It probably isn’t possible to guarantee that an employer will never make a hiring mistake. But developing and implementing a pre-employment screening process that is consistently followed will significantly reduce the risk.
There are essentially two ways to look a adopting a candidate screening process:
- It can be viewed as a critical investment in the long-term success of a company. No company is ever better than the people who are employed by it.
- It can be thought of it as nothing more than a perfunctory way for a company to protect itself. By being able to demonstrate that “something” was done prior to making a job offer, the company can reduce the risk of being sued for negligent hiring.
Obviously, the first option is the most practical way to view candidate screening. Still, many companies take the second view, and some employers ignore the process altogether. What many employers fail to realize is that by adopting the first view, they are, by default, also taking care of the second.
In other words, a good background and reference checking process will reduce the likelihood of a costly hiring mistake, on the one hand, and will on the other hand clearly demonstrate that reasonable care was exercised in the hiring process, thereby practically eliminating the possibility of negligent hiring litigation.