Desperate Times Call for Prudent Measures
While it may be a long time before we return to the “normal” hiring practices we followed just a month ago, continuing prudent, safe regimens, including thorough background checks for all new hires and ongoing monitoring for current staff, remain just as important and just as necessary.
If there’s a silver lining, COVID-19 has created significant hiring opportunities in myriad fields. The candidate pool is now brimming with talent who have been furloughed or laid off, and a great many companies have had to significantly increase hiring to meet the demand created by the shift in the public’s buying methods and need for specific products.
Industries as diverse as finance, pharmaceuticals, groceries, technology, and more have had to shift into overdrive to meet these demands. And their needs are producing a ripple effect that touches and creates a hiring need by their vendors and suppliers.
Yet caution and temperance remain for all organizations that have accelerated their hiring. Conducting background checks remains as critical as it always has been.
Employers may be questioning how this change comes about, what segments of business is it affecting, and if it is a transient response or a permanent shift? Candidates may wonder who is hiring, and what kinds of jobs are available? Most importantly, all players in the hiring space should understand how background checks will help keep companies requiring fast hiring safe.
We’ve changed how we purchase goods
The far-reaching effects of COVID-19 – perhaps they could be called side effects – are reshaping many aspects of our lives. We used to shop at retail stores regularly and comfortably but, with sheltering in place in effect in numerous cities and states, online shopping has gone through the roof. Everything from wine to furniture to meals are being ordered online and delivered to the front door. This new paradigm is creating demand for personnel in multiple fields, creating hiring opportunities not only for the retailers, but the manufacturers and purveyors supplying them. And they need to fill these positions fast.
Which businesses are hiring?
Opportunities are being created in unlikely as well as obvious places. And as these companies augment their staffing, they will need their suppliers, vendors, and other suppliers to keep pace and ramp up. This strong ripple effect is already permeating multiple industries. According to an article in The Muse dated April 6:
Kroger, the largest supermarket in the U.S. by revenue, is hiring retail clerks in stores throughout the country
Health technology giant Phillips needs engineers, mechanics, sales managers, laborers, and many other types of employees at locations across America
Instacart, a North American leader in online grocery and one of the fastest-growing companies in e-commerce, has plans to bring on an additional 300,000 full-service shoppers to support cities nationwide
Intuit, Wells Fargo Bank, and many other financial services have adapted or bolstered their online model to continue serving customers
Integral Ad Science is hiring personnel to help its customers better capture consumer attention, which has risen since more people are spending even more time online
Spectrum broadband services need engineers and technicians to address the sudden shift in the volume of employees who now work from home and get virtually all their entertainment from online content providers
These and many more companies are hiring and want to hire quickly. When recruiting new personnel, haste increases the potential for loss when hiring unsystematically. New employees — and even long-time employees — may pose a risk to an employer. This includes temporary, part-time, and seasonal workers who may have the same access to vital corporate information as permanent, full-time staff. The risk of financial, informational, and brand reputational loss is more than offset by the nominal cost and short time most background checks take.
Organizations put themselves in potential jeopardy when they abbreviate the hiring process and circumvent their duty to ensure employees do not pose a threat to the organization, its employees, and its customers. As we revealed in our white paper, “No Detours: Why Background Check Shortcuts Can Backfire,” recruiters and hiring managers under pressure to rapidly supplement staff may sometimes be too eager to follow the shortest route on the map. Organizations taking shortcuts learn the hard way that hiring the wrong person brings serious consequences such as reputational harm, a loss of faith by their customers, and stock prices that can spiral into freefall.
Advances in background screening solutions, such as those employed by HireRight, have made screenings better and easier for both the employer and the candidate. Criminal and civil records checks, financial reviews, drug/alcohol screenings have been augmented by fingerprinting derived criminal history checks, analysis of social media profiles, ongoing monitoring, and more. It’s never been easier to obtain a 3D profile of all your job candidates.
While it may be a long time before we return to the “normal” hiring practices we followed just a month ago, continuing prudent, safe regimens, including thorough background checks for all new hires and ongoing monitoring for current staff, remain just as important and just as necessary. Some things must not change.
Release Date: April 27, 2020
HireRight
HireRight is a leading provider of on-demand employment background checks, drug and health screening, and electronic Form I-9 and E-Verify solutions that help employers automate, manage and control background screening and related programs.