As a small business owner, it can be easy to overlook the value of running efficient, effective background checks. Background check problems can cause significant headaches for you and your team down the line. The consequences could be costly, both financially and in damage to your company’s reputation. You could be in hot water fast if you miss big red flags like a criminal history on a job candidate. We’ll explore how to identify a bad background check and how to make sure you avoid background check issues during your hiring process.
What Can Go Wrong With A Background Check
Knowing what a background check is supposed to show can help you identify when one has gone wrong. First and foremost, a bad background check could be missing out on important information like criminal history, poor credit history, or misrepresenting vital facts like employment history. The missing information could lead to hiring an employee with a murky past who might have falsified their credentials or misrepresented their criminal history, leaving you open to damages like theft or involvement in a lawsuit.
But it’s also important to consider that inaccurate reporting could lead to you turning down a high-quality job candidate. A criminal history isn’t a definitive marker that your new hire will be dishonest.
Not all crimes deserve the same level of scrutiny, but a bad automated screening could disqualify fantastic hires for minor offenses. A low-quality background check system could mistakenly flag a great candidate for having a dangerous criminal history when the worst crime they’ve ever committed is not paying taxes for their childhood lemonade stand.
How Can A Bad Background Check Affect Your Business?
First and foremost, a background check that only covers some of your bases could compromise the security and safety of the rest of your staff and business as a whole. A less-than-savory criminal history that has slipped by the checks could lead you or your employees into situations that are better avoided. An employee with a concealed history of theft leaves you open to financial losses and diminishes trust between you and your entire staff. Being unable to trust the people you work with daily can make running a business seem downright unappealing.
Additionally, a customer-facing company could be liable for the actions of a particularly dangerous or unpredictable hire. It could be unfortunate to find out after the fact that your background screening system simply wasn’t effective enough to catch the red flags.
Not all bad hires are criminals. Of course, some of them are just bad at their jobs. A background check that needs to include crucial information about credentials like employment history or level of education could leave you with a staff incapable of performing their responsibilities. Today’s job market is flush with individuals claiming credits they have yet to earn, and mistakenly hiring one could derail your best efforts toward a reputable business.
How To Avoid A Bad Background Check
Avoiding bad background checks starts with ensuring you partner with a reputed service provider. Ensure that you’ve collected the relevant information from your potential employee, like their full legal name, date of birth, and social security number. Depending on the type of background check you plan to run, you might need to collect other information like their address history, credit report, and driving record. You need to make sure that whatever background screening you’re conducting will cover their criminal record in as detailed of a way as you can get access to, along with verifying their credentials and education history.
Sometimes employers will try to cut corners by taking this all on themselves instead of trying to partner with a background check provider. This method might be effective for micro-scale operations, but if you’re in a competitive industry, you likely need more time to spare to wait around on the tedious levels of paperwork that need to go into what is likely already an arduous hiring process. You would’ve gone into a different business if you wanted to scrape through public criminal justice records like a pulp-TV detective.
What To Look For When Choosing A Background Check Provider
When you choose a provider to handle your background screenings as part of your hiring process, you’ll need to ensure they have a lengthy reputation for accurate and effective background checks. Additionally, to ensure you don’t open yourself up to any legal liabilities, you must ensure they follow all local laws and regulations, especially regarding details like FRCA credit checks. Dedicated customer service is another excellent sign that you’ve chosen a quality screening service provider since that will be your first line of contact if any issues arise due to the background check process.
Choosing a company like KarmaCheck to perform your background checks will ensure that the checks are done quickly, using the latest technology to integrate directly into your hiring practices. KarmaCheck has years of experience with weeding out job candidates with too many red flags, helping you avoid the consequences of a bad background check.
