Is your small business hiring a few more employees to share the workload? What an exciting time!
Bringing others into your precious business space, however, means an important task — background checks.
The Importance of Knowing Who You’re Hiring
It can be stressful to think about hiring someone you don’t know. This is especially true in today’s era of technology where so many relationships are only on the internet and you don’t often meet people in person, which takes away that ability to meet and get an intuitive feel for someone face-to-face.
Many background check services offer a totally comprehensive service, such as ScoutLogic screening, so that all business owners have to do is focus on running and growing their company.
When you bring someone on to work with you and help run your business efficiently, having the peace of mind that comes with knowing who you hire has a “clean bill of health”, so to speak, will allow you to trust them and not waste precious emotional energy (or financial resources) wondering if they’ll leave you in the dust or ruin what you’ve worked for.
What You’ll Learn
A background check is more than just knowing if someone has served time for a crime or not. Running a full screen on your potential hires can give you a full picture of who they are and where they come from.
If you go with a reputable company who offers a full range of services, you will be able to get information on identity information (such as name changes), education and work history (so you know that the person has the skills they say they do), motor vehicle ownership and history (if someone has scores of unpaid parking tickets and at-fault accidents, that might be a sign of personality traits that you want to avoid!).
What Can Happen When You Don’t Perform Background Checks
You might wonder if the investment in background checks for your new hires is worth it, though. According to CareerBuilder.com, when a small business hires someone who is not a good fit for a job or who doesn’t come with the qualifications they say they do, it can cost upwards of $2,000 (and sometimes significantly more!) with regard to the lost hours of training, setting up paperwork, and work that needs to be redone.
This can also be especially important when working with professionals who must have certain degrees or certifications to perform their job properly. By running the right verifications, you decrease the liability your business faces.
Can you imagine the frustration and disappointment? Saving yourself worry and stress from the get-go isn’t just smart emotionally, but it’s what’s best for your pocketbook.
Final Thoughts
As a small business owner, background checks might seem like something only large corporations have the resources to do. You might even have a smidge of “imposter syndrome,” wondering if you deserve to be performing background checks on your potential employees. Take the power into your own hands, get those checks completed, and know that you deserve to have the peace of mind that comes with knowing who is helping your business succeed.