Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs) conducting their own recruitment may carry higher risk of bad hiring choices than larger firms using recruitment specialists, unless they set systems in place to reference and vet prospective candidates. This is according to Rudi Kruger, general manager of LexisNexis Data Services.

“Hiring of unqualified or corrupt staff has a negative impact on all companies but can be exceptionally damaging for smaller firms who don’t have the capacity to absorb the impact of an unsuitable or unqualified employee, or one who is unscrupulous,” he said.

Kruger added that an organisation’s employees are its key asset - but can be its biggest liability too. “Recruiting staff who are ill equipped to carry out a job function can result in poor performance, financial losses and lower staff morale,” he said. “Giving unscrupulous staff who have not been correctly vetted access to confidential company information can result in misconduct or fraud which small enterprises may not able to recover from.”

With a pro-active approach, SMMEs can set policies in place to reduce their risks and ensure confidence when hiring new candidates. Kruger suggests the following tips:

Choose reliable and trustworthy channels for advertising positions
Placing of advertisements on reputable recruitment or business sites within your target demographic will generate a better response from suitable candidates than random mass media placements. “Add this list to your checklist to ensure that this is where you source candidates from in future,” says Kruger.

Create background checking policies for all hiring
Small companies should develop a screening checklist detailing the standard procedure for hiring. This will go a long way in preventing unqualified or unscrupulous candidates from being appointed. The checklist should include checking:

• Academic and matric qualifications
• ID verification
• Employment history
• Fraud listing
• Criminal record
• Credit report

Additional items could include drivers’ license or professional driving permit and bank account verification, citizenship verification, fit and proper screening, rapid personality questionnaires and where relevant a business background search.

Using a reliable screening tool like Lexis® RefCheck takes the guess work out of where to find the necessary information required to fulfil these criteria. Lexis RefCheck provides small businesses with an affordable way to perform the necessary checks on future employees and empowers them with information and facts during the critical recruitment process.  For more information, visit https://www.lexisnexis.co.za/lexisrefcheck