Atlanta-based background and identity screening firm First Advantage's summer poll of 800 adult employees in the US, 806 adults in the UK and 1,275 adults in the APAC region showed 82 per cent thought background-checking was a good idea.
Just under half of respondents (44 per cent) said background-checking staff and candidates raised the credibility of the organisation, while the same number said they believed background checks made their colleagues and the organisation itself more trustworthy, as well as making them feel physically safer at work (42 per cent).
Over a quarter (28 per cent) reported they were less concerned about theft in the workplace if their employer conducted background checks on colleagues.
Another part of the survey revealed nearly a fourth of job candidates (23 per cent) admitted to exaggerating work experience or qualifications on a CV or in an interview in order to secure a position... First Advantage's running discrepancy rate on CV anomalies was put at 46 per cent in the US, 23 per cent in Britain and 21 per cent in Asia-Pac.
Key areas of concern for people during a job screening were listed as the face-to-face interview, the first day on the job, agreeing a salary and updating their CV ... background screening ranked fifth, followed by being drug-tested.
While employers are generally held to appreciate the role background checking plays in protecting their organisations, the level of support shown by the public in the international consumer sentiment survey shows they too value the benefits that background checks can provide in terms of ensuring a safer, more credible working environment, the poll's organisers said.
Out of all countries, the US remains the market-leader in conducting background checks on staff...
In the survey, 82 percent of US respondents reporting having gone through a background check at some point, compared to just 61 per cent in the UK and 49 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region. Within the Asia-Pac area, only 18 per cent of consumers in Japan said they had ever been checked.
Finally, when asked how respondents would feel about going to work alongside convicted criminals; a third said they didn't mind, a quarter said they would feel uncomfortable and just under one in 10 said they would not work with them.
