3 Ways to Hire Better Employees through Pre-Employment Screening

3 Ways to Hire Better Employees through Pre-Employment Screening Photo Credit â€" Pixabay.comYou want everyone in your company to help your business grow, but how can you tell that an employee will truly be of benefit to your company?Many companies get this wrong by not hiring the right people from the start. Why? They neglect to follow proper hiring procedures.Even if you’re feeling time pressure to fill a position, you’ll do more harm than good by rushing the process.evalYou must understand the following about how the employee can affect your business:Will the candidate be a positive influence on other colleagues?Will the candidate’s productivity be in line with expectations?Will he or she relate to your customers well?Will the employee generate income or cost you money?The best candidates perform well in all these areas.Here’s how your concerns can be handled at the start of the hiring process through pre-employment screening.1. Find out Who You can TrustThe employee you want is the one you can trust when you’re not there.How do you d educt this from an interview? Well, you can’t. Finding this out depends on the research you do before and after the interview.Do You Have All the Facts?Unfortunately, many applicants lie on their resumes. They can even forge papers and attach them as “proof” of:Previous work experienceQualificationsReferences from employersevalA good rule of thumb is to not trust any of these documents until you confirm their authenticity. A pre-employment screening can tell you what you can expect regarding:KnowledgePractical skillsHow much past colleagues and employers trusted him or herNow you know whether candidates are able to fulfill your job expectations.What About His or Her Character?You can use pre-employment screening to gather concrete evidence about a person’s character.evalAn in-depth screening can bring many things to light, including offering information on a person’s criminal history. This is very important since they aren’t likely to tell you this on an application or d uring an interview.A criminal record check can tell you about a person’s criminal past, unveiling certain personality traits and possible future behaviors. Here are some examples:Violent acts on a criminal record may be proof of an aggressive personality.Fraud or tax evasion suggests that the person doesn’t respect rules. Your business will suffer if people only follow their own notions. You also don’t want to take a chance of an employee committing fraudulent acts.Sex offenders carry obvious risks, such as the possibility of sexual harassment cases.It is true that people can change over time, but do you want to risk your business’ future over something that could be preventable? Doing a pre-employment check can take risky candidates off the hiring list and keep your employees safe from criminal acts in the workplace.2. Determine Who is Wise with MoneyOutright criminal acts aren’t the only things to be on the lookout for. A big part of pre-employment screening is checking someone’s credit history.Bad CreditWhy is doing a credit check important for hiring? Your business is ultimately about making money, and people who don’t know how to work with their own money won’t know how to respect yours, either.If you need to fill a position that involves managing a budget, for instance, you may not be able to trust people who make bad decisions with their personal finances.Occasional debt is understandable, especially in difficult economic times. But when one account after another is opened and payments are always in arrears, this suggests poor judgement.evalYou can also position people better when you know their financial situation. For instance, someone with debt problems should not be put in a position where he or she has direct access to cash, as it may be too tempting. Don’t put your business or the person’s character at risk unnecessarilyâ€"but do take some time to investigate so that you can draw your own conclusions.Learning from a Credit Asse ssmentIt’s important not to disregard a candidate if you find out he or she has faced financial problemsâ€"in this type of situation, context is everything.You have a legalâ€"and moralâ€"obligation to share findings with a candidate. This gives the person the opportunity to explain the situation or supply alternative facts if a report is faulty.evalYou may, for instance, learn that the situation was beyond the individual’s control and that the candidate learned valuable lessons from the situation. If you see that they learned from past mistakes, this is a good insight into their personality.If someone was once in debt and found a way out of it, it shows that they are willing to learn from their mistakes, which is a valuable characteristic in any business context. Situations like this demonstrate commitment, determination and problem-solving skills.And people who understand this rarely fail in their personal or business lives.The more facts you know, the more accurate your assess ment of the candidate will be. This is why it’s important to gather information from as far back as possible.3. Find the Employee that Benefits Your ReputationHow will your future employees represent your brand and you as a person?When interacting with clients, suppliers and partners, your employees showcase your business on a day-to-day basis. If something happens to affect these crucial relationships, your business reputation could easily be on the line.This is why speaking to character witnesses is vital.You can learn a lot about how candidates interact with others by speaking with previous employers.Beyond this, a good rule of thumb is to only employ a candidate if know his or her actions will benefit your business’ reputation.Remember that the things you find out about someone can be found out by others too, so if you employ someone with a questionable background others may assume you condone this type of practice.Will your peers still respect you when they know what type o f people you employ?Use employment screenings to protect your bottom line and your brand reputation.Partnering with the right employees is vital for business growth, but choosing the right candidate can be difficult. This is why you need professional tools and processes.Pre-employment screening helps you understand details about candidates that you would not otherwise receive in an interviewâ€"and this is key to finding the best employees.