in the past. You might wonder why this is necessary since most people have access to social media these days anyway. Well, there are many reasons why businesses must do this.
Reduced legal liability
Background checks can help you avoid hiring criminals. It is an obvious benefit, but it’s essential to highlight the ways a criminal background check can reduce your company’s legal liability. If a new employee commits fraud or theft and your business did not perform a thorough background check before hiring them, it could be held responsible for its actions. It could lead to lawsuits that cost time and money for both parties involved and potentially even more losses than if you had performed a thorough check in the first place.
It’s also worth mentioning that background checks will reveal any previous employment terminations, which can give insight into why someone left their last job(s). If they were fired due to theft or other misconduct at their former place of work, then this should be taken into account when making hiring decisions moving forward (or else risk repeating history).
Increased profitability
The most apparent benefit of conducting a background check is that it can help you hire the best candidate for the job. When you’re looking to add new talent to your team, you must ensure that person has the experience and skills required for their position. If there’s any doubt about their qualifications, you might want to conduct a criminal background check before hiring them.
A criminal record can indicate poor character or terrible judgment, and those traits could lead employees to make costly mistakes at work. For example, an employee may steal from clients or co-workers, lie about their criminal history on their resume, or even use drugs while on the job. Businesses can avoid these issues by screening out potential problem employees through rigorous screening processes like background checks.
Improved employee retention
According to a study, companies can incur nearly $3,500 in turnover costs. So, background checks are a valuable tool for employers when it comes to increasing employee retention and ensuring that the rate of new hiring doesn’t soar. Because they help identify potential problems before they become real issues. By demonstrating your commitment to hiring the right people, you’re more likely to keep them happy and engaged in their work and, therefore, less likely to lose them due to turnover.
If an employee leaves because they weren’t happy at their job, they may have taken valuable knowledge with them when they left (or could be able to share that information if they go elsewhere). It is also true if an employee leaves unexpectedly, while you might not be able to stop them from leaving early on, there’s plenty of opportunity for damage control once they’re gone, and having reliable reference information on hand can make all the difference.
Enhanced workplace safety
According to a report, over 50% of unemployed men in their 30s have criminal records. Therefore, it is to identify potential threats and risks in the workplace. It includes identifying an employee’s criminal history and any previous or pending litigation. It also includes determining if an employee has been fired from a job for cause, whether a former employer has disciplined them, or if they are currently being investigated by law enforcement.
The second reason is to reduce the likelihood of workplace violence. Conducting background checks enables employers to know if there are any past incidents of violence against others, violent behavior (such as assault), or threatening behavior towards co-workers or supervisors at previous jobs. Employers can then mitigate these concerns by implementing policies around appropriate workplace conduct and ensuring that everyone on their team understands them so there won’t be any misunderstandings in the future.
Protect your reputation
The best way to protect your reputation is to avoid hiring people with a history of crime, violence, or sexual harassment. If someone has been fired from previous jobs for these reasons, there’s a high probability that they’ll also misbehave in the future.
It’s also important to consider potential fraud when you’re conducting background checks for new employees. Fraud charges are severe and should be considered carefully before making an offer of employment.
Reduce turnover
According to Gartner, the annual voluntary employee turnover in the US will increase by 20% in all likelihood in 2022. By understanding a candidate’s work history, employers can better assess whether or not the person is a good fit for the company. If you know potential employees have had past misconduct issues, it may be best to turn them down.
While conducting background checks on new hires costs money and can take time away from other business tasks, this investment will pay off by reducing turnover rates among your team members. Many small businesses struggle with Turnover, a significant cost factor, and background checks can help reduce these costs by identifying potential problems before they arise.
Conclusion
We hope this article has helped you understand the importance of conducting background checks on your employees. Regarding workplace safety, there’s no room for error, and by taking the proper precautions, you can ensure that your company stays on track with its goals and objectives.
