Workplace Challenges

It pays to check out prospective staff

Years ago, when I went back to college to take management development courses, instructors frequently used the term "money found on the floor."

P.J. HARSTON
[ 2008-03-05 ]

Send to a friend
Print

P.J. Harston

The idea is that in all companies large and small, a certain amount of money is wasted and a good manager can find that waste and make the company more efficient and, potentially, more profitable.

Garda , a Canadian security company, says Canadian companies are shovelling a lot of money onto the floor because of lax pre-employment screening procedures.

TRAINING COSTS


"If you're looking at hiring a person and there's a moderate amount of training involved, you're looking at $10,000 to $15,000 in costs for one year," says Dan Fallows, manager of Garda's pre-employment screening division.

"If you don't have the proper screening in place, and the employee turns out to be bad hire, you're basically throwing that money away," he says.


There are also intangibles to think about, such as lost business, creating a poisonous work environment, violence and damaging your public image.

In the U.S., pre-employment screening has become a billion-dollar business, much of it due to the 9/11 terrorism attacks and some 98% of the corporations either have an internal department to look after it or they out-source it.

"It's hard to get Canadians to understand it because we don't have the same historic terrorism or the pressures of brand image," Fallows says.

He estimates that 30% to 40% of Canadian companies properly pre-screen employees, but he also sees that increasing in the next few years.

"As U.S. corporations come north, you'll see it happen more and more," he said.

Pre-employment screening methods are designed to help companies avoid hiring people who falsify information about themselves --whether it be a degree they don't have, a criminal record that makes them ineligible for the job or that they're not legally entitled to work in Canada.

"There are tools out there that we can use to carry out these checks," says Fallows, adding that some employers are worried about privacy legislation violations.

SAVE FIRM'S REPUTATION


"Some of them think that they can't even do this work, but under Canadian law you can only gather information that applies to the position being offered -- as long as you stick to the law, it's fine."

And the result could be beneficial to your productivity, workplace environment and your bottom line. It might also save your company's reputation in an increasingly competitive business era.



Send to a friend     Print