Many businesses in the country are grappling with challenges of growth and sustainability due to little or no emphasis that is placed on background check of employees and other stakeholders.
This was the submission of the Managing Director of Background Check International (BCI), Mr. Kola Olugbodi, the pioneer of background check and screening in the Nigerian economic sphere.
Olugbodi told Bizwatchnigeria.ng on Friday that there was an urgent need to appeal and impress it upon corporate organizations and other employers of labour in the country to conduct due diligence on prospective workers before employing them, saying this appeal is considered very apt, particularly in the face of fraud and other unethical behaviours that are now prevalent in corporate organizations across the country.
The BCI managing director who spoke against the background of rampant fraud cases in the country, also urged corporate organizations to outsource the task of conducting due diligence to professional organizations that are structured and equipped to carry out the task.
According to him, many organizations crying loud over fraud and other unethical behaviours that are eroding their brand values would not have experienced such if proper background checks had been done before employing workers.
He said BCI ventured into background checking business in 2005 after realizing the enormous benefits it will offer to the country as well as corporate organizations in the area of human resources management, checking fraudulent activities, thereby contributing to the economic development of the nation in a sustainable manner.
He said: “Our superior offering of quality service delivery in educational qualification, professional certification, criminal record check, client background check, risk assessment report and several other areas is uncommon. We have been able to expose corporate organizations to the dangers of employing staff without proper verification.”
Olugbodi explained that BCI has over the years raised the bar of transparency and integrity in corporate governance and strategically positioned to chart the way forward to stem fraudulent practices that hinder organizational growth.
The BCI boss explained that negligence hiring does not only result in fraud, but may also result in bodily injuries arising from assault from a co-worker who is prone to violence, a tendency such staff would have carefully concealed away during job interviews, but which some level of background check would have exposed.
And in most cases, he explained, injured staff institute legal action, which the company end up being joined with the co-worker who unleash the violence.
“Background check has the capacity to protect the good image a corporate organization has laboured to build over the years as it helps to shut out prospective employees whose activities may be inimical to the goodwill of the company. People need to know that beyond fraud, there are other collateral damages a company could suffer that would negatively affect the accomplishment of corporate goals and mission of a corporate organization,” he added.
According to him, background check was capable of reducing staff turnover as the morally and professionally upright employees would be employed from the word go.
