Finding the right candidate to fill a vacant position is more complicated than you think. After all, a new hire can be a big investment for your company. It will require training, time, and money to see if they are truly a good fit for your organisation. You want to ensure that all these resources you’ll be consuming will be for a suitable applicant and not someone who’ll be a complete waste of effort.
Pre-employment screening can help your business make more well-informed hiring decisions. Through DBS checks and reference verifications, you can mitigate risks better in your recruitment process.
The thing is that background screening can be complex in and of itself. You may even feel overwhelmed with choosing which type of check to run. What you have to remember is that it comes with numerous benefits that you surely don’t want to miss out on.
Why Background Checking is Important
- You could be placing your accounts and finances at risk
When your company deals in sensitive items like jewellery or loans, you obviously have to know who you’re hiring. But even when you don’t keep valuable items in the office, you never know if an employee is plotting to rob your workplace. Learn about candidates’ prison sentences, offences, associates, habits, and affiliations beforehand to prevent intelligence theft, data breach, or physical robbery by an insider.
- You could be looking at beefed up resumes and applications
Employment dates, job responsibilities, and past accomplishments are some of the areas that people like to tweak hoping that employers will not bother to perform a thorough check. However, you have to know how accurate the information is and note of any fraudulent non-disclosures. This way you can avoid hiring someone who can’t deliver as promised.
- You could end up receiving legal punishment or penalty
Did you know that if you knowingly hire an illegal immigrant you are committing a criminal offence? You can face up to five years of imprisonment plus you’ll have to pay an unlimited fine. Additionally, if you didn’t perform the necessary checks during the hiring process, you’ll be issued a civil penalty. Some industries also have further regulations that can get you in a legal mire if you fail to comply.
- You could significantly impact workplace morale
An incident related to insider crime or past offences can lead to reduced productivity. If worse comes to worst, talented staff may even choose to work elsewhere where they feel safer. Protecting your workforce is part of your responsibility as an employer. This boosts your reputation for excellence and creates a positive working environment.
- You could affect your reputation or branding negatively
If people from your organisation misbehave, you could get sued which will result in you losing a lot of money to countersuits, fines, and lawyers. Added to that, people will be less likely to put their trust in you, especially if you deal with debit or credit card information. Unless you’re a large organisation like Facebook, even a small data breach can lead to a huge loss. Just imagine how much potential profit and clients you could lose from that.
Do you need expert help with criminal record checking for your applicants or even for your existing employees? Care Check offers a speedy and revolutionary way to perform DBS checks in the UK.
