Are You Hiring right People?

Employees are assets for companies but prior to you rely on someone and be ready to make an important part of your company, you must know 'are you hiring right people?'

Getting reliable and qualified employees on board is as critical to business success as it is to protecting your staff, clients and business property from harm. Conducting quality background checks form the backbone of ensuring a good hire, especially for positions of power and responsibility within your company. Whether you manufacture drugs or export automotive components, consider the following tips to help you with employee background checks.

Develop a policy for employee background checks – A predefined policy will help you to consistently screen job applicants based on your priorities. This will also facilitate delegating the responsibility of background check, without the hiring managers having to second guess pre-employment screening process. Further, it's always good to have a lawyer review the policy for its compliance with the law, so as to protect you from any legal tangles in the future.

Get consent for a background check – Law in many countries will require you to first get consent from applicants for running a detailed background check on them. A written and signed permission will allow you to dig out information on a candidate's education, workers compensation, motor vehicle reports, credit reports, criminal records, performance, etc. The signed consent will, by and large, shield you against any lawsuits, arising out of the information you get from running a background check.

Seek information from co-workers and past supervisors – Senior colleagues and supervisors can provide you with a lot of relevant and specific inputs on the work ethic of the candidate. Talking to supervisors and colleagues may be more insightful than speaking with the human resources department, as the department's hands may be tied about how much to reveal, due to the possibility of a lawsuit.

Seek out specific information from references – Asking specific questions such as a candidate' performance on different projects mentioned in the job application or during the interview, will give you relevant information on the real caliber of the applicant. Vague questions will only get you vague answers subject to varying interpretations.

Carefully assess the comments you get from references – Watch out for neutral or non-specific and mildly positive comments. The previous employer could simply be trying to hold herself back fearing a lawsuit. In such a case, you might ask the employer whether he/she would be willing to hire the candidate another time, a mumble and a fumble when she answers that should raise a red flag.

Find a credentialed background checking service provider – Sometimes, when a lot of quality information is to be gathered, it's better to outsource the background check to a seasoned professional or a good company. Before outsourcing the job to a company, read up reviews about it, find out how long it has existed, know about the past assignments it has handled, ask for references, etc.