背景筛选曾经是主要由大型组织进行的手动且耗时的过程。然而，随着经济实惠、用户友好和合规驱动的按需筛选解决方案的出现，越来越多的小企业能够有效地利用背景筛选来降低招聘风险并提高招聘质量。
为了更好地了解小型企业进行背景审查的方式和原因，观火 对所有主要行业的 600 多家小型企业进行了调查。由此产生的2011 年小型企业聚焦揭示了小型企业帮助降低风险和提高招聘质量的四个基本最佳实践：
1. 写
下来 书面的背景筛查政策是成功筛查计划的支柱。根据小型企业聚焦，29% 的小型企业雇主计划在 2012 年制定就业筛查政策，另有 19% 计划起草一项专门针对毒品、酒精和健康筛查的政策。
背景调查政策有助于在发生歧视索赔或监管审计时保护您的组织。该政策还应为人力资源人员制定明确的背景筛选程序。
在政策中，您的组织可能会描述可能针对不同职位进行的员工背景调查以及如何评估筛选结果以做出招聘决定。为了帮助降低潜在歧视索赔的风险，最佳做法是指定哪些角色或职位可能需要额外的背景调查。
例如，涉及财务责任的职位可能需要进行信用检查，而行政角色可能不需要。为帮助确保合规，请始终让律师审查您的背景筛选政策。
2. 通过犯罪背景调查帮助降低风险
根据 2011 年小型企业聚焦报告，88% 的小型企业要求将犯罪背景调查作为背景筛选过程的一部分。但是，根据所进行的犯罪背景调查的类型，雇主仍可能面临风险。
虽然检查国家犯罪数据库的组织可以访问范围广泛的犯罪记录历史，但由于在县或州一级发生犯罪之间存在时间差，因此这些数据并不全面，并且可能不是最新的，以及何时向国家数据库报告。
为帮助确保更全面地覆盖犯罪记录，除全国背景调查外，组织还可以考虑在申请人居住、工作和教育的县及周边地区的法院进行犯罪背景调查。
还建议组织对正式工人和临时工同时使用职前背景调查和持续的犯罪记录调查。
3. 验证最常见的伪造信息
发现包含有关经验、教育和执行基本工作职能的能力的彻头彻尾谎言的应用程序并不少见。如果不核实申请人的就业和教育历史、机动车记录甚至信用历史，组织可能对可能对招聘决定产生重大影响的关键危险信号或错误信息视而不见。
检查工作和教育历史有助于确保申请人确实满足您的工作要求。对于涉及驾驶或设备操作的职位，机动车辆检查可能有助于提高工作场所安全并降低责任风险。
4. 定期重新评估
根据小型企业聚焦，2012 年，44% 的小型企业受访者计划审查其员工筛选标准，另有 15% 计划评估其非员工筛选标准。这意味着超过一半的小企业没有定期评估他们的员工筛选标准，四分之三以上的小企业没有审查他们的临时工筛选标准。
随着行业、州和联邦法规的不断变化，不重新评估筛选实践的组织可能面临更大的合规和法律风险。
小型企业的最佳做法是至少每年对其背景筛选政策和计划进行自我审核。组织还应监控可能影响其招聘流程的行业法规和工人资格立法的变化。
通过审查这四种最佳背景调查实践，小型企业可以帮助降低风险并提高整体招聘质量。
Background filtering was once a manual and time-consuming process performed primarily by large organizations. However, with the advent of affordable, user-friendly, and compliance driven on-demand screening solutions, more and more small businesses are able to effectively leverage background screening to reduce hiring risk and improve hiring quality.
To better understand how and why small businesses conduct background checks, Firewatch surveyed more than 600 small businesses across all major industries. The resulting 2011 Small Business Focus reveals four basic best practices that small businesses can use to help reduce risk and improve hiring quality:
1. Write
A written background screening policy is the backbone of a successful screening program. According to Small Business Focus, 29 percent of small business employers plan to develop an employment screening policy in 2012, and another 19 percent plan to draft a policy specifically targeting drug, alcohol and health screening.
Background check policies help protect your organization against discrimination claims or regulatory audits. The policy should also establish clear background screening procedures for human resources personnel.
In the policy, your organization may describe the employee background checks that may be conducted for different positions and how the screening results will be evaluated to make hiring decisions. To help reduce the risk of potential discrimination claims, it is best practice to specify which roles or positions may require additional background checks.
For example, positions involving financial responsibility may require credit checks, while administrative roles may not. To help ensure compliance, always have your background screening policy reviewed by an attorney.
2. Help reduce risk through criminal background checks
According to the 2011 Small Business Focus Report, 88 percent of small businesses require criminal background checks as part of the background screening process. But employers can still be at risk, depending on the type of criminal background check conducted.
While organizations that check the national crime database have access to a wide range of crime record histories, the data is not comprehensive and may not be up to date because of the time lag between crimes occurring at the county or state level and when they are reported to the national database.
To help ensure more comprehensive coverage of criminal records, in addition to national background checks, organizations may consider conducting criminal background checks at courts in and around the county where the applicant lives, works and educates.
It is also recommended that both pre-employment background checks and ongoing criminal record checks be organized for regular and temporary workers.
3. Verify the most common forged information
It's not uncommon to find applications that contain outright lies about experience, education, and ability to perform basic job functions. Without verifying an applicant's employment and education history, motor vehicle history, or even credit history, organizations can turn a blind eye to key red flags or misinformation that can have a significant impact on hiring decisions.
Checking work and education history can help ensure that the applicant really meets your job requirements. For positions involving driving or the operation of equipment, motor vehicle inspections may help improve workplace safety and reduce liability risks.
4. Reevaluate regularly
According to Small Business Focus, 44% of small business respondents plan to review their employee screening criteria in 2012, and another 15% plan to review their non-employee screening criteria. This means that more than half of small businesses do not regularly review their screening criteria for employees, and more than three-quarters do not review their screening criteria for temporary workers.
As industry, state and federal regulations continue to change, organizations that do not re-evaluate screening practices may face greater compliance and legal risks.
The best practice for small businesses is to self-review their background screening policies and programs at least annually. Organizations should also monitor changes in industry regulations and worker qualification legislation that may affect their recruitment processes.
By reviewing these four best background check practices, small businesses can help reduce risk and improve the overall quality of hiring.
