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New Screening Technologies: How to Avoid
Mistakes in Hiring
Employers can save time, money and
future headaches by using online background checks to weed
out problem candidates
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Kim
Kerr
VICE PRESIDENT/
GENERAL MANAGER
Kim Kerr is the vice president/ general manager of
the LexisNexis Risk and Information Analytics Group,
a leading provider of risk and business information
services.
www.lexisnexis.com
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Finding the right employees can be one
of the most frustrating and costly elements of running a successful
business. As the employment market tightens and firms try
to speed up the hiring process, employers often stop doing
careful background checks on prospective new hires.
When considering the expenses associated
with recruiting, hiring and training-typically $7,000 to $10,000
per candidate-employee turnover becomes a bottom-line problem
that many companies cannot afford to ignore. But employee
turnover can be drastically reduced if the proper screening
is implemented in the early stages of the interview process.
Addressing the Problem
Company executives and human resources professionals must
eventually address the problem of job seekers who lie about
their backgrounds during the hiring process. According to
The Wall Street Journal, 34% of all job applications contain
lies about experience, education and performance factors essential
to the functions of the job, proving that résumés
are often only as good as the paper they're written on. Also,
hiring problems often manifest themselves in more costly ways
later on when the employee is entrenched in the firm. Employee-related
thefts in companies occur 15 times more often than external
thefts, and employee fraud costs U.S. companies more than
$400 billion annually, according to statistics from the U.S.
Dept. of Commerce.
It can be a frightening reality to think that one wrong hire
could be so detrimental to a company, but it is even more
frightening to know that this could have been prevented with
one simple step: properly screening applicants before a job
offer is made.
Searching for Solutions
For years, employers have searched for a fast, inexpensive
and reliable way to verify a candidate's background and credentials
during the interview process, especially during times of explosive
market growth, when several employees need to be hired at
once. In the past, businesses would spend days or weeks and
a great deal of money to determine a candidate's past employment
and criminal history, but times have changed and so has the
process.
Today, it is even more important to get the right information
at an affordable price. Speed and efficiency can make or break
an important hire, meaning there is no time to waste on unqualified
candidates or employees who misrepresent themselves during
the interview process. Every employee who is excused following
the initial probation period puts a strain on profit margins
and could also pose as a threat to the overall reputation
of the organization.
Online Screening
New technologies, such as online background screening, are
increasingly being utilized to help employers identify and
weed out undesirable candidates. These applications offer
faster and more affordable background-check capabilities because
they leverage breakthrough data-management technologies and
massive data repositories containing billions of existing
public records. Additionally, they offer employers a fast,
cost-effective way to identify unacceptable job candidates
before they spend valuable time and money.
Like any other acquisition or major transaction that a business
can face, staffing is heavily reliant on innovative tools
and resources that enable both speed and efficiency for increased
profit margins and productivity. Today's online screening
technologies not only help employers be more confident with
their hiring decisions but, in the end, also help increase
profitability-the bottom line-and the public image of the
organization.
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