Businesses and government agencies require workers to perform various duties within the organizations. They would, therefore, advertise the positions online or on print media and invite individuals to send their applications. Those who meet the desired qualifications are then invited for an interview and the best from the group hired to the position. Well, this is what most institutions do when they need to fill up positions in their organizations but it lacks one critical element; pre-employment background checks. Such checks are very important and they may unearth shocking details about the applicants that may make them unsuitable for a particular job. Employers should, therefore, insist on such checks before hiring and this piece highlights some of the reasons why that is the case.
- To unearth criminal records.
Job seekers would hardly reveal their past criminal records when applying for jobs and it is only with a background check that employers will be able to unearth such records. A criminal history may not necessarily mean that an individual is not fit for employment but the employer deserves to know this information before trusting a new employee with sensitive files and information about the business. Job seekers should be forthright with this information and those that are not could have something big to hide. Some of the issues that employers should be on the lookout for include assaults and drug-related crimes. Workspaces are supposed to be safe and employees with such histories and characteristics may interfere with this.
- To confirm academic credentials.
Job seekers may also use fake certificates when applying for a job and employers that are not careful when choosing new employees may end up with unqualified workers who may not add value to the firm. Background checks are, therefore, very important to check the authenticity of documents presented by the applicants. Such checks are particularly important if the position to be filled is technical in nature. Medical personnel and programmers are some of the positions that call for pre-employment background checks before hiring so as to ensure that you end up with the best candidate for the position.
- To ensure due diligence.
Employers are required by law to perform background checks on all their employees for security purposes. In fact, the employers will be charged in a court of law when it is found out that they have been hosting criminals in their organizations as a result of not conducting background checks on their employees. The firm may end up incurring huge fees to defend themselves in court and this will definitely eat into the business’ revenues. To avoid such costs, employers should make sure that they perform background checks before hiring anyone to their organizations.
Conclusion.
Pre-employment background checks are very important in the hiring process. With increased competition for the few open job positions, job seekers would do whatever it takes to clinch the available positions even if it means faking the academic qualifications and hiding their criminal pasts. Background checks will reveal all these things and this will help employers make the best hiring decisions.
This entry was posted on Friday, December 15th, 2017 at 5:22 pm and is filed under Employment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.