Background screening reduces employee turnover

Image: www.freedigitalphotos.net

It is increasingly important to ensure that the rate at which staff leave is kept under control with responsible practices like proper pre-employment background checks, which will ensure that you hire quality candidates who will commit to a long-lasting and rewarding relationship.

The GM of LexisNexis Risk Management, Rudi Kruger, said: "Time is money and productivity is essential in this fast-paced world. Having to replace staff can cost your business thousands of rands. The task introduces additional administrative expenses, vacancy advertisement costs and the use of existing staff and company resources to source, hire and train new employees."

In sales- and service-orientated industries, downtime during recruitment and lower productivity during candidate orientation can also affect profits. Businesses, therefore, do not want to go through the hassle and financial implications of replacing staff at regular intervals.

Employee turnover can be limited by simply ensuring that the right candidates are hired in the first place.

Vital information

"Practising background checks can assist greatly in reducing turnover when practised correctly," said Kruger. "When employers are empowered with vital information sourced independently, they can avoid lost time, minimise costs, and limit staff turnover by making informed decisions before offering employment to someone who may not be fit for the long haul."

He added that suitable candidates are more likely to stay at a company, versus those who have questionable credentials. By investigating a candidate's academic and employment history, employers can verify their past and look out for job-hopping patterns, relevant experience and other business interests.

"The bottom line is that candidates are hired to fulfil roles that are meant to enhance the business. However, when candidates offer misleading information in their CVs, like inflated job titles and inaccurate responsibilities, you run the risk of being duped into hiring someone who will not last at your business," said Kruger, adding that employers need to be aware of prospective employees' criminal records and credit histories as these are key indicators of their overall reliability.

Technology-based solutions like LexisNexis RefCheck, which facilitates the verifying of candidates' backgrounds, helps to automate the hiring process while ensuring a candidate meets a company's employment standards.

Its services include verification of tertiary and secondary academic qualifications held by the individual from registered local and international institutions; identity and South African citizenship validation; fraud history checks via the South African Fraud Prevention Services; credit history checks through detailed TransUnion and Experian credit bureau reports; criminal history check via AFISwitch (electronic fingerprint collection and processing); verification of local and international employment history and professional association membership; verification of drivers' licence status; and matching of bank account information against an identity number or registration number.