3 Reasons Why You Should Perform a Background Check Before Hiring an Employee

The success of a business largely depends on the way you hire and manage your staff. Some new hires get to work immediately and rise through the company’s ranks quickly, forcing you to fill the entry-level positions they have left vacant.
Worried something will get lost in the shuffle, you will be tempted to hire the first applicants who apply to fill the position. Be forewarned: hiring the first person you interview could negatively affect your business. Your employees are the face of the business, if one or two of them aren’t who they portrayed themselves to be in the interview, it could cost you.
Here are three reasons why you should conduct a thorough background check of your potential candidates.

1. Provides a Rounded View of the Applicant: Job candidates will show their best face in the interview. They will be incredibly positive about your workplace and work to demonstrate to you how their skills will strengthen your business. If an applicant leaves you with a good impression, you will of course want to make them part of your team. But before you make the call to offer them a position, cross-check their resume and call their references.

Recruiter says that because job candidates can look up interview questions online and hire an interview coach, they’ll be more than prepared to slay the interview. This is why “it’s important to get as much outside input on candidates as you possibly can. This is where references come in: Their third-party points of view will help you see who the candidate really is—rather than who the candidate wants you to think they are.” If the job applicant and reference has a different account of their relationship, you can follow up with the candidate or move on to another.

2. Due Diligence Protects You from Being Held Liable: Let’s say you own an accounting firm. One of your accountants with a degree from a prestigious school gave a client bad information, and now the client is threatening to sue. Does the client have a case? You learn not long after that the employee who made the costly mistake doesn’t have the degree they said they had, and now they’ve skipped town. Because you did not vet the employee and check to make sure they did have the credentials they listed, the client has a solid case.

Completing a thorough background check of prospective employees will help you to make a good hire and avoid being sued. The chance of getting sued is also a good reason to look at some professional liability insurance quotes, so that if an employee screws you over, you’ll have the financial resources to defend yourself in court.

3. Candidates Will “Self-Eliminate”: In an interview a job candidate can say they have a great relationship with their former employers and have never been involved in an unlawful situation. They tell of instances where they have faced adversity and triumphed. But have they? Making a couple of calls will quickly tell you about their working relationship with their former employers and running a background check will tell you if they have anything of note on their record.

It has been estimated that small businesses lose as much as five percent of revenue every year because of an employee committing fraud. You don’t want to hire someone with a fraud charge on their record. A clean record doesn’t mean the candidate is right for the position either. Run a character check by calling past employers, not just references. For you all you know, they’ve listed their best friend at different numbers.
Your business is your livelihood, don’t sacrifice it for someone looking to make a quick buck.