Keep Background Screening Costs Low But Effectiveness High

Background screening is essential for any business that hopes to maintain integrity in the marketplace. Checking for criminal records, resume accuracy, drug use, educational accomplishments, and other important factors will ensure a safe and welcome environment for both employees and customers.

This will come with a cost to your business, but this cost is well worth your peace of mind when all is said and done. Background screening isn’t something you want to skip, but if you’re afraid of the price tag, we can help you keep the costs low while keeping the effectiveness high. To accomplish this, simply follow this 3-step process to help create a budget for your company’s background screening:

Step 1: Start with a Hiring Budget

A background screening budget is not created as a standalone item. Rather, it becomes a part of your overall hiring budget. So, you want to focus your efforts there first by asking yourself these simple questions:

Do you expect your company to grow or downsize in the future?
Are federal, state, or industry regulation changes causing your hiring or screening policies to change?
Is there a hiring and background check policy in effect that could possibly predict costs?
Does your business understand the risks of its current hiring or screening policies?
Has your company been taken to court because of hiring practices or non-compliance issues?
Is the business planning to hire international employees?

Answering these questions will assist you in determining your company’s hiring budget, which will, in turn, assist you in figuring out what your background screening budget will be. This type of analysis allows you to predict whether your future costs will be increasing or decreasing, at which point you can act accordingly in regards to the screening portion of the budget.

Step 2: Calculate Turnover

Employee turnover is always a painful subject due to the additional costs incurred by an employer. Background screening is one of these included costs, so it’s important to have a good idea of what your turnover rate is likely to be for the coming year. If you’re unsure, here is a quick way to determine likely turnover at your company:

Start with the number of employees who have been replaced in the past 12 months.
Divide this number by your company’s total number of employees. This will give you the turnover rate.
You can go one step further and figure out the turnover percentage by multiplying the turnover rate by 100.

Step 3: Keep the Background Screening Costs Low

The truth is, your overall hiring budget may not allow for a robust background screening program. If this is the case, there are a few things you can do to keep costs low so that you’re able to conduct background checks as frequently and thoroughly as possible:

Save In-depth Screens for Certain Jobs — Savvy companies perform due diligence screenings on all positions, however, the more comprehensive, more expensive background checks can be utilized for more critical, higher level roles in the company. The concept of a one-size-fits-all background screen just isn’t practical.

Check for Bulk Discounts — If your company has a high turnover rate or you expect an influx of hiring for any given reason, check into bulk pricing for large numbers of background checks.

Are you trying to find a way to ensure the safety and integrity of your new hires or current employees? Whether your background screening budget is large or small, NationSearch can assist you in recommending a screening that works for your position, your budget and your peace of mind. Contact us today and we’ll work with you to determine exactly what your business needs.