Don’t leave your reputation to chance: If the Police can make a bad hire, so can you

Police forces across the UK are responsible for the prevention and detection of crime, and also for the maintenance of public order. They are accountable for the safeguarding of civilised society as we know it, and it is a hugely important role within the community. It is because of this that the police in the UK adopt a very in-depth background screening process before someone can become part of the force. Despite how thorough this procedure is, there can still be personnel that pass the checks, but go on to portray a negative representation of the force that we rely on so much later in their careers. It is this that stresses the importance of background checks for all businesses and keeping checks continually updated. If problems such as this can arise for the police background screening process, imagine what potential damage could be caused with no checks in place at all.

One recent case, which highlighted the need to keep this stance at all times, is that of PC Graham Wise. Unfortunately, he was sacked for gross misconduct after he was caught sending abusive tweets to celebrities from a personal Twitter account, and also sharing opinions on members of the public featured in the TV programme ‘Benefits Street’.

The expression of his view that the town featured on the programme should be bulldozed ‘preferably with the majority of the people still inside it’ was seen to be particularly inflammatory considering that PC Wise had also served on duty within that particular area during his career.

Following further investigation, it also became evident that the police officer had been abusing his position by using the police database to look up information on his old school friends and check if they had any convictions. A subsequent court hearing also heard that the officer had mental health issues and was currently undergoing treatment. Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Warren Shepheard said this behaviour “…tarnishes the reputation of our wider workforce.”, which of course is something any organisation should be looking to avoid.

The Police in the UK has an extremely thorough internal screening process, and this ensures that every officer at the time of employment is suitable for the job role, and has done nothing in the past that could put their capability in doubt.  The organistaion has developed over time one of the most rigorous screening procedures that potential employees must go through, and yet incidents such as this can still occur. It is then a genuine concern that some organisations do not conduct their own background checks despite hearing these horror stories, and as a result knowingly put their hard earned reputation in the hands of people they really know nothing about, essentially strangers.

Of course it is not necessary to have the same level of screening as the police for most industries. However, depending on the nature of the business and level of screening required, companies can get a basic, standard or enhanced screening check put in place as part of their recruitment process. Screening can provide you with information about any potential criminal history and can also furnish you with referencing information from previous job roles. This can allow for faster recruitment decisions to be made, reduce hiring risks with 53% of applications containing inaccurate information, reduce staff turnover and ensure that you provide a safe working environment. Failing to introduce a pre-employment screening process can result in negligent recruitment decisions. This in turns costs businesses millions of pounds each year in rectifying these errors, with each bad hire estimated to cost £13,799.

Another useful service for businesses no matter what sector they operate in is the DBS Update Service, which is a cost effective way to ensure that criminal records of your employees are constantly kept up to date so that you always have the most relevant information to hand. It can give you peace of mind so that you know the people representing both you and your brand are doing so correctly, and the knowledge that you have done everything in your power to ensure your brand maintains that good reputation that you have worked so hard to build. For £11 per person per year, this is a very small cost in comparison to the damage that could be done if you do not have this information.

At CBS we provide a variety of screening packages that can be tailored based on a specific client requirements. Our experienced team can give you guidance on the best screening package to meet your business needs, and also help you to translate the data so that you can make educated and informed hiring decisions, instead of taking unnecessary risks.

If you would like to discuss any background screening enquiries, you can contact a member of our team by calling us on: 0144 799 900 or email us at: info@cbscreening.co.uk.