There are organizations that have altogether different policies and procedures for starting the recruitment process of employees. The employee background verification is conducted as per the organization’s flexibility. In some organizations, the employee’s background check is done before hiring the employee in the organization whereas some organizations do not conduct an employee background check.

When a company opens up a new position, they always ask that interviewees bring previous references with them. A person applying for a job will always represent themselves in the best light- however, there may be incidents in their past that can deem them unfit for employment, or shine light upon their true nature. Hence, it is recommended that companies conduct their own background and reference checks, to

1. Check whether the references the interviewee provides are legitimate and not fabricated
2. To make sure that there are no criminal records, convictions, misconduct in the workplace, poor credit ratings or other factors that may affect the quality of their work and presence in the office

However, there are certain cases where background investigation is regarded as a breach of the candidate’s privacy. But it will be beneficial for the company to know their employees’ background in detail.

Why the Employee Background Verification is Important?

In recent years, globalization has immensely impacted the workforce. Internationally businesses bolster faster than ever.  The accelerated move to cross-border trade means that the different companies can connect by having “N” no of pools that can show their international talent.

Following are the reasons why Employee Background Verification is a must:

Verification of Employment Qualification

The first and foremost step while hiring the candidate is to check and go through the information provided by the candidate. There are dangerous situations where the candidates won’t be suitable for the hiring process. It can be due to Productivity, team morale, quality of service, customer and employee relationships and company growth, etc.

Doing the background investigation of the employees will help the employers to understand if any mistakes have aroused. They will also save time, money, and frustration that has taken place.

To protect the organization and the workforce

It’s wholly the employer’s authority to safeguard each and every person in your company who is involved in the business. That includes all the staff, business partners, and customers.

The main reason to conduct the background check is a preventive deterrent to implement the safety of the company and the associates as a whole.

Criminal record history checks are also one of the crucial parts while doing the background check of the employee. It’s necessary to inform the candidates about these types of screening that take place in the organization.

Shield Customer Data and Cyber Security

The storing of information has become different due to the modern era of digitization and interconnectivity. The organizations protect their data and keep them on in-house servers. It gives access to select employees. There are companies or organizations that provide remote access. Hiring new employees is one of the tedious tasks for the organization. It’s also expensive as there are a lot of stages involved. So, an employee background investigation is a must.

The organization that handles customer-sensitive data, must do the employee screening of the existing employees as well.

Regulate Legal Compliance with the governing bodies

Any organization must be legally compliant with the governing bodies rules and regulations surrounded by labor laws that can be backbreaking.  Recently many organizations have had international subsidiaries so they have to manage legal compliance issues in different countries.

Employee Background Investigation of the probable candidate helps the organization to know if the candidate has the legal right of employment. The candidate must have fulfilled the requirement of the paperwork and the qualification that allows them to do the work in the concerned country.

Types of Employee Background Verifications

 Following are the Employee Background Investigation Checks that the organization keeps in mind while doing the background check of the preferred candidate:

• Reference Check
• Education and Resume Verification
• Social Media Checks
• Criminal Checks

How does Employee Background Investigation help mitigate risk?

Employee Background Investigation helps to verify the identity of the candidate and ensure that they are not fraudsters. With modern measures like e-KYC, employers can simply check whether the candidate says who they are on the basis of their Aadhar card number.

It helps companies stay away from candidates with sketchy pasts or criminal records. Ignoring the signs may lead to violence in the workplace, especially if the person has a background of performing violent crimes and acting according to their temper. It can also protect the company from possible fraud. If the candidate has records of a history of fraud or scamming people, then it is quite likely that they use these tricks again.

Many candidates fabricate their resumes to show glossy picture to the hiring manager. This leads to a waste of human capital when they are unable to perform their duties properly. It causes a loss to the employers, who would have been better off hiring someone competent. By checking with the candidate’s previous employer and looking into the authenticity of their certificates and degrees, the employer can make sure that they get the right person for the job.

The references can also give the employer an insight on the applicant’s attitude in the workplace and character- which is extremely important. Hiring the wrong candidates may cause the company a lot of harm in the wrong run. It is essential that all employees have a clean slate, as to remove any suspicion of them performing activities that are detrimental to the company’s name.

Important positions in the company like those dealing with company security and accounts require the hiring of extremely reliable and trustworthy personnel only. In this case, companies must perform intensive background checks to ensure that they do not compromise any sensitive information.