Finding the right fit for your organization is a difficult yet satisfying process. Employees that will add value to the firm, enhance the returns, make the workplace productive, and improve the team dynamics are always welcome. But if the new joinee lacks these important skills, it is a very risky investment for the firm. The only way to ensure this is to have a thorough background check of the employees before joining so that few other aspects of the employee’s personality can be explored and the candidate can be groomed accordingly. The correct way to do the background check is through legally compliant third-party providers, where it can be done at two points over the employee’s stint in the organization.

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Background checks not only provide information on whether the person will be a valuable asset to the company but also provides information regarding the person’s past employment details, criminal records, credit history, any information that can have a direct impact on the person’s employability with the said firm. 

Background checks are of 2 types. The first is called the “pre-employment background check”, where the background check is done on new employees, before they join the firm, to make sure that all the details furnished by the employee are correct. The second kind of background check is done during the employee’s tenure at the office. This generally happens if some kind of concerning facts regarding the employee has come into the foreground, or if it is listed in the company’s official policies.

Do employee background checks have any benefits?

Companies hire third-party service providers for doing these checks, they spend a lot on this procedure, so definitely background checks have their perks. Some of these evident benefits are:

• The optimal fit between the job position and the employee: Having a correct idea about the person’s personality gives the employer the confidence that they are hiring the correct person for the job. For example, a person with a good credit rating and financial scoring can be a better fit for the finance role as compared to a person having none of these.

• Say NO to bad hires: A bad hire costs a lot to the company, so background checks help the company in reducing that.

• Reduction in legal costs and liabilities: Companies can reduce their insurance costs and any kind of lawsuits by hiring reliable people, not having any past criminal records.

• Reduction in employee attrition: The company carefully does background research and then only hires people who are a good fit for the firm where their interests align, thus reducing employee attrition.

• Workplace safety: Checking the criminal history of the potential joinee, correct decisions can be taken whether to hire that person or not, thus reducing workplace violence or theft.

What are some of the things that are included in employee background checks?

The employer, if introducing a third-party service, for the hiring process, the employee must be informed beforehand, and written consent of the person in question must be taken, before starting the entire process. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), sets the rules for conducting the background research and the entire findings must be documented as a report. The process of background check is comprehensive and some of the must include in a background check are:

• Education details: To verify whether the education details for school, college, master’s degree are true or not, this forms one of the most primary boxes that need to be ticked during a background check.

• Criminal records: One of the most important things to maintain the safety of the workplace, required for jobs about security. All local, national, international records are checked.

• Past employment verification: For validating the employee’s past job experiences, his/her workplace behaviour, past achievements, skill-set harboured by the candidate.

•  Credit checks: Reviewing a person’s credit history, gives an overall view regarding loans, payment history, unpaid bills, bankruptcies, and many more. This becomes extremely important for candidates who want to secure jobs in some financial segments.

• Driving records: This gives information regarding the mobility of candidates, suspensions, and driving history.

• Drug screening: Careful research on the drug history of the candidate (use of illicit drugs) will help maintain a much safer and productive environment.

•  Sex offender list: An important area to look upon to maintain a safer work environment.

•  Medical records: Having a clear understanding of the employee’s medical limitations is an essential part of offering the job to the candidate.

How to do background checks?

Some rules must be in place before the organization goes for a background check of its employees or recent hires. So, some of the mandatory steps in going forward with this procedure are:

•  Have a consistent company policy regarding the entire procedure: Having a well-documented policy regarding the procedure reduces confusion and the entire process goes on smoothly and also all the legal requirements about the entire procedure become clear.

• Getting legal advice and checking with the company’s insurance: Not all information is to be unearthed while doing a background check, so this can land the firm in some legal soups. So, to avoid this, the firm must always contact a lawyer that can guide the firm in the right direction and help avoid such sticky situations.

• Notify the applicants/employees before going on with the procedure: The employee must give written consent for some kind of background research that the company does and thus this also gives the candidates a fair warning and can also help in eliminating certain candidates who know that they will get disqualified once the background check process is in place.

• Use third-party background check services that are FCRA compliant: The FCRA provides clear, written rules of what can and cannot be included in a background check, and thus hiring third-party services that are FCRA compliant is a safer bet.

• Conduct the background check and do not form some kind of prejudice regarding the applicant beforehand.

• Be extremely cautious with the entire process and review the findings: Do not take the process to be a boring mundane routine task and do the process diligently. Even after getting the results, try to get to the bottom of it and not just make up biases in the mind.

• Give the applicant the chance to clear up the misunderstandings: Not all the information obtained in the background research is correct, give the applicant the chance to clear if any such misunderstanding occurs, and thus it can help the company to save up on a great employee.

• Save the records: It is pertinent that the company stores the background reports of all the employees for 1 year so that it can serve as tangible proof in case any applicant asks for their report.

It is correctly put that the workforce is the backbone of a good organization. Doing comprehensive background research is a must for every company to raise good and retain good talent, improve the work culture and thus get the maximum return. With informed hiring decisions, any company can reach the pinnacles of success and achieve its business goals.