Should you do your own employee screening?
Pre-employment checks are an absolute necessity for all businesses – whether you need basic checks to verify identification and right to work or more complex screening to meet the requirements of regulatory bodies, every organisation needs to screen. But how you go about that screening is up for discussion. Do you do it yourself or do you outsource it?
As you might expect, we think it’s best to outsource. Here’s why…
It’ll save you time
Naturally, handing your screening responsibilities over to an external organisation will save you time. With over 100 years of experience, our packages are tried and tested so you can be absolutely sure that you’re getting a quality service. As industry leaders on screening time, we have an average turnaround time of eight days.
What’s more, our packages can be purchased online to get you started straight away with a quick and easy process for both your business and your candidate.
And if our pre-made packages aren’t quite what you need, we offer bespoke packages for organisations in any industry and of any size – all it takes is a quick phone call and we can get started right away!
It’s an unbiased view
Particularly in smaller organisations, it might well be the case that the person who’s done the interviewing is also running the pre-employment checks.
It’s human nature to form connections – we’re social creatures! And it’s always great when the person who does best in an interview is someone you’ve really clicked with. But this isn’t such a good thing when it comes to background checks. It’s all too easy to unintentionally let someone off the hook if you’ve already formed a bond, but it might not be quite such a wise decision later down the line.
But by outsourcing your pre-employment screening, you can be sure that all screening will be unbiased and accurate, meaning you’ll get results that haven’t been clouded by any personal judgement or relationship. What’s more, it’s less likely you’ll be accused of any kind of discrimination so the chances of heading to an employment tribunal are much slimmer!
It’s less awkward
For some people, knowing that people have researched and know the ins and outs of not just their professional history but their social media accounts too can feel a little awkward and uneasy.
But by outsourcing your screening, your new hires can enter the workplace completely confident in their privacy and get cracking straight away!
It’s cheaper!
At first, you might be put off by the cost of using external providers to take on your pre-employment screening.
But the cost of replacing a member of staff might be more expensive than you think! Some studies, such as one completed by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), estimate that replacing a salaried employee can cost on average six to nine months of their annual salary. This means that replacing a member of staff earning £25k per year could cost up to £19k! And some estimate that cost to be even higher when you factor in the costs of HR, promotion, interim support, training, induction and handover.
At Reed Screening, our pre-employment screening packages start at £95 per candidate and cover everything from ID verification, employment history, criminal record, qualifications to social media vetting. This means that you can be absolutely certain you’re getting a high quality and trustworthy candidate into your organisation before they step foot through the door, reducing the risk of you making unhappy discoveries and having to begin the recruitment process from scratch.
An initial layout of £95 doesn’t look so expensive when you consider the alternative!
We know our stuff
At Reed Screening, we work with a huge range of different regulatory bodies, the government and more to provide the best, most accurate services.
We offer a comprehensive range of checks for different roles across 15 core industries so if you need to ensure you’re meeting the requirements of the Financial Conduct Authority, the Quality Care Commission, the Solicitors Regulation Authority or another regulatory body, you can be 100% confident that we not only understand your needs but that we’ve got a strong track record.
Browse our pre-employment A-Z directory here to find out more about the specific checks that we offer; take a look at our pre-built pay-per-candidate screening packages here; and get in touch to build the right screening package for you.