How can employers identify someone who only took the job to fleece the company?
Some people don’t have much you can point at in their background check, but they are only looking to make a quick kill at an employer. These people may intentionally set themselves up for a workers’ comp claim. They start complaining that they’re stressed, they start sending e-mails to document that, they have a doctor who helped them with a past claim, so now they know how to do that. Then they start saying they’re feeling harassed, and then they’re asking for a severance agreement because they just can’t work there anymore. And $30,000 or $40,000 ought to be enough.
I’ve seen an instance of an employee who bragged in an e-mail that she had a doctor who would justify her claim and noted that that’s how she got the nice car she was driving — from a payment from her previous employer. To weed those people out, monitor e-mails. You are paying for the computers, software server and Internet access and have the right to monitor employee e-mail communication. That’s something you should be doing randomly on a regular basis. If you don’t, you could miss something right under your nose.
What advice would you give employers who say they don’t have the time or money to dig into a candidate’s background?
The cost of a background check is $100. It’s foolish not to spend that small amount of money to get some basic information. If you don’t, you may be kicking yourself later. If you just would have spent that $100, you would have found out about the person who has two DUIs and a felony conviction, and that there was no confirmation of the employers they said they worked for.
What can you do during an interview to help weed out the phonies?
In California, you’re not allowed to give personality tests, which could reveal criminal intent, and you’re not allowed to give lie detector tests except to those who are going to work in finance. However, you can use situational questions to get revealing answers. Ask candidates what they would do in certain situations. Those questions reveal moral character and are very helpful in discerning the values that potential employee has.
When can an outside firm help with the hiring process?
If a company has had a bad experience with someone they’ve hired, if they don’t do something differently, they’re going to continue to have bad hires. If you haven’t had success in the past, it may be time to get outside help.
S.A. “Sam” Murray is CEO of ManagEase Inc. Reach her at (714) 378-0880 or [email protected].