When interviewing a candidate for an open position at your company, you may have a gut instinct about that individual. Intuition can play a role and help supplement a candidate’s resume and experience in the hiring process.
But before you make an offer, you should also run a background check on the candidate. While background checks may seem excessive, especially if you run a small business or you feel like you know the candidate well enough already, that is not necessarily the case.
Even the seemingly most trustworthy candidate could be hiding something, and it is important to know exactly who you are hiring.
5 Reasons to Perform Background Checks
Here are five reasons why performing a background check on a potential employee is a vital business practice.
#1 Background checks help ensure a happy and trustworthy workforce.
Adding someone to your team naturally poses a risk, and one bad hire could cause a ripple effect throughout your company. By creating a long-standing practice of performing background checks on all potential candidates, you create a company culture of trust.
Your employees can innately feel safer around their coworkers, your clients can see that you are proactive, and you can have peace of mind and feel good about the employees in the office down the hall or in your morning meeting with you.
#2 Screenings verify the candidate is qualified.
The qualifications and experience of your ideal candidate are the leading reasons for making an offer. But what if you were actually being misled by them?
Background checks help certify that your potential employee is who they say they are and can confirm the qualifications that help make them the perfect fit for your role.
#3 Checks can reduce your company’s liability.
As previously mentioned, additions to a team pose a risk, and in the eyes of your insurers, that intangible risk could equal tangible dollars.
Completing background checks on all the people you are ready to bring into your company can lower insurance costs and help protect you from lawsuits down the line.
#4 Background checks speak to your reputation.
The reputation of a company can have positive or negative implications on its growth and success. Regardless of your industry, protecting your company’s reputation is extremely important.
One of the best ways to do this is to complete background checks. This extra step in the hiring process signals to potential clients and customers that you care about them, your company, and your employees.
#5 They encourage transparency from potential candidates long-term.
If you make it known that you run background checks, you communicate to potential applicants that you value trust and honesty.
Therefore, in the long-term, performing background checks can actually ward off people who may be trying to hide something from the start and encourages applicants to be transparent.
Let NMS Do the Heavy Lifting
Oftentimes, verifying seemingly qualified candidates does not get completed prior to hiring a new employee, whether it’s because it can feel like a cumbersome task or your HR department has a lot on their plate.
Hiring an outside organization that solely focuses on screening services and compliance solutions, like NMS Management Services, means that you can effectively and efficiently screen every candidate without a hassle.
At NMS Management Services, our flexible and efficient team can help you safely and efficiently verify potential candidates through comprehensive background screenings and fingerprinting services. Contact us today to learn more!