As Benjamin Franklin, America’s first global entrepreneur, said: “Distrust and caution are the parents of security.” Any business is only as dynamic as the people who keep it alive. If you keep on hiring employees unfit for the job, you will end up with an unfit company. That’s why you do everything to hire only the best ones. But how do you make sure that your employee is as ideal as he says he is? That’s when a background check comes in.

What if I tell you that performing regular background checks can save you time, money, and effort? Sure, there’s an initial upfront investment to be made. However, it pays to be secure.

In this article, we’ll try to convince you why a background check is worth it.

 

Why Should You Do A Background Check?

Ensuring A Safe Working Environment

As employers, it’s your responsibility to establish a safe working environment. You have the duty to make sure you’re not hiring people that threaten your other employees’ safety. Neglecting this duty opens your company up to lawsuits from accidents, misdemeanor, and criminal activity inside your workplace.

 

Deter The Undesirables

When you’re putting up job vacancy announcements for your company, you’re opening up to the world. And while we’d like to imagine that it’s a harmonious world out there, that’s often not the case. You’ll get a few weird interactions with unfit or incompetent candidates. In some rare extreme cases, you might get some really disturbing encounters with people who shouldn’t have been applying for any job. You might even be excited with an applicant that shows promise, until they show their true colors within a week or two. It might be funny to talk about this with your team during company night outs. However, your time is ultimately wasted on situations like this.

Being a company known for background check protocols will help you deter the undesirables. You’ll get fewer applicants with serious inconsistencies — the types who are hiding something and lying about who they are.

 

Increase The Quality of the Applicant Pool

On the flip side of the coin, a background check protocol will attract talented people. It will appeal to their sense of security, knowing that the company takes extra measures to guarantee a safe environment. While weeding out the bad, you will definitely see an increase in the quality of potential new hires.

 

Minimize Loss and Damage from Bad Hires

Bad hires are expensive. If you’re a workplace that operates with heavy machinery, sensitive information, or valuable products, you have a lot of potential for loss and damage.

An incompetent operator (who claimed competency) might cause irreversible damage to goods and equipment.

An opportunistic programmer might sell customer information without your knowledge.

A kleptomaniac quartermaster might stage an office heist, taking your valuable products with them.

Loss and damage wouldn’t only be in the form of money, equipment, and goods. Customer trust and company reputation have intangible value that’s often much bigger than just cash.

You’re trusting your employees to be good competent people. A background check protocol backs up that trust with damning evidence.

 

Saves Resources

Training your employees costs money, time, and energy. Not to mention, changes slow down productivity and workflow. To let someone go after expecting their loyalty hurts more than losing all three resources combined. While it’s not a warranty, a background check protocol gives you reasonable assurance that you’re investing in the right people from the get-go.

 

I Have No Time For Background Checks

If you’re a little hesitant to do background checks, we understand. A background check is a rigorous process — it takes a lot of energy and focus to learn and go through every step of the way. Your time is valuable. To avoid wasting your time and energy, you need to focus on your strengths and passions. However, it’s a waste not to reap the full benefits of a background check by passing on the activity completely.

As a business executive, your first big lesson is learning how to delegate. If you try your hand on it, you might spend a minimum of two weeks just getting one candidate’s background check done. That’s why you should hire experts to do the background checks for you. As a company that specializes in background checks, they have the resources and connections to make the process more efficient.

Better yet, hire experts to do the whole hiring process for you. You’re not in business to do menial HR tasks. You’re in business to make money-making decisions. You’re here to lead, inspire, and protect your people. As a leader, it’s best to keep an approachable and trusting image. It’s hard to be that person for your employees if you have been scrutinizing every inch of their CVs and records.