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By Kim Kerr • Nearly all executives have a different opinion as to what keeps their organization in a leadership position, and these answers can range from innovative products and services to competitive pricing and advertising, but the most important factor in the success of any organization is the people that show up to work everyday.
These employees not only interact with key customers, but also serve as the public face for the business.
Just Whom Are You Hiring?
Finding the right people to employ for any organization can be one of the most frustrating and costly elements of running a successful business. As the employment market continues to tighten, discontinuing background checks is a common response amongst employers who are not looking at the big picture.
When considering the expenses associated with recruiting, hiring and training — typically thousands of dollars per candidate — turnover becomes a bottom-line problem many organizations cannot afford to ignore. Simply stated, employee turnover will be drastically reduced if the proper screening is implemented at the beginning stages of the interview process.
Company executives and human resources professionals also have to address some employees who lie about their backgrounds during the interview process, which dilutes their level of trust. In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, 34 percent of all job applications contain lies regarding experience, education and the ability to perform essential functions of the job, proving that a résumé is only as good as the paper it is written on.
Additionally, the latest statistics released by the U.S. Department of Commerce state that internal employee-related thefts occur 15 times more often than external theft, and employee fraud costs companies more than $400 billion annually, proving the importance of hiring the right person for any business, regardless of size.
It can be a frightening reality to think that one wrong hire could be so detrimental to a company, but it is even more frightening to know that this could have been prevented with one simple step — screening applicants prior to an offer being made.
Digging Deep
For years, employers have searched to find a fast, inexpensive and reliable way to verify a candidate's background and credentials during the interview process — especially during times of explosive market growth when multiple employees need to be hired at once.
In the past, businesses would spend days or weeks, and a great deal of money to try and determine a candidate's past employment and criminal history, but times have changed, and so has the process.
Today, it is even more important to get the right information at an affordable price. Speed and efficiency can make or break an important hire, meaning there is no time to waste on unqualified candidates or employees who misrepresent themselves during the interview process.
Every employee that is excused following the initial probation period puts a strain on profit margins, and could also pose as a threat to the overall reputation of the organization.
Look to Technology
New technologies, such as online background screening, are increasingly being utilized to help employers identify and weed out undesirable candidates. These applications offer faster and more affordable background-check capabilities since they leverage breakthrough data management technologies and massive data repositories, containing billions of existing public records documents. Additionally, they offer employers a fast, cost-effective way to identify unacceptable job candidates before they spend valuable time and money.
Like any other acquisition or major transaction that a business would face, staffing is heavily reliant on innovative tools and resources that enable both speed and efficiency for increased profit margins and productivity. Today's online screening technologies not only help employers be more confident with their hiring decisions, but they also help to increase both profitability and image of the organization.
About the author:
Kim Kerr is the vice president/general manager of the LexisNexis Risk and Information Analytics Group, a provider of risk and business information services. LexisNexis products and services provide customers with information solutions to help them make critical decisions with confidence in the areas of customer acquisition and retention, authentication and screening, fraud prevention and collections management. For more information, call 800-590-8535.
author: Kim Kerr