Bad Apples vs Background Checks

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September 28, 2015

It doesn’t happen often but it’s hard  to see a report like this one and not feel the sting of an unnecessary black eye for the industry. Every industry has its bad apples, but not every business. Even one bad apple, while not indicative of the whole orchard, is enough to change local perception of pest management or cause severe heartburn to the business-owning employer of said apple.

The background check is a business owner’s best tool for identifying problematic employees before they jump into a uniform sporting the business’ name. Many people use them, but not everyone. Some industries require a focus on a prospective employee’s personal background more than others, but for an honest businessman or woman in a field such as pest management, it seems like doing the detective legwork would be a no-brainer. Pest management often requires entering an individual’s most private and personal realm — their home. It’s the nature of the job and it’s a responsibility that most employers know not to take lightly.

A person who might give a great interview and have a resume stocked with relevant experience likely won’t speak of past misdeeds or wear a list of past felonies and misdemeanors on his sleeve. Why on Earth would they? That leaves it to the business owner to root out any red flags before the person is put on the payroll.

Checking out a person’s personal Facebook page, while not exactly revolutionary, is a good place to start but a terrible place to end. It’s almost literally the least you can do with regard to checking someone’s background. It’s worth noting though, that some employers are uncomfortable with the idea of Facebook searching, fearing that it’s a breach of a person’s privacy. This is up for debate but the cold hard truth is, by now, most everyone who publicly posts anything about themselves online, should know it could quickly become fair game for just about anyone. And people are learning (following several highly-publicized corporate hacks) nothing is really safe from becoming public. And as the world learns, so do savvy job searchers, who are smart enough to scrub their online persona to ensure that all you’ll find is the good stuff.

So then what?

There are more background checking organizations online than you can shake a Google search at. And like everything else in the world, you pay for what you get. Sure, taking the time to do a thorough background check on all prospective employees will incur a cost, chances are the price is fairly insignificant when compared to the ways you’ll have to pay when one of your techs develops sticky fingers while placing sticky traps.

Read the news report/cautionary tale from Camden County, Mo., HERE.

What kind of background checks does your company do? Do you have any cautionary tales of your own business experience you’d like to share with the rest of the class? If so, leave a comment or write me directly at wnepper@northcoastmedia.net
-wn

 

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