The Importance of Pre-Employment Screening

It is no secret that a well developed applicant tracking system (ATS) can help you avoid bad hires and aid in your search for the perfect candidate, but if that is all you’re using, you might end of hiring a someone on false pretenses. According to HireRight, 52% of all job applications contain inaccurate information [1]. If you’re not performing background checks and regularly practicing pre-employment screening you truly do not know if everything presented to you is in fact true. If you’re on the fence about pre-employment screening just remember, hiring the wrong person could end up costing you thousands of dollars. Before you extend your next job offer let’s go over the importance of knowing exactly who you are offering employment to. 

Make Drug Screening Mandatory

Did you know that 75% of substance abusers are employed [2]? If you’re not regulating drug screens as a part of your employee onboarding you might find yourself in trouble. Those who struggle with substance abuse tend to have higher absentee rates than their drug-free counterparts, making them 2.5x more likely to be absent at least 8 days a year [3]. These employees also are more of a flight risk so to speak. Changing jobs around 3 times a year is not a rare occurrence for these individual [4]. Can you spot the (costly) trend here? 

The Shocking Cost of a Bad Hire

Hiring the wrong person can end up costing you more than just their salary; on average employers lose 79% of negligent hiring cases [5]. Wondering how much that amounts to? According to Human Resource Management those lawsuits average about $1 Million dollars at the time of settlement. The question begs, would you rather find a company that offers credible pre-employment screening, or trust your instincts when hiring?

The Threat of Internal Theft

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 75% of all employees steal at least once [6]. Employee theft may not always be apparent - it could be in the form of merchandise, exaggeration of hours, or simply taking home office supplies. With such a large number of employees committing acts of theft, it would be pure ignorance to say pre-employment screening would rule all of this out, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt. Especially when you consider that 30% of all business failures are caused by employee theft [7].

If you still aren’t sold on pre-employment screening, take a close look at the facts and see for yourself just how much hiring the wrong candidate could cost you. 

Sources:
[1] http://www.hireright.com/resources/industry-fast-facts
[2] Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies, 2008
[3] Working Partners, National Conference Proceedings Report, sponsored by U.S. Department of Labor, the SBA, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, 1992
[4] Worker Substance Use and Workplace Policies and Programs, by SAMHSA, 2007
[5] Fortune, 2/00
[6] U.S. Chamber of Commerce
[7] American Management Association and US Chamber of Commerce