Your workforce is the backbone of your company. Your employees help drive sales, hit your business goals, and they’re your biggest resource, which can affect the public perception of your brand. Needless to say, it’s incredibly important to hire trustworthy, qualified candidates in order for your company to be successful. But hiring an exceptional team is not always an easy task.

A recent survey from ResumeLab found that 56% of candidates lied on their resumes about previous work experience, skills, job duties, as well as their education. While small fabrications might not be a big deal in some fields, they can be irresponsible and even dangerous in other industries.

And omissions can be even worse than stretching the truth — candidates with violent criminal records might not be straightforward about their past. Incidents in the workplace could potentially put both customers and employees in danger, leading to lawsuits and damage to a company’s reputation.

A background screening can help you avoid these risks and also improve the quality of your new hires. Check out our top four reasons organizations can benefit from pre-employment screenings.

1. Background screenings keep your employees and workplace safe.

About 2 million American employees are victims of office violence each year. Unfortunately, workplace violence is more common thank you think. But there are steps employers can take to avoid it. Employers have certain responsibilities for their employees’ welfare, in addition to the safety of their customers, visitors, and vendors.

Background screenings help employers protect their employees and their workplace by creating safer, secure workplace environments, reducing the risk of criminal activities like abuse, violence, and theft.

While not every violent incident can be prevented with a background screening, pre-employment checks mitigate a company’s risk by screening out candidates with a history of criminal violence. Running a thorough check will help you get the whole picture of a candidate’s history. 

2. Pre-employment screenings help you avoid negligent hiring.

“Negligent hiring” is a legal term used when an injured party files a lawsuit against an employer claiming they knew or should have known about the guilty employee’s background. Negligent hiring claims can be costly, not only financially, but to a company’s reputation and brand.

Pre-employment screenings uncover a candidate’s background and criminal records, sharing insight on risks a potential employee may carry. These screenings help employers avoid risky hires and they also put employers in a better legal position if an incident were to occur.

Employers lose negligent hiring cases about 70% of the time, with the average lawsuit costing $1 million. With these high costs and the risk of bad publicity, conducting background screenings is definitely worth the time and money, especially considering how affordable and simple it is to do.

3. Screenings protect your recruitment investment and help you avoid employee turnover.

Hiring a new employee costs significant time and money. According to Glassdoor, the average U.S. employer spends $4,000 and 24 days to hire a new employee. Of course, some companies will spend less and others will spend more, but the bottom line is the same: If you consistently hire poor candidates, you’re wasting valuable time and money.

Bad hires can also affect your current employees — with people consistently coming and going, it can reduce workplace morale and lower productivity, leading to an increased employee turnover rate.

A pre-employment screening can protect your recruitment investment by confirming that your candidate has the requisite work experience and education, certifications, and licenses. It also ensures that a candidate doesn’t have a criminal history that would be problematic for the job they are being hired for.

4. Screenings help weed out liars and make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Remember, 56% of candidates lie on their resumes. Unfortunately, it happens all too often. Weeding out liars and fabrications is important, and it’s something a background screening does well.

Education, certification, and employment confirmations still matter. A pharmacist should have their license, but you can’t just take their word for it. Think of what might happen if you hire a healthcare professional without a required license — expensive lawsuits and patient risks are only the beginning. With technology these days, you don’t even need a high school-level knowledge of computers to fabricate or edit documents; it’s incredibly important to verify education and certifications.

Sometimes, people exaggerate on their resumes claiming they have mid-level expertise in an area when they’re brand new to the subject. Of course, this isn’t as serious as a doctor without a license, but if someone is willing to lie about meeting skill requirements, how will they act when they face a challenge at your company?

Hiring quality talent requires making judgment calls often, but you should only have to make those decisions once you have all of the verified information from an in-depth background screening.

Screening your employees is important for the safety of your staff and workplace. It minimizes the risk of theft and fraud, lowers employee turnover, and reduces hiring and recruiting costs, ultimately improving the quality of your workforce.

At DK Security, we help smooth out your hiring process. We offer in-depth background screening services to ensure high-quality hiring practices. We also take it a step further and provide same-day scheduling fingerprinting services. Businesses need a quality solution that doesn’t slow down the hiring process, which is why we invested in technology that makes running your next background check simple. 

Interested in learning more about pre-employment screening? Discover why we’re the best choice for your screening needs. Let’s talk!