Yeah, of COURSE I’ve got a degree…
So…. you have a vacancy. Ok, now it’s time to advertise the job, wait for applications and CVs to roll in (hopefully), sift through them all, make up a shortlist of the best ones, arrange and conduct interviews, pick the best person, let them know and then, all things being equal, you’ll have the right person for the job… right? Well…maybe.
As you know, recruiting takes time… a lot of time. Time you can ill afford to lose, time that you could have spent doing something else. So once it’s over can you afford to do it all again any time soon?
Why do think it is then, that so many employers risk not vetting their candidates properly?
For example, most of the time we ask for two references ; one from the last (or current) employer and one other, often a ‘personal’ reference. (Maybe you’ll do a CRB check, too, if it’s a sensitive post). You’ll write directly to the referees named, check the response is on headed paper – or you might phone them… if you have time.
Did you know, 30% of CVs contain exaggerated, or completely false, information? And there are risks involved in hiring the wrong person : the cost of undertaking an employment investigation and disciplinary action, further recruitment costs, fraud by employee, bad publicity, damage to your reputation, theft of time and property…to name a few. Don’t want to be an ‘employer victim’? The key is in prevention by thoroughly checking a candidate’s past and publicising the fact that you do.
Some examples of where it’s gone wrong :
• An employer recruits someone through an agency, taking a reference from the previous employer. Some time later they discover a significant hole in their finances. They discover that the employee is the cause and sack them. If they’d checked the reference properly, they’d have found it to be pure fabrication.
• Another employer recruits someone with an impressive CV, significant amounts of relevant experience and on the basis of a strong interview. They ask for, and receive, good references from the last two employers. It’s not until after the probation period that the problems appear : shoddy time-keeping, inappropriate internet access and incapability issues eat up management time. Eventually the employee is dismissed for fraud and abuse of personal data. In their CV the employee had grossly exaggerated their employment history, using different identities for employment in the past. Again, proper screening would have saved huge amounts of money and time.
Anyone who’s been involved in management and / or disciplinary investigations knows what’s at stake when employment goes wrong, and now that everyone is being asked to do more with less…?
Ask yourself – how robust is your recruitment process? Do you screen people properly? And if not, isn’t it time you did something about it? Your HR team are likely as stretched as you are, but the issue cannot be ignored.
Consider outsourcing your vetting process. It’s simple, legal, cost effective, time efficient and gives you peace of mind. The only snag is that the candidate needs to consent to the checks – but if they won’t, do you really want them working for you?
Alistair Nunn-Price is a director of ITS Investigations.
If you’d like help or advice about the issues raised in this article, please contact him on 08454 300 212
or email enquiries@its-investigations.com