Bringing on a new employee requires a significant time and financial commitment. On average, it costs $4,700 just to hire someone, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. With so much at stake — not to mention the unquantifiable value of employee morale — employment background checks help companies ensure their investment.
While background checks vary depending on your organization’s needs, all serve a singular purpose: ensuring a candidate is who they say they are. Employers do this primarily to:
- protect existing employees
- improve hiring quality
- maintain or boost their reputation
And despite the importance of background checks, businesses need them to be both thorough and quick. Like a slow hiring process overall, the longer a candidate is forced to wait, the larger the opening grows for them to lose interest. In fact, CareerBuilder found 31% of companies claim to have lost candidates because their background checks took too long.
What should employers look for in the right background checks software?
Ideally, consider background checks software that’s customizable to include the most relevant screenings, such as:
- national criminal scan
- county criminal search
- sex offender registry
- employment and education verification
- and more
Your tech also should produce screening results quickly, as to not lose candidates to a long, drawn-out hiring process.
Plus, if your potential tech provider is a member of the Professional Background Screening Association, you can expect added assurance when it comes to complying with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). To protect applicants’ privacy and reduce discrimination in hiring, the FCRA requires employers to:
- obtain screening consent
- give applicants clear disclosure
- provide adverse action notifications
And since background checks for employees involve extremely sensitive info, your provider needs to be backed by industry-certified security practices. This will help protect the data and peace of mind of your business, employees and job candidates.