Are you responsible for recruiting and hiring new employees in your business? If so, how do you determine which ones are being honest prior to hiring? While you can easily read a resume and perform a background check, that isn’t always enough to determine the most suitable candidate for the available position, particular when the job at hand involves money, inventory, a customer’s privacy and security Employee honesty testing can help. It is a type of employment screening that examines the integrity and honesty of a candidate, using various types of testing techniques.
About Employee Honesty Testing
Employment honesty testing, also called integrity testing, first became prevalent in the 1980s when employers were looking for a better way to judge their candidates before hiring them. Over the years, the tests have varied somewhat, with some human resource departments using their own types of tests for this purpose. Some tests are based on integrity, while others are based on personality traits.
Types of Tests
There are two main types of tests that are performed during employee honesty testing. They include the overt test and the personality trait test. Here is more information on each type of test:
1) Overt test. The overt test is a type of integrity test that is performed with paper and pencil. It asks direct questions to the applicant about things like stealing from others, their attitudes towards drug abuse, criminal history, and general honesty-type questions. It strives to uncover dishonest and undesirable traits in someone. It will not only look at the applicant’s attitude toward certain behaviors and crimes in the workplace, but also what their trust is in their fellow employees. A question might ask what they would do if they saw a co-worker stealing.
2) Personality test. The other common type of employee honesty test is the personality test. This delves into certain traits and characteristics of the applicant’s personality that might be counterproductive for proper workplace behavior. It looks at uncovering employees who might enjoy thrill seeking or, on the other hand, candidates that score high on dependability. It asks questions regarding how adventurous or sensible they are, and their thought process before making big decisions. It also looks at possible issues with socializing with others, hostility, or authority problems.
Employee Dishonesty Insurance
While these tests have a great success rate, they don’t prevent dishonest practices by your employees. This is why you should have extra protection with an employee dishonesty insurance policy. This protects against losses you experience from an employee who has stolen merchandise or office supplies, who took money from the cash register or laundered money, or who committed other crimes that hurt your business. From embezzlement of company funds, to vandalizing your property, it is a great way to protect your business.
