Due Diligence or Gut Reaction

You’ve spent years in management or owning your own business and interviewed hundreds of potential new employees. Your gut reaction has led you to hire many great people over the years with a few exceptions. One or two had to be let go for poor performance, another lied about having a college degree.

And, oh yeah, there was the embezzler. What you wouldn’t have done to forego that nightmare. Luckily, she only got a few thousand dollars before she was caught. Nevertheless, it was embarrassing. It made you rethink your instincts and the need to improve your due diligence when it comes to hiring. Interviews, reference checks, and gut reactions are clearly not enough.

Background investigations are a vital due diligence ingredient in your risk management program. It offers the good judgment and prudence that a typical gut reaction cannot provide. In fact, experts suggest that nearly half of the employment, educational and credential checks completed on new applicants reveal some type of discrepancy. This could be as small as an incorrect start date (inadvertently listing the month as May instead of June) to larger transgressions such as intentionally lying about a college degree.

Yet, employers often debate when and what type of background checks they should conduct on new and current employees.

While certain industries – health care, childcare, and education – are more likely to conduct background checks due to legal requirements, employers not bound by law may want to consider the benefit of screening applicants.

Due diligence when hiring employees may not trump your gut reaction, but it can provide a good balance between feeling and logic. Contact us and we’ll give your gut the tools and information it needs to make the right hiring decision.