Before you confirm an offer on a house, you get a building inspection report, when you’re buying a car, the necessary checks are carried out to make sure it’s roadworthy and its history checks out. With significant investments of this type it’s critical to ensure you know what you’re getting. The same goes when you invest in a new hire for your business.

When it comes to employing people to work for your business, it should be routine practice to include background checks in your recruitment process. It’s a tight employment market in Waikato at the moment, and yes, time is of the essence when you’ve found a great candidate. But background checks should never be skipped.

The candidate’s personality may have shone through in the interview, they could have shared perfect examples of work they’d done in previous roles. But we all know the saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, and as much as you’d like to intrinsically trust the person that seems to fit the bill, it’s a matter of due diligence. If something happens down the track, getting it wrong can be very costly to your business.

There are a variety of background checks that can be carried out depending on the position being recruited for. They can include aptitude testing and other checks as required such as criminal, insolvency, medical checks, visa and ACC checks, and tests for illegal substances. Some checks are a legal requirement depending on the position. And of course, reference checks, which are a vital part of any recruitment process.

Reference checks are an important tool to assist in the selection of the right candidate and fit for your company. They can help you to understand how the candidate learns, what their areas of development are, and how they like to be lead/managed. It’s also important to tailor questions to the referees in ways to help validate any competency-based examples a candidate has provided. And the majority of times, it all checks out.

At Asset Recruitment we undertake thorough background checks, and tailor our recruitment process to include any legally required or specific checks required outside of our robust standard process. We’re also able to unbundle our various recruitment services to suit your situation. We can take care of anything from sitting on interview panels, conducting reference and insolvency checks, drug testing or skills testing. We’re here to be as involved as you need us to be in your recruitment process.

So, when you’re investing in a new hire for your business. Do the checks. Do the due diligence. Have peace of mind. Then look forward to welcoming them to your business.

This article first appeared in the Waikato Business News, November/December 2019.