handshake
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin

How Re-emerging Workplace Relies on Tech-Heavy Hiring Processes

From start-ups to billion-dollar companies, human resource (HR) professionals & hiring managers understand the need to build & maintain long-lasting relationships with employees – professional affiliations that are viewed as mutually beneficial for each.

How Re-emerging Workplace Relies on Tech-Heavy Hiring Processes

Well-managed employees who have been appropriately vetted in the hiring process tend to be happy, often a company’s most essential and fundamental asset.

Human resource professionals across businesses and economic sectors have certainly kept pace with the many innovative and remarkable technological advances in recent history. However, the unexpected business-as-usual disruption caused by COVID-19 has accelerated the need to digitize traditional hiring processes.

A re-emerging, post-pandemic workplace will need to develop seamless, electronic pre-employment processes, including the important function of verifying an applicant’s employment verification, to remain competitive and to keep the business sufficiently protected.

The modern business world now mandates that companies routinize electronic pre-employment hiring processes for two primary purposes –

Join Our Small Business Community

Get the latest news, resources and tips to help you and your small business succeed.

  • To cut costs by implementing efficiencies offered by technological innovations.
  • To protect the company by investigating and checking the background (and integrity) of potential new hires.

Both of these objectives are equally important as studies over the past decade indicate that many job applicants tend to embellish (or are less than truthful) regarding information disclosed on a job application.

CNBC references an industry survey (2020) that reveals more than ¾ of job applicants admitted to misrepresenting themselves in some way during the hiring process.

Uncover the Truth with the Use of an Employment Verification

The pandemic’s arrival caused a spike in the United States’ unemployment rate (to 14%+ Q1 & Q2 of 2020) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS.)

Higher unemployment increases competitiveness across job markets. As jobs become more competitive, applicants are simply more apt to modify (or hide) specific aspects of their background in hopes of creating a more appealing resume to better their chances of being selected for the job.

Often, job applicants modify their professional and personal information in ways that a trained HR individual can quickly identify. However, in an age of rampant fraud, it has become even more important to verify a job application’s contents and an applicant’s work history through a quick, easy-to-use digitized employment verification process.

The reality is that if an applicant modifies or embellishes their work history, they have put forth information that may impact their professional experience and thus their ability to succeed in filling the open job position in question.

If an unqualified applicant is hired for the available job, eventually, the applicant’s inabilities will become transparent, and the position will have to be filled with a more qualified individual – an additional expense that eats away at company profits.

The CNBC survey noted above includes these interesting job applicant responses regarding misrepresenting themselves on a job application –

  • About half of the survey’s respondents indicated they modified the job’s length to avoid listing another employer during that time slot.
  • About 40% of the respondents listed a previous job title as a director when their actual title was a manager or an equivalent position.

The Employment Verification – Be Certain the Applicant is Truthful

Employment verification is an essential tool for HR professionals. It allows for those tasked with hiring quality employees to determine if any inconsistencies exist between the data disclosed by an applicant on the employment application and that of the applicant’s actual employment history.

Many states have developed laws that determine what information can be released by employers; however, it is relevant to note that the Privacy Act of 1974 prohibits employers from disclosing identifiable information (on a personal level).

Employing organizations often establish their own rules. In general, this type of data regarding an applicant’s work history is generally released–

  • If the job applicant has been employed by the business listed on the application.
  • Dates of employment & the reason for termination/separation, where allowed by law.
  • Skills and qualifications.
  • Job Title.
  • Salary history, where allowed by law.
  • Professional conduct or disciplinary actions, or any other work-related data.

The Take-away

Choosing to routinely use an employment verification as a part of a business’s employment screening/hiring process is prudent as it allows for companies to make qualified hiring decisions based on data that has been checked for its accuracy and integrity.

Ultimately, an employment verification helps companies ensure it hires the most suitable and trustworthy candidates for job openings.

___________________________________________________________________________

Some other articles you might find of interest:

Make your business rock with these business plan writing skills:

Startup’s Guide to Write a Business Plan

Would you like to know how investors value a startup?

How Do Investors Value a Startup?

Join Our Small Business Community

Get the latest news, resources and tips to help you and your small business succeed.

RECENT POST