Winning Workplaces

I was reminded of all the tools at small business' disposal that are often essential to screen for problem employees when I came across this article from the latest issue of Professional Carwashing & Detailing. (One of Winning Workplaces' 2009 Top Small Workplaces is a carwash based in Indiana.)

Attorney Lester Rosen lists the following as screening measures that businesses in this industry should take to avoid needing to spend more down the road in recruiting and retraining – which can apply to firms in any industry:

Screening for criminal records, often outsourced to qualified firms
Social security number traces
Driving record traces
Checking federal and/or state civil records
Resume verification, including contacting past employers

These are all important in today's recruiting environment where, as Rosen shares, as many as 30% of resumes contain falsified information. But one measure that costs nothing more than time may be your most effective one.

Many of the small businesses that Winning Workplaces has named as Winners and Finalists of our Top Small Workplaces award use their small size to their advantage at a pivotal moment in recruiting – when the final decision needs to be made on a job candidate from the short list after skills tests are completed and multiple hiring interviews have been conducted.

For example, as Bailard Inc. CEO Peter Hill told me in an interview I did with him last week for our upcoming Success Story on the 2009 Top Small Workplace, they have a hiring committee made up of employees from all areas of the company. He said that all committee members must be in agreement on a candidate before an offer is made. One "Nay" vote and the process slows until everyone eventually comes together around the right person for Bailard's workplace culture of communications team building.

This, of course, defines the first part of the recruiting mantra I've mentioned before, "Hire slow, fire fast."

Do you require a unanimous team decision before making an offer in your organization? What other employee retention tips do you recommend?