The slogan at MBI Worldwide is “Good Screening is SMART Business“. What exactly does that mean in the world of background checks and employment screening, specifically in verifications and reference checks? One of the most crucial and important aspects of a successful company is recruiting top, qualified talent. According to a CareerBuilder survey, 69% of employers stated that they had been adversely affected by a bad hire in 2012.
Several factors can drive up the financial cost of a bad hire. Wasted training, legal counsel fees and increased employment insurance rates are just a few of the financial burdens of hiring a bad candidate and then having to terminate them. As if the financial numbers aren’t staggering enough, we believe a larger problem with a bad hire is the negative impact he or she might have on the entire team within the company. A bad hire can reduce employee morale, client relationships and the business image as a whole. These occurrences can often be traced back to a “bad hire” that had no integrity.
Mary Lorenz stated in her CareerBuilder article many reasons that companies make hiring mistakes. One of those reasons was “failure to check references”. Not checking references is a lose-lose situation in any hiring process. Partnering with a thorough, accredited background screening company can assist you in avoiding bad hires during this process. Background screening packages might seem like an unnecessary expense at times. However, adding up the financial benefits of weeding out potential “bad hires” and the immense costs, a package that includes both criminal information as well as verifying employments and references ensures that you are hiring a qualified candidate. Anyone can look good on paper and present themselves well in a 30 minute interview. Background screening packages that include reference checks and verifications help prevent you from hiring the applicants that don’t just look good on paper, but will “do good” and be great with employees with integrity, honesty and top talent you need within your company.
When making hiring decisions from now on, remember that good, efficient screening of an applicant truly is SMART business. Performing a reference check and verifying past employment helps to prove a job candidate’s integrity, lowering the overall cost of a “bad hire” and ensuring that your company acquires the top talent it needs to be successful.