5 challenges employers face when looking for new employees and how to address them
Nov 2019 | Background Checks

From conducting background checks to embracing automation, here’s how to hire smarter, better and faster.

Trying to find the right talent to join your organisation can be tough. With numerous processes to adhere to and often timelines to meet, the pressure can be on to find a great candidate quickly. Hire smarter and don’t be fazed by these common challenges:

Challenge one: Knowing whether to recruit internally vs externally

When a vacancy arises, many employers immediately start the search for external candidates, without first considering who they already have within their business.

If you’re aiming to grow your workforce, gain additional knowledge and skills or improve diversity, then you may want to consider looking externally for candidates.

However, existing employees may have additional skills that aren’t currently being used; they could have recently undergone a change in circumstances meaning they’re looking for a different role; or maybe they’re in need of a fresh challenge? There are also plenty of business benefits to recruiting internally, such as the employee already being accustom to company culture and values, the process may be more time efficient and improved employee engagement by offering progression.

Whether you’re filling a vacancy internally or externally conducting initial background checks is crucial to ensure you’re hiring the right candidate.

Challenge two: Finding the right person in a timely manner

We recently carried out research with 400 HR professionals to understand their challenges in relation to recruiting new employees. The biggest challenge was finding the right person for the role, closely followed by time.1 But finding a stellar CV and ensuring the experience matches up can be a time-consuming process. Many companies don’t carry out extensive checks, citing time constraints, with 5% of our surveyed professionals saying that their pre-employment checks took more than a month to complete.1

Outsourcing your pre-employment screening creates extra capacity within internal HR teams and allows for the process to be performed quickly and efficiently, giving you all the information you need as fast as possible.

Challenge three: Conducting efficient background checks

According to our research, more than 7% of businesses don’t carry out any pre-employment checks at all when hiring new staff.1  Background checks are vital to help find the right candidate, avoid bad hires and protect your business, employees and customers. In the UK all employers, irrespective of size or sector, are required by law to check their employees have the right to work in the UK. Failure to do so can result in costly fines.

Whether you’re conducting a background check on a new or existing employee, Experian’s screening solutions offer a detailed history of your candidate. Our Right to Work Check app is a handy online tool for HR teams and hiring managers that gives peace of mind that checks are compliant with UK law.

Challenge four: Making the most of valuable resource

When surveyed only 2% of respondents said they automated the majority of their onboarding process – whereas 39% stated they didn’t automate any of it.1 When it comes to speeding up processes, reducing pressure on your HR staff and providing your candidates with a great first impression, automation is your secret weapon.

Whether you’re looking for a fully-managed or integrated service, or would prefer to process the checks yourself using our online system, we have a solution for you.

Challenge five: Impressing great candidates with swift and simple processes

The biggest challenge when recruiting new employees is finding the right person for the role. This, along with the global war for talent, means employers have to ensure they’re creating the best candidate experience possible in order to recruit and retain talent. A long and complex onboarding process can have the very opposite effect, giving a prospective employee a negative impression of your company even before their first day.

Using HR technology, such as the Experian Right to Work Check app, is a simple and effective way to streamline your onboarding process. Not only does it free up time for HR teams to focus on other elements of the journey, but it also means a simplified process for candidates.

Your pre-employment screening should be robust, quick and seamless – giving you the insight you need to inform and meet regulatory needs, as well as creating a welcoming, slick and professional feel for your candidate.

For help with making the very best decisions around your recruitment processes, visit us here.

Source: 1. Experian HR Onboarding Trends Report 2019