Pre-screening recruits can cut risk in the long run by weeding out dishonest staff.

Screening before you offer a job will mean you catch out dishonest applicants

Employee theft is on the rise, according to the latest Global Retail Theft Barometer figures. The study showed that more retailers are increasingly using pre-screening to reduce risks. So how does it work?

About 42 per cent of retailers pre-screen employee candidates at present, says Traci Canning, managing director of screening company Kroll Background Worldwide. “The risk analysis has traditionally been based on a classic value proposition - how much does it cost against how much do I pay,” she explains.

Laurence King, chairman of Oris Group and former head of profit protection at B&Q, introduced screening at the DIY chain more than six years ago. “I would still advocate it because it’s a more accurate way than using referencing, which has become nothing more than a paperchase,” he says.

Boots UK has been pre-screening for the past two years. All employees go through an initial online questionnaire that helps assess cultural and personal fit. Security pre-screening is carried out at the formal offer stage. “Everyone will have their references, last three years’ career history and qualifications checked. Beyond that we will check according to their role,” says Boots UK head of recruitment Paul Stretton.

Specsavers pre-screens its Guernsey and UK office staff. Candidates sign a declaration and complete an online screening questionnaire covering the past three years. Once the declaration is received screening company Vero accesses their questionnaire and takes up references.

“We do it to protect the employer and retail brands, to support our recruitment process and ensure our new recruits are right for our business and have been honest within the recruitment process,” says Specsavers HR reward and policy manager Mary Jane Seddon.

Some retailers can be put off by the cost of pre-screening but Stretton says the savings are huge. “The consequence of having someone stealing from you is much bigger than just the stock loss,” he says. “The amount of money we believe we save is four or five times what we invest.”

And basic checking can be all that is needed. “In my experience if you are checking education and employment history we have found that roughly one in three times that turns up a discrepancy,” says Canning.

“It’s not a ‘gotcha’,” says Vero Screening managing director and founder Rupert Emson. “You have to look at the report in the context of the role and when you discover discrepancies you sit down and have an adult conversation about it.”