If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times already; there is no singular perfect way to catch criminals.  If someone is truly set upon finding a way of stealing or defrauding your company, they will likely find a way and get away with it for some time before you actually catch on and stop them.  That is why you always need to employ multiple systems, some that simply overlap in function and others that provide redundancy for what you may already have in order to catch such criminals before they do too much damage.

Case in point: Employee background checks.  Any sort of pre employment screening is done as a form of preventative measure to make sure you aren’t hiring a known ‘bad seed’.  But sometimes just requiring a basic background check isn’t enough to catch everything.  If you want to be sure you have covered all your bases you need to take the time to enforce a full suite of background checks.  Many years ago I worked for a certain company that dealt with a lot of sensitive information on a regular basis (as in every second of the day).  Their pre employment screening process was intense, including a preliminary drug screening, fingerprinting, standard background check, criminal background check, credit checks, and even a medical history.  It took them two weeks just to get the results from everything before they hired me.  But even with all of those safeguards in place before they even take anyone on as an employee, it didn’t prevent those who got hired from conducting illicit activities.  During my two year tenure, there were no less than seven known instances of employees being fired for committing fraud or embezzling customer assets.  So while background checks are certainly helpful, without maintaining constant vigilance over your workforce they can still harm your business.

 For more information on background check experts, background checks , criminal background checks , employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

If you complete pre employment screening for your new hires, chances are you still have some sort of signed agreement from them allowing you to conduct background checks whenever you would like. Often times we conduct criminal background checks on our employees during the pre employment screening process and then never take a second look at our employees. But what about those employees that are conducting criminal activity once they have already been hired? Going to background check experts to conduct periodic criminal background checks can be a great tool to help you ensure that your employees are up to the caliber that you desire.

Background checks can be a great tool to use during an investigation into internal theft activity. If you are experiencing loss and you are not able to identify any potential candidates, background checks can help you narrow the scope of your search. Often in smaller businesses where long relationships have been established it can be hard to see past the years of friendship to someone that may be skimming off the top. Criminal background checks are not biased and can not be blinded by relationships, they report the facts. Those desperate enough to be stealing from their place of business are more than likely in financial hardship due to drugs, gambling, or drinking. With those issues typically comes encounters with the law, and that is where background check experts can help you find the truth.

Feeling like you are losing money or product and just can’t figure out where it’s going? Look to the background check experts to help you identify those who may be stealing from you in your business.

For more information on background check experts , background checks , criminal background checks , employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

Coming from the world of retail loss prevention, I always knew the importance of running background checks, performed by background check experts at a background check company. It is one of the safe guards to hiring reliable, trust worthy employees. Employee background checks is the key to validating a potential employee’s resume or job application.

Recently, I realized that background checks and pre employment screening, when you utilize proper background check experts at a background check company, is something that all companies or employers should do. I unfortunately came to this discovery only after hearing a story from my mother.

She called one day just to chat and started to tell me of some local excitement. The church she attends had to fire one of their secretaries about a week ago. I knew it must be pretty bad if you are terminated from a church. I was right.

The employee, who should have had criminal background checks performed,  had been secretly writing checks to herself for the better part of a year. She was coding them as invoices for other miscellaneous work to be done on the church grounds.

This employee had a great track record of attendance and was well liked. She had gotten sick and was unexpectedly out of the office for a week. When another employee started to reconcile the books, the employee background checks that had been cashed showed up. After an investigation was conducted, the scope of loss totaled around a thousand dollars. She was promptly terminated as a result.

While pre employment screening may not have caught this employee, running a routine background check periodically would have shown her financial troubles. I recently read an article that had stories very similar to this. It’s more common than you think. If it can happen at a church, it can definitely happen anywhere.

For more information on background check experts , background checks , criminal background checks , employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

When it comes to examining an applicant’s history, the mantra “the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior” has been the guiding principle behind this practice.  For employers to know what performance to expect from a prospective member of their staff, they will want to have a pre-employment screening process in place that will give them this insight. The potential repercussions caused by a bad hire are enough to make any business reluctant to take a chance on a new employee without a rigorous background check. Employee background checks are important and here is why: According to the 2010 National Retail Security Survey, internal theft cost retailers $15.9 billion and accounted for 45% of shrink. In addition, during a new associate’s first ninety days, companies can potentially invest anywhere between $5,000 to $75,000 in their training and development; this is motivation enough to make an employer not want to have to repeat this process too many times.

The potential hire selection process not only has shrink implications to consider, but staff members can also be potential liabilities for their employers. This is a prime example of why pre-employment screening is so important.  Legal actions involving negligent hiring practices and employers being held accountable for a staff member’s actions can be avoided if due diligence in hiring practices can be demonstrated. Also, in a society as litigious as ours, prospective hires that could jeopardize a business’ compliance with federal and state safety guidelines should be avoided. Lastly, employee background checks can assist in avoiding a bad hire’s potential damage to a company’s reputation, which can’t be measured in monetary losses.

The need for employers to perform background checks for prospective staff members is palpable and choosing the right background check company is a crucial part of the hiring process. When considering the right business to handle this, accuracy of information and timeliness are important factors. Choosing the wrong background check company for examining applicant backgrounds can nullify the steps an employer takes to avoid the potential hazards the appointment process can pose.

For more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks, or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

Background checks are important, but they should never be the only tool you use to determine if a candidate is a good fit for your business. Comprehensive pre employment screening should include many aspects beyond just sending their information into a background check company. Criminal background checks, drug testing, reference checks, and an extensive interview process should all play a part in your pre employment screening. When you use a vast array of screening tools you will be able to find the best candidates to fit your needs that will be loyal and work hard for your company.

Criminal background checks will allow you to identify potential employees that have been convicted of a crime. From those results you can decide if the candidate is someone you wish to pursue or if you will decide to look elsewhere. This should not be where the screening stops. Where background checks won’t help you is if the person is committing crimes and not getting caught. This is when the other steps come into play. Drug testing can help you to identify if the possible employee is involved in any illegal drug activity. Reference employee background checks will allow you to discover if the person is lying about their previous experience and will hopefully help you to get a good idea of the person’s character. The key here is asking the right questions of the right people. If the reference person that the potential employee gave you seems to be giving staged or fake answers, call back and ask to speak to another manager.

Lastly, the thing you can always count on is the interview process. Make this meeting count. Be sure to research the right questions to ask and how to effectively interview. Open ended questions can be your best friend; you would be surprised how much someone will open up with just a little probing. Using a background check company can tell you a lot about a potential employee, but it takes a lot more to make sure you are hiring the right people.

For more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks , employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

Ensuring your company is conducting background checks is a good first step, however, it is important that your company conducts the correct level of criminal background checks and employee background checks. This is all a part of having a successful pre employment screening process. The background check experts all agree that one of the best ways to deter a potential thief from working with a company is a rigorous pre employment screening process that includes multiple interviews and pointed questions regarding employment and education history.Unfortunately even companies with good intentions about having a successful pre employment screening strategy fall short due to not hiring a qualified background check company. They muddle about and conduct random criminal background checks which when not guided by background check experts usually does not encompass the correct areas where crimes may have been committed. Ultimately this leads to a false sense of security that can have devastating results. Another thing companies overlook is the employee background check, they figure a couple phone calls to companies written on a job application will suffice. This again will be a potentially costly mistake. Background check experts know exactly how to conduct an in depth employee background check which requires a significant amount of research. A good background check company will also be able to verify an employee’s education history as well as job and personal references.

Companies that do utilize a reputable background check company have access to background check experts that have worked in and around every type of business under the sun. The right background check expert is matched to a company and a pre employment screening strategy is custom made to fit the business like a glove. This process usually involves the human resource, loss prevention and legal departments. Once the company’s policy and procedures have been reviewed in detail then the strategy can be implemented. A potential employee will fill out a very detailed job application, a release form for background checks and provide a complete resume. The potential employee will then go through a multi level interview process conducted by different executives at each level. Then the employee will answer any and all questions that have arisen as a result of the completed background checks. Any hits at this point from a criminal background check that had not been addressed in the initial job application will effectively disqualify the applicant from procuring a position at the company in question.

It takes an investment of time to find the right background check company and formulate an all encompassing hiring process that protects your company, however but in the end it will guard your company from losses caused by bad employees.A company has the right to protect its employees and its profits and it starts with screening potential employees.

For more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

So you have a candidate for a job sitting before you.  He is well dressed, his resume is glowing, and his work history is a perfect fit for your company’s needs.  As the interview progresses he says everything you could ever want to hear, answering each question flawlessly and without hesitation.

Usually when something is too good to be true it is.

An example would be at an automotive service center attached to one of my stores.  It is a part of the company that suffers from a high turnover rate for a variety of reasons too long to list here.  At this particular center, the employee attrition rate was so high that the center manager had given up on performing background checks and went by what he saw in front of him.  He was trying to fill vacancies which were crippling his ability to keep the center viable.

One day an applicant sat down with him for an interview with a resume that said he was capable and experienced as a technician and the references listed all gave him amazing reviews.

Less than a week into this individual’s career at the center he was tasked with performing a belt replacement on a car; something he claimed to have experience with.

The engine blew within seconds of being started.

The individual had never done a belt change before and ‘just winged it’.  Because of the incident a background check had to be done and it was found he had never worked ANYWHERE he had claimed and his references were all personal acquaintances posing as former supervisors.  These were all details easily discovered with pre employment screening.

Basically the moral of this story is if the center manager had requested an employee background check, or even used one of the company background check experts he could have avoided hiring the fraud and kept himself from getting fired for his mistakes.

For more information on background check experts , background checks , criminal background checks , employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

I have spent a fair amount of time moving around the country. Each move presents me with the fabulous opportunity to go to the DMV to change my drivers license. The last trip I took, I was presented with a series of questions that really started to make me think. They asked about any outstanding violations or warrants and a few other related questions.

I thought about how easy it would be for someone to lie because there didn’t seem to be a validation process in place. It’s very similar to hiring an employee and not running any sort of pre employment screening or criminal background check.

I know some companies I have been hired on to have done a great job with their pre employment screening. Running a criminal background check was only the first part. They called my references, both personal and professional and validated past salaries.

I know that some companies never questioned anything. How easy would it be for someone to give false information? That doesn’t mean they are hardened criminals out to steal you blind. Maybe they just want an extra five or ten thousand a year in salary. A background check might show that they were making less at their previous employer, thus saving you some money.

Background checks are there for a reason. Because they are so readily available, it’s a shame not to use them. It’s time to ask, how much am I loosing by not running a check; how much will I gain?

 For more information on background check experts , background checks , criminal background checks , employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

Pre employment screening is important for many reasons. One of those reasons is to prevent internal theft. Background checks help to weed out the bad eggs that may have otherwise slipped through the cracks. There are plenty of people out there who are looking for a job in retail for no other reason than to steal from the retailer. We see a significant spike in this sort of scenario during the holidays. These types of people know that companies are desperate to hire seasonal help and may not be taking the time to carry out detailed interviews, conduct criminal background checks and check references on potential employees as much as they do the rest of the year. I have conducted many internal interviews after identifying employee theft and you wouldn’t believe the number of times I’ve heard them admit that their sole reason of getting a job with us was to steal. It is always their first time getting caught stealing, so they usually tell us everything we want to know in hopes of getting off with a warning. We conduct employee background checks on all new hires, and nothing comes up on their background checks when we hired them, but next time they won’t be so lucky. Now that we have caught them in the act, criminal background checks conducted by retailers in the future will stop them in their tracks. We know for a fact that pre employment screening has helped prevent us from hiring convicted shoplifters. When we receive the results from the background check company we are able to see when a shoplifter attempts to get a job with us. We always listen to the background check experts and deny employment in order to protect our assets.

When in doubt, use a background check company and look to background check experts to give you solid advice on employee background checks.

For more information on background check experts , background checks , criminal background checks , employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

Customer service has become possibly the most important factor in the business decisions that we make today. From our policies and procedures to how we staff our buildings, the customer comes first. In a tough economy, this becomes even more important. When a customer walks into the building they expect that we have hired the right people and completed pre employment screening of our employees. They expect that they are coming to a place where they can trust our employees and believe what we tell them because we are a business of integrity. If we do not complete criminal background checks of all our employees, we are opening up the door for this image to be tarnished. Most of all I want my customers to feel safe. Hiring a background check company gives me the confidence to know that my employees have never been convicted of a violent crime.

Background checks ensure we have the right people in place to serve our customers. Employee background checks make me comfortable that my employees are going to be honest with the customer and do their best to get the customer what they need. When I hire background check experts to conduct pre employment screening it reassures me that I have made the right hiring decision, and that my employees are going to act with integrity.

For the security of my business and the safety of my customers and employees, I owe it to them and myself to conduct employee background checks on all of my new hires.

For more information on background check experts , background checks , criminal background checks , employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547