Friday, September 05, 2003
Letter from the President
It’s happened again. I turned on the news and yet again, another workplace shooting. This time, in Illinois. Sadly, I didn’t even bother to hear the details and sadly, this commonplace story did not even warrant running into the ground by the news media! I am sure, that if I had bothered to hear the details, the news reporter would have been interviewing neighbors and co-workers that marveled wide-eyed, “But he was such a nice, quiet guy who kept to himself! How could this have happened?” Doesn’t that always seem to be the comment people make when someone has gone off the deep end and wiped out a room full of lives? What are the odds that the shooter’s employer ran a complete background check on him? Slim to none. Maybe they checked a reference or two, but perhaps he just looked like a nice guy and a hard worker and that was enough.
More and more employers are protecting themselves by checking the prospective employees prior to hiring them. One of our customers said, “Well, even if the boss balks at the money we spend on checking every applicant each month, we have been told by our insurance carrier that we are saving much more money and aggravation than we spend by weeding out questionable applicants up front.” One VP of a company we work for insisted that the Human Resources Manager “push the applicant through” without a background check, as he was a good friend and the VP would vouch for him. Imagine the VP’s surprise when the HR Manager ignored his request and ran the applicant anyway and he came back as a repeat convicted shoplifter! Another large company could not believe the serious criminal record we found on a middle management applicant they were certain was above reproach. They said, “But he seems like such a nice guy.” Sound familiar? These are not a few isolated incidents, but rather a daily occurance.
An employer may think, “So what if this prospective employee has a minor drug conviction or a DUI? She is qualified for the job!” Of course, people do make mistakes and maybe that qualified applicant has a smudge on her record – but, as an employer, wouldn’t you want to know what that applicant’s background is so that you can make an informed hiring decision?
The truth is, if every employer invested a little money – it’s not as much as you would think, for some peace of mind – they would find that the quality of employee would enrich their business beyond measure. The businesses that use our Pre-employment Screening have reported that the quality of their employees has improved because they are hiring people who stay in their jobs longer, have a significant reduction in employee theft and false workers’ compensation insurance claims. And maybe, just maybe, everyone is a little happier, feels a little more secure and works a little harder knowing that the fellow or lady next to them has had a complete background check.
Kristen Hamilton
President,
Research Etc., Inc.
It’s happened again. I turned on the news and yet again, another workplace shooting. This time, in Illinois. Sadly, I didn’t even bother to hear the details and sadly, this commonplace story did not even warrant running into the ground by the news media! I am sure, that if I had bothered to hear the details, the news reporter would have been interviewing neighbors and co-workers that marveled wide-eyed, “But he was such a nice, quiet guy who kept to himself! How could this have happened?” Doesn’t that always seem to be the comment people make when someone has gone off the deep end and wiped out a room full of lives? What are the odds that the shooter’s employer ran a complete background check on him? Slim to none. Maybe they checked a reference or two, but perhaps he just looked like a nice guy and a hard worker and that was enough.
More and more employers are protecting themselves by checking the prospective employees prior to hiring them. One of our customers said, “Well, even if the boss balks at the money we spend on checking every applicant each month, we have been told by our insurance carrier that we are saving much more money and aggravation than we spend by weeding out questionable applicants up front.” One VP of a company we work for insisted that the Human Resources Manager “push the applicant through” without a background check, as he was a good friend and the VP would vouch for him. Imagine the VP’s surprise when the HR Manager ignored his request and ran the applicant anyway and he came back as a repeat convicted shoplifter! Another large company could not believe the serious criminal record we found on a middle management applicant they were certain was above reproach. They said, “But he seems like such a nice guy.” Sound familiar? These are not a few isolated incidents, but rather a daily occurance.
An employer may think, “So what if this prospective employee has a minor drug conviction or a DUI? She is qualified for the job!” Of course, people do make mistakes and maybe that qualified applicant has a smudge on her record – but, as an employer, wouldn’t you want to know what that applicant’s background is so that you can make an informed hiring decision?
The truth is, if every employer invested a little money – it’s not as much as you would think, for some peace of mind – they would find that the quality of employee would enrich their business beyond measure. The businesses that use our Pre-employment Screening have reported that the quality of their employees has improved because they are hiring people who stay in their jobs longer, have a significant reduction in employee theft and false workers’ compensation insurance claims. And maybe, just maybe, everyone is a little happier, feels a little more secure and works a little harder knowing that the fellow or lady next to them has had a complete background check.
Kristen Hamilton
President,
Research Etc., Inc.
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
Welcome!
Today we at Research Etc Inc decided to better serve our website visitors and the web community at large by providing a daily journal (many already know them as blogs!) to keep everyone up to date with our current projects and plans.
A heat wave still grips Arizona. Phoenix and many other areas of our state are under a heat advisory. Staying close to our computers and manning our phones, we decided to plan out September's activities at our office.
We hope you enjoyed your Labor Day weekend, now it's time to start this month off with some news and reviews.
Rumors of site redesign are floating around the office. Wait and see what comes about. Any ideas and suggestions are welcome! Contact us at research@researchetcinc.com or call us toll free at 1-800-992-3571.
News
No new news to report! We are still working on interactive content for our website. Monthly newsletters are forthcoming! If you have any adoption search news to report, please contact us and we will post it here in the meantime. If you are interested in signing up with our future newsletters, call (or e-mail us at 1-800-992-3571 and we'll put you on our list of contacts. Research Etc Inc, as licensed private investigators, are naturally concerned about privacy so we will never release your e-mail or vital information to a third party. We get enough spam as it is, we would never wish it on anyone else!
Reviews and Recommendations
The Importance of Being Earnest has a surprising ending that may interest adoption searchers and adoptees. An Oscar Wilde play made into a movie, this romantic comedy is an enjoyable watch. Especially when avoiding 105 degree weather!
We hope you enjoyed our blog! This is our first-ever post, and we hope to include more content over the next few days. For more information about our company and our services, please visit our website at www.researchetcinc.com
Today we at Research Etc Inc decided to better serve our website visitors and the web community at large by providing a daily journal (many already know them as blogs!) to keep everyone up to date with our current projects and plans.
A heat wave still grips Arizona. Phoenix and many other areas of our state are under a heat advisory. Staying close to our computers and manning our phones, we decided to plan out September's activities at our office.
We hope you enjoyed your Labor Day weekend, now it's time to start this month off with some news and reviews.
Rumors of site redesign are floating around the office. Wait and see what comes about. Any ideas and suggestions are welcome! Contact us at research@researchetcinc.com or call us toll free at 1-800-992-3571.
News
No new news to report! We are still working on interactive content for our website. Monthly newsletters are forthcoming! If you have any adoption search news to report, please contact us and we will post it here in the meantime. If you are interested in signing up with our future newsletters, call (or e-mail us at 1-800-992-3571 and we'll put you on our list of contacts. Research Etc Inc, as licensed private investigators, are naturally concerned about privacy so we will never release your e-mail or vital information to a third party. We get enough spam as it is, we would never wish it on anyone else!
Reviews and Recommendations
The Importance of Being Earnest has a surprising ending that may interest adoption searchers and adoptees. An Oscar Wilde play made into a movie, this romantic comedy is an enjoyable watch. Especially when avoiding 105 degree weather!
We hope you enjoyed our blog! This is our first-ever post, and we hope to include more content over the next few days. For more information about our company and our services, please visit our website at www.researchetcinc.com
