Pre-employment Screening-3 WC Blog 530
Drug Screening-4
Background Investigation-4
Don’t Feel Regret Over A Hiring Mistake – Use Pre-Employment Screening
As an employer, have you ever been in a position where you had an employee who you wished you could turn back the clock on and have them undergo a pre-employment screening? This was a situation I was faced with when I had a member of my team cause me continual headaches. I was a Loss Prevention Manager and had several staff members working for me at any given time. I had an opening to fill and I wanted to give a team member from another department a second chance. The backstory is this particular employee was considered a problem performer and the manager of the department always complained about his work and attendance but never addressed the problem. After several months of listening to the same griping but no corrective action I offered to take the worker onto my team. I said he would either perform and I would develop him or if need be I would follow the proper corrective action steps and fire him. The department manager was more than happy to be rid of his problem and the employee agreed to try something new in L.P. I was cautiously optimistic I could turn him around. This brings me back to the point where I wished I could be sure a thorough drug screening and background investigation had been done before this guy was hired.
Drug screening and background investigation may be terms some of you have heard about but are not completely educated on. Drug screening is a process normally done in the controlled environment of a lab to make sure that collected samples are not tampered with. Mouth swabs, urine tests or blood testing are the most common forms of measurement and can be used for looking for a variety of illegal drugs in a person’s system. Employers may use the results of these tests to disqualify an applicant from consideration for a job. A background investigation is a look into an applicant’s personal history. Investigations may be tailored to an employer’s specific search criteria and may include criminal history checks, education and work history, credit history and prior places of residence. The information obtained by a professional investigator can reveal if an applicant has lied on their application or attempted to cover up their past. Some people move frequently to avoid creditors or law enforcement officials. Other people will lie about the level of education they have obtained or where they attended school in order to try to get a job. The key to a successful pre-employment screening is having a company that has experience in the field to conduct those screenings.
The problem I faced with my new employee was that I suspected he was coming to work under the influence of something but I never had enough evidence to require him to take a random drug test. If he was not under the influence, he could possibly have been using substances the night before and had the residual effects in his system. This employee had been hired during our seasonal employment phase and the speed with which we rushed these candidates through I did not believe a proper screening of every person could be completed (Hint: give yourself plenty of time leading up to holidays for seasonal hiring). I had started documenting conversations about my employee’s attendance and performance. I had at least one corrective action form on file for him. Then over the course of two days my problem performer no-call/no showed and a third time would be an automatic termination of employment. On the third day I received a call from the employee’s girlfriend telling me he was in jail and couldn’t call in. I stood by our policy that the employee had to call in unless they were in the hospital or incapacitated. On day four the employee called and gave me a song and dance about how he had been a passenger in a friend’s car and the friend was stopped and marijuana was found so they both went to jail. Of course the employee was totally innocent and had no knowledge of the drugs. Regardless, three no call/no shows and I was rid of my problem. I believe in trying to give people a chance to improve but this guy blew it. Had a proper background check and drug screening been done before he was hired I don’t believe he would have been working for the store in the first place.
Employers, save a lot of time and effort use Loss Prevention Systems Inc. for pre-employment screening that includes testing for drugs and a background investigation. Screen out problem performers before they can get a foot in your door.
Pre-employment screening is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
As an employer, have you ever been in a position where you had an employee who you wished you could turn back the clock on and have them undergo a pre-employment screening? This was a situation I was faced with when I had a member of my team cause me continual headaches. I was a Loss Prevention Manager and had several staff members working for me at any given time. I had an opening to fill and I wanted to give a team member from another department a second chance. The backstory is this particular employee was considered a problem performer and the manager of the department always complained about his work and attendance but never addressed the problem. After several months of listening to the same griping but no corrective action I offered to take the worker onto my team. I said he would either perform and I would develop him or if need be I would follow the proper corrective action steps and fire him. The department manager was more than happy to be rid of his problem and the employee agreed to try something new in L.P. I was cautiously optimistic I could turn him around. This brings me back to the point where I wished I could be sure a thorough drug screening and background investigation had been done before this guy was hired.
Drug screening and background investigation may be terms some of you have heard about but are not completely educated on. Drug screening is a process normally done in the controlled environment of a lab to make sure that collected samples are not tampered with. Mouth swabs, urine tests or blood testing are the most common forms of measurement and can be used for looking for a variety of illegal drugs in a person’s system. Employers may use the results of these tests to disqualify an applicant from consideration for a job. A background investigation is a look into an applicant’s personal history. Investigations may be tailored to an employer’s specific search criteria and may include criminal history checks, education and work history, credit history and prior places of residence. The information obtained by a professional investigator can reveal if an applicant has lied on their application or attempted to cover up their past. Some people move frequently to avoid creditors or law enforcement officials. Other people will lie about the level of education they have obtained or where they attended school in order to try to get a job. The key to a successful pre-employment screening is having a company that has experience in the field to conduct those screenings.
The problem I faced with my new employee was that I suspected he was coming to work under the influence of something but I never had enough evidence to require him to take a random drug test. If he was not under the influence, he could possibly have been using substances the night before and had the residual effects in his system. This employee had been hired during our seasonal employment phase and the speed with which we rushed these candidates through I did not believe a proper screening of every person could be completed (Hint: give yourself plenty of time leading up to holidays for seasonal hiring). I had started documenting conversations about my employee’s attendance and performance. I had at least one corrective action form on file for him. Then over the course of two days my problem performer no-call/no showed and a third time would be an automatic termination of employment. On the third day I received a call from the employee’s girlfriend telling me he was in jail and couldn’t call in. I stood by our policy that the employee had to call in unless they were in the hospital or incapacitated. On day four the employee called and gave me a song and dance about how he had been a passenger in a friend’s car and the friend was stopped and marijuana was found so they both went to jail. Of course the employee was totally innocent and had no knowledge of the drugs. Regardless, three no call/no shows and I was rid of my problem. I believe in trying to give people a chance to improve but this guy blew it. Had a proper background check and drug screening been done before he was hired I don’t believe he would have been working for the store in the first place.
Employers, save a lot of time and effort use Loss Prevention Systems Inc. for pre-employment screening that includes testing for drugs and a background investigation. Screen out problem performers before they can get a foot in your door.
Pre-employment screening is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
