If you are an employer, you likely try to get a sense of who job applicants are during their interview process. However, this may not be enough to truly vet them. You may want to consider implementing pre-employment background investigations, also called background checks. There are some very valuable benefits to using this investigative process.

Ensure a Safer Workplace

You want to make sure your team is safe in your workplace. This is an ethical, business and legal concern. After all, workplace violence, beyond being abhorrent, can significantly disrupt your business and open you up to liabilities. One of the best ways to ensure that a new team member is unlikely to become violent or threatening is during a pre-employment investigation.

While past behavior does not guarantee future actions, it is the best and most reliable indicator. You may discover, for example, during a background check that an applicant has a record of assaults. The last thing you want is to hire someone who may harm or threaten your team members. Not only do you have a duty to your existing employees, but it could also become a very expensive problem.

Furthermore, people with violent and/or unstable personalities tend to disrupt the workplace. It isn’t just a matter of actual violence. Your people feeling unsafe at work can be very damaging to them individually and to the team morale. In short, for the sake of your current employees and your business’ financial well-being, employment background investigations are a must.

Find Better Quality Employees

Your pre employment investigation into an applicant does not need to be limited to their criminal record. You can also have an investigator look into their employment history, confirming the claims the applicant has made on his or her résumé.

When you look at an applicant’s work history, you have little way of knowing what is true and what isn’t. You could call each of the past employers, but that takes a lot of time. It is better to hire a private investigator to do the legwork for you.

The upside of doing so is that you can be more confident about your new team members. If your investigator has looked into the applicant’s work history and found that he or she has held all the claimed positions and was never fired or significantly disciplined, that is a good sign of an honest and capable employee.

Lower Your Turnover Rate

Troublemaking team members cause turnover. Either you realize that they are not who they claimed to be and let them go or they frustrate and scare their colleagues.

If you unknowingly hire someone who is prone to violence, you are likely to have other employees leaving due to feeling unsafe. You will likely also need to fire that employee after some altercation or another.

Should you hire someone who lied on his or her résumé, there is a good chance that you will have to let that person go due to incompetence. If you don’t, he or she may well create a toxic work environment that pushes your existing employees to want to move on.

Comply With Legal Requirements

Depending on your industry, you may be required to perform background checks. Hiring the right investigator who is familiar with compliance issues can help you stay on the right side of regulations. These requirements can vary from state-to-state, so having someone experienced in your area is a huge benefit.

Even if you don’t have to perform background checks, doing so can help you to stay on the right side of the law. For example, if you experience a workplace violence issue, demonstrating that you took reasonable steps to prevent the problem from happening can be essential to mitigating your liabilities.

In other words, running background checks is a simple way to keep yourself in good legal standing. It is the smart thing to do.

Start Investigating

In short, hiring the wrong people can be bad news for your business. Fortunately, you can greatly reduce the risk of making a bad hire by conducting pre employment background investigations. Even a basic background check is better than doing nothing. It can save you an immense amount of trouble and money down the road.

If you are looking for a private investigation firm to conduct pre-employment screenings, contact Beau Dietl & Associates today.