- What sort of background testing should BSS conduct on its applicants?
One of the most important steps for BSS Company to take in maintaining the customer trust is to conduct a background checks on all its applicants. Many people protect their personal and confidential information at the company. People need an assurance that the employees at BSS will not access the information for their personal gain. Conducting background checks will ensure that the employees have the virtues and qualities to maintain the confidentiality needed for the job (Herbert, Heneman 2012). The company should conduct background checks in many sectors. The fact that the company needs the trust of its customers requires all checks taken to ensure that the employee is trustworthy.
One of the most important background checks for BSS to conduct is the criminal and arrest record. The company should ensure that they have the criminal records of every employee. Employees who have been involved in criminal activities in their past may pose a threat to the credibility of the company in offering credible information. The company should use various means to acquire the criminal records of a person. They may either hire investigators to give the background information of the employee or use internet sources to get the criminal record of the employee. Obtaining the criminal record of a person will help the company evaluate a person’s credibility. The company should also get background information on the person’s previous works. The information not only gives the company the experience of the recruit but also their character. They should get the reasons a person stopped working for particular companies. This information will help the company get particular traits of the employee that may raise issues on his integrity. The company should get this information through interviews and follow-ups to these specific companies.
2. Is there any information BSS should avoid obtaining for legal or EEO reasons?
BSS should avoid asking or obtaining information from their applicants that are discriminative because of EEO and legal reasons. Information regarding the applicant’s race and national origin is prohibited by the EEO. BSS should avoid asking questions on race and nationality origin because they can use the information obtained to deny the applicant a job. This is because the BSS officials might not want to employ people from a certain race and nationalities; hence, they can use the information to identify their birthplace and race. This information may result to the applicant not getting the jobs, therefore, being discriminated. BSS should avoid information on age of the applicants. Under the EEO law, a company can use information on age to discriminate applicants who do not have their desired age despite having the required skills (Fletcher, Nick 2010). Companies such as BSS can use the obtained information to deny young or old people jobs, hence the EEO providing a law to prohibit obtaining of such information.
Information on religion can be can be used by companies such as BSS, to discriminate the applicants because of their faith, therefore, they are not allowed to ask about it. BSS should also avoid asking questions on gender, weight and height of the applicant. In additional, BSS should avoid enquiries on information about other societies, lodges and clubs that a member belongs. This is because the information is personal and is not related to the company. EEO prohibits BSS and other companies from asking their applicants personal questions (Fletcher, Nick 2010). The organization's information that an applicant belong is confidential to its members and BSS has no right of assessing this information through the applicant. BSS also has no right to know the organizations that the applicant is a member.
3. How can BSS know that its background testing programs are effective?
The success of the company can only be determined by the dignity of the workers in the job. A successful background test should give the real characteristics of an employee. The company should conduct evaluations on the employees to determine whether their background testing was successful. The company should not entirely trust the background test in determining the character and integrity of the employee. The success of a good background check depends on the success of the company in getting the character of the employee.
The company may also evaluate the success of a background information program by evaluating the success in each of the stages. The first stage is test preparation. A good program should contain relevant questions that will help expose the real character of the employee. The test should be prepared accurately to capture all the aspects of the character and personality of the employee. The second stage of evaluating a background test is the administration phase. The evaluation of this phase will determine the success of people in collecting information relevant to the employee. This involves the evaluation of the success in getting accurate information about the employee. The methods used in collecting information determine the success of this phase. The other important factor to consider in the evaluation process is the validity of the evidence. The information got during the background test must be significant to the character of the employee. The information must also be credible to give the correct information about the employee.
4. In the past, BSS has used the following initial assessment methods: application blank, interviews with Stanley and other BSS managers, and a follow-up with the applicant's former employer. Beyond changes to its background-testing program, would you suggest any other alterations to BSS's initial assessment process?
The company could employ several alternative methods to help increase the coverage of the employee’s background. One of the ways to increase this coverage is by demanding two or more references. Having a big number of references will raise areas of concern for the company. It is important to seek for these areas to enable a person determine characteristics of an employee that may be hidden. From these references, one exposes some characteristics that may reveal the personality of a person. The consistence of the messages from the referees shows the true character of an employee. The company could also embark on the employment history of the employee. The employment history will help the company develop the correct impression of the employee’s character. The company should be concerned with the specific reasons the employee left certain companies. This will enable them discover the weaknesses of the employee (Goh, Brenda 2010). Employment history will also be used to judge the expected loyalty of the employee to the company. Employees who keep on moving from one job to another are likely to quit the job when an opportunity arises.
Another way of the company to ensure that they have the correct people for specific jobs is by conducting personality tests. The company can employ the services of psychologists to give tests that will expose the personality of the employees. These tests will help the company identify the personality of the employees and verify whether they have the qualities required for the job. These personality tests will hep in ensuring that the company in ensuring that the employees have the required qualities required for the job.
References
Herbert G. Heneman III,( 2012). Staffing Organization, 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin
Fletcher, Nick (2010). "BSS jumps 34% after £553m offer from Travis Perkins". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2010
Goh, Brenda (2010). "Travis Perkins keeps outlook as revenues rise". Reuters. Retrieved 14 December 2010
BSS Industrial website. (2013). The BSS Group Ltd
