Today, carrying out a background check for hiring candidates is necessary. Not only this process mitigates any risks associated while hiring a professional, but it also aids in the selection of the most qualified individuals for your company.
A background check on an employee is a procedure used by a firm to ensure that a person is who they claim to be. As a result, these checks enable the company to learn about a candidate’s criminal history, education, employment experience, and other past activities.
However, many organizations overlook this screening test and hire candidates without conducting any checks. Some other companies may utilize legacy systems to facilitate this process, but it is not enough. In some cases, financial institutions and banks also try to use out-of-context solutions to complete this screening. For instance, digital onboarding solutions for banks only perform basic KYC checks. This solution can be used for digital employee onboarding, but it does little for background screening.
The Importance of Background Verification and Screening of Employees
Background checks for hiring candidates are an essential tool for organizations. Background checks can aid in the selection of the best applicants in the context of competence and minimal liability. Let’s take a look:
- Protects the Company’s Assets: A thorough background check before onboarding a candidate will ensure the company’s reputation is safe. A corporation is defined and known by its employees; this also defines how customers and clients look at the company. Employees with a poor reputation might harm a company’s reputation and dependability. Background checks can assist in avoiding hiring such persons.
- Prevents the Possibility of Questionable Hiring: Many candidates frequently lie on their resumes, providing incorrect information about their employment experience, forging documents, concealing criminal past, and engaging in identity theft.
- Improves Hiring Quality: Background checks might reveal details about a candidate’s previous work and performance. A candidate may meet an employer’s skill standards but have a problematic background; however, this becomes secondary when the candidate has a questionable background. Ultimately, background screening counters these instances and improves the hiring quality.
Common Misunderstandings for Background Checks:
Many employers and employees are misinformed about background checks, which might result in a hiring or application error. Some of the common misunderstandings are:
- A criminal record automatically means that companies will not hire them: Employers and job seekers hold this misconception. Many job seekers believe that having a criminal record disqualifies them from getting a job. Further, recruiters believe that if a potential applicant has a criminal record, they should not employ them. The bottom line is that having a criminal past does not automatically guarantee that company will not hire them.
- All background checks are the same: No two background checks are the same. Before your organization accepts a candidate, they are not obliged to pass every sort of background check. Each role requires a unique set of qualifications. Driving records, for example, are only relevant for hiring door-to-door salespeople but not for hiring office staff.
Background Checks and Screening Methods:
Some of the background and screening methods are as follows:
- History of the Candidate: Employers do pre-employment background checks to avoid hiring someone who could be a liability or a threat to the company.
- Checks for Criminal History: Criminal record checks are the most common background checks, but they are quite complicated. As a result, organizations partner with background verification companies to complete screening tests.
- Checks on Credit History: It is a standard requirement by many organizations, especially for financial institutions and candidates who will be handling money or making investments. Credit background screening validates a person’s credit-to-debt ratio record.
- Verification of Identity: This is the essential information that all companies should request from new and existing employees. Identity investigation confirms that a job candidate is who they say they are.
- Verification of Employment: It examines the candidate’s previous work, schooling, credit, criminal record, and medical records, among other things.
How to Begin Using Employee Background Verification?
Before any organization begins to execute an employee background check program, it must first determine how it will carry out the verification. For instance, standard screening undertaken by employees is time-consuming, expensive, paper-intensive, and manual. As a result, organizations today partner with background verification companies to improve the quality of the checks, reduce costs, and minimize the TAT for getting the results.
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