Ongoing Background Checks

Bolster employee and company protection with ongoing background checks 
If you have ever accepted a job with a new company, you are likely aware that a background check is standard operating procedure for the hiring process. Background checks at the pre-employment stage are nearly universal, with 96% of companies placing contingency of employment on a successful screening. Looking into a new hire’s past record only makes sense—it can help give insight into an otherwise unknown individual’s record to ensure the safety of employees, and the protection of company assets, and vulnerable populations.  
Background checks are a mainstay in the hiring process and have historically been held as a fail-safe process to vet a new employee. However useful a background check is at giving a glimpse of a candidate’s criminal record, employment history, etc., it only allows you to get a static view of the person up until that point. Unfortunately, an employee can commit a crime or have a critical license revoked after the initial background check, and this leaves your company susceptible to risks.  
So, how have advances in data technology changed the way that companies are thinking about the background screening process? What are the immediate and not-so-immediate risks of one-time background checks? And how can you get the most out of recurring background checks with TazWorks? 
 
Ongoing background checks on the rise  
With recent advances in technology, more and more organizations are adopting ongoing background screening to better understand any risks associated with current employees. As recent as a few decades ago, it was nearly impossible to perform ongoing screenings—most criminal, employment, and financial data was disparate and analog. Now, because police departments and court systems are making monumental efforts to digitize all records and the ability to perform recurring background checks is becoming more of a possibility.  
Some organizations have already begun making the foray into conducting ongoing background checks. Perhaps the most high-profile adopter to date is ride-hailing app Uber, who has already found hundreds of drivers who were deemed unfit to give rides to passengers. Additionally, the healthcare industry has done ongoing checks for years as a measure to protect patients.   
Any business can stand to benefit from ongoing background screening, but those especially invested in customer safety, protection of consumer data, and protecting sensitive company information stand to gain the greatest from implementing ongoing background checks. Organizations now need to go the extra mile to maintain safety, especially in jobs that have access to schools, facilities, hospitals, or even employees that drive company vehicles or handle company money.  
 
Risks of one-time background checks 
Organizations spend a lot of time and money hiring new employees—according to Deloitte, the average cost to search for, onboard, and ramp up a new employee is around $4,000. That’s a huge grab of available resources, and as a company, you want to do everything in your power to be able to keep those prices down.  
Oftentimes, organizations do not consider auxiliary costs and risks that may incur with the wrong hire. Most companies today either think that performing a pre-employment background check is sufficient in screening a new employee or that it simply costs too much to develop a cadence of regular background checks. Just because someone isn’t a risk at the time of hire doesn’t mean they won’t be down the road. It is all too possible that an employee could commit a legal offense or “go postal” during their employment at a company. 
The reality is, running continuous background checks is the most surefire way to increase safety and decrease the compromise of critical assets within the business. Don’t run the risk of keeping on the wrong people, ultimately costing the company money or even damaging the reputation of the organization. 
Save money and remain compliant with TazWorks recurring background checks 
As aforementioned, performing ongoing background checks can put considerable pressure on resources for an organization. It is also the responsibility of the company to ensure that the proper measures are being taken to remain compliant with security regulations. However, with the right background screening partner, these pain points can easily be alleviated and allow you to leverage the soundest method of employment security. 
TazWorks refers to ongoing monitoring as “recurring background checks” and allows its CRA clients to easily enable and configure them to be compliant and to meet their client’s needs. Recurring background checks are constantly being enhanced and expanded to meet market needs. Additionally, because TazWorks is SOC 2 compliant, there is an additional layer of security to safeguard all sensitive information that is inherent with the background screening process. Bundle all of this together with the convenience of TazWorks’ TazCloud Network, a comprehensive suite of background screening applications, business intelligence tools, data sources, and third-party integrations, it is easy to see the advantages of TazWorks background screening software solutions as the most simple, and powerful background screening platform in the industry.
The future of ongoing background screening is largely unknown, but it’s likely that employers are going to need to fill the market need and will increasingly adopt the practice to protect their assets as well as provide a secure and safe environment and not have the ‘one and done’ mentality on criminal checks. For more questions about TazWorks recurring background software screening options, contact TazWorks or visit us on our website at https://tazworks.com