According to a recent survey from an online payroll provider as reported by Occupational Health & Safety, three out of four small business owners say they have hired at least one employee they later wished they had not, and more than one in ten (12 percent) of small business respondents indicate the hiring mistake resulted in a significant financial loss of over $10,000.

The survey reveals a growing trend in hiring mistakes caused by the difficult economic times which have placed many eager and competitive candidates into the job market. While businesses of all sizes are seeing more applicants lying on résumés or exaggerating skills in order to find work, small business owners in particular must be vigilant when hiring new employees in a bad economy.

According to the survey results, many small business owners are overlooking critical steps that can reduce the likelihood of a hiring mistake, the most of important of which is the pre-employment background check. Bad hiring decisions often result from a failure to accurately assess an employee's personality, character, and skills – information that can be uncovered during a background check.

By ignoring background checks and relying on “gut feelings” to determine if the candidate is qualified, business owners risk losing time and money on the recruitment and training of bad hires – and on the people needed to replace them – instead of generating revenue for the business.

Small businesses also cannot blame hiring errors and a lack of background checks on time constraints. Whatever time or money is spent on proper background check procedures will help save more time and money later if a person hired too quickly steals from the company and has to be fired and replaced.

Small business owners have less time and money to waste than their larger competitors. The best way to avoid making a bad hire is to conduct a background check, a proven and objective screening method that includes:

• Background Checks: They ensure that the applicants hired are who they claim to be, and not criminals, sex offenders, or drunk drivers.
• Drug Screening: Experts in toxicology research state that 75 percent of illegal drug users are employed, and many work for a small business.
• Resume Validation: According to Human Resources studies, nearly half of all small business job applicants submit résumés with false information.

For small business owners especially, the economic strain of making a hiring mistake due to a missed background check can be a huge burden on the company. These hiring mistakes can be reduced or avoided altogether by implementing proper precautionary measures such as background checks.

Pre-Employ.com – a leading background check and employment services provider for Fortune 1000 companies – also offers flexible and cost-effect background check solutions for any small business. For more information on Pre-Employ.com’s background check services for small businesses, visit www.pre-employ.com, email info@pre-employ.com, or call 1-800-300-1821.

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