We’ve written before about the shift to a candidate’s job market. Recruiting the best talent continues to be tough. But just because recruiting is a challenge doesn’t mean that organizations should be lax in their hiring practices. In fact, one could argue it’s a case for strengthening them.
Case in point: According to the 2016 HireRight Employment Screening Benchmark Report, eighty-eight percent (88%) of companies surveyed uncovered a lie or misrepresentation on a resume that they wouldn’t have discovered if it hadn’t been for the background check process. As such, fifty-two percent (52%) felt that background checks improved quality of hire.
One statistic I found particularly interesting was that only five percent (5%) of survey respondents have a medical marijuana policy. With more states passing marijuana legislation, this is something human resources professionals need to consider – even if your state hasn’t been impacted yet. If you’re looking for a place to start, I hope you’ll check out my post titled “Marijuana 101: What HR Pros Need to Know” with Dr. Todd Simo, HireRight’s Medical Review Officer (MRO.)
There’s lots more info in the full report, you can download a copy on their website. I discovered the report a couple of years ago, and it’s one of my annual must-reads.
Recruiting processes are complex and have lots of moving parts – background checks being one of them. It’s not enough to simply look at labor statistics. Organizations need to consider how all the pieces fit together and adjust their procedures accordingly.
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Suzanne says
I have a couple of issues with background checks, the first being the law passed earlier this year in Colorado that basically states that we can’t require an applicant to disclose any information contained in expunged records, and I can’t deny employment to the potential applicant because of their refusal to disclose expunged arrest and criminal records. I feel like this is showing a trend towards eventually disallowing us to ask for this information on a job application altogether, expunged or not.
Also, the term “background check” is so vague. Do I care if the employee was arrested in the last 5 years? 10 years? Does it not matter that they were arrested if they were not convicted? What charges matter?
I had a candidate recently who had been charged with, and convicted of, “escape from jail.” What was I supposed to do in that case? There is no policy that could be written to cover everything, I wonder what companies out there are actually doing once they receive the candidate’s background check. Drugs are black and white; arrests and convictions are a huge grey area.
Sharlyn Lauby says
Thanks for the comment Suzanne. I agree that state laws add a whole new dynamic to employment law. I think that’s why reports, like this one from HireRight, and having a friendly neighborhood labor lawyer who can answer questions becomes so important.
Nancy says
The only problem with these background checks is that they take forever to go through. I got a new job and I’ve had some trouble with the law in the past when I was young. It was several years ago but the thing is these companies take forever to process anything. I convinced my new employer to try an online service and even offered to pay for it. We chose
http://www.backgroundreport.com – It was almost instant and the low fee I spent on it was nothing compared to the hassle I would go through waiting for a big company to start and finish the entire process. It also helped that I provided excellent referrals and explained my situation in detail to my employer. I was lucky that my boss is understanding, I can see there could be situations where it wouldn’t work out, the problem is that it can be stressful, because when they conduct these background checks they call your previous employers and I wouldn’t want to give a notice until everything is cleared and good to go!