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Poor recruitment choices cost companies dear. The wasted investment in your new employee, their failure to meet your objectives, the setback of losing time by having to start again and find a replacement. It all adds up, which is why many companies are implementing increasingly rigorous interview techniques to appoint the right candidate.
Something I'm pleased to observe is the emergence of driver profiling as part of that recruitment process. This is becoming increasingly common for roles that involve a lot of driving, for example sales reps, delivery drivers, field engineers etc because another risk that companies are trying to mitigate against is bringing on board a new employee who will cost the earth in vehicle damage.
Quite simply, if you've got a job role to fill you may as well employ someone who is low risk when it comes to their driving abilities.
But is it really necessary to ask someone to be risk assessed as part of their interview?
Let's look at it this way. If you employ someone who turns out to be a bad employee because of a poor attitude towards your customers, repeated absenteeism, disruptive behaviour and not meeting their objectives, it could be a painful process to resolve.
Employing a driver who has a fatal crash will cost you a whole lot more.
The consequences will certainly involve a police and maybe also a HSE investigation. Depending on the circumstances, this may be conducted with the same vigour as a murder investigation. You can expect officers to be asking to see driver risk assessments, training records, vehicle maintenance records, delivery schedules etc.
Following the investigation you could expect a court case and if found guilty a very hefty fine and/or a prison sentence for the Directors. All because you didn't follow a careful risk management process, and employed someone who was an accident waiting to happen.
So before you employ anyone who has to drive as part of their job, and I would include in this any drivers of a company provided or grey fleet vehicle, check their driving licence and ask them to complete an online driver profiling assessment so that you know their risk profile before deciding to appoint them.
These provide an accurate assessment of the person's attitude and driving ability, most systems can be set-up quickly and the small investment of a few pounds per assessment could give you very long-term dividends indeed.
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