5 Serious Hazards of Not Performing Employee Background Check
If you’re looking to hire new employees in your business, it’s important to take the right steps to protect your business during the process. It could potentially be harmful to your company and other employees if you don’t take the proper precautions.
One important step in the hiring process is conducting employment screening before making your final decision. Completing a background check on new employees is standard for most businesses, and if it’s not for yours, you should certainly reconsider.
In this article, we’re going to be looking at five of the major dangers of not doing a pre-employment screening on new employees:
The Candidate May Not Be Truly Qualified
The most obvious danger when it comes to hiring someone new is that the candidate may actually lack the qualifications they noted on their resume. It’s important to verify their qualifications, certifications, licenses, and employment history to ensure they truly are who they say they are.
Without the specified qualifications that you have laid out on the job advertisement, the candidate could pose several risks to you and your business. Rather than waiting to discover a candidate is not fit for the job after you hire them, you should protect your business by conducting a pre-employment screening first.
You Could Lose Money
When you hire someone who isn’t actually qualified for the job, you could end up losing a lot of money. Not only will you lose the money that you pay them for doing a job that is less than satisfactory, but you’re also going to take a hit from the hiring, onboarding, and training costs invested in the new employee.
In addition, if you then have to fire this candidate, further costs will be incurred as you have to go through the hiring process yet again for a replacement. This doubles your onboarding and training expenses, as well. All of this can be avoided if you simply conduct a background check before you hire someone.
You Could Be Putting Your Company and Employees at Risk
Don’t forget that there are other people who work for your company as well. If you hire someone who isn’t the right fit or who has a suspicious history, it could be extremely damaging to your current work environment.
If the situation is particularly dangerous, the person you have recently hired could pose serious hazards to other employees. You could also end up facing issues such as fraud, cyber hacking, and theft if you don’t properly vet new hires.
Even if the candidate you choose isn’t a threat to other employees, selecting a less-than-qualified employee will undoubtedly negatively impact your company culture and affect the morale of your current staff. To protect both the physical safety and culture of your current working environment, background checks are a must.
You Could Face Negligent Hiring Consequences
If the employee you do select ends up posing threats to your current staff, you could face negligent hiring claims if you didn’t conduct background checks during the hiring process. As an employer, you are responsible for maintaining the safety of your employees, and by not gathering all the information necessary to properly evaluate a new hire, you could face legal action.
This happens when an injured party conducts a lawsuit against the business on the basis that they knew, or should have known, about the background of the person they hired. These lawsuits are not only costly, but they are also damaging to the reputation of your company.
You May Have Missed Out On Other More Qualified Candidates
When making a hiring decision, you may be tempted to go with the candidate that seems to be the best personality fit or that seems to have the best qualifications on paper. But without doing a background check to verify that they are actually qualified for the position, choosing this candidate could mean you miss out on other truly qualified candidates in the meantime.
Without background checks, you end up missing out on opportunities to hire talent that better meets the qualifications you’re looking for—not just on paper, but in reality. Neglecting to conduct background checks could hinder your overall hiring success rate.
As you consider the dangers of neglecting to perform background checks on new hires, you can better protect your business and your employees from potential threats by making employment screenings a regular part of your hiring process. As a result, you can ensure you hire only truly qualified applicants as well as save time and money along the way.