The cost of hiring a wrong candidate
can adversely affect the organization’s productivity and the bottom line. A recent study revealed that over 75 percent of American companies hire the wrong person for the job because they fail to conduct a systematic pre-employment drug test before hiring the candidates. A drug assessment program requires specialized skills and thorough knowledge of the domain, therefore, an increasing number of organizations outsource the job to staffing firms and rely on them to supply trustworthy, qualified, healthy, and fitting candidates, fostering a safety culture at the workplace.

Staffing firms play a huge role in finding the right candidates, minimizing the incidence of hiring mistakes, and partnering with organizations in creating a safe work environment. Referring applicants who are addicted to alcohol or drugs can cause a serious damage to the agencies’ reputation, severely impacting their business performance. Consequently, recruitment firms are tightening the process of pre-employment drug screening to weed out applicants who are a threat to the safety of the work environment. 

Here are five ways in which drug testing is becoming an integral part of a staffing firms’ success, encouraging them to dig deeper when vetting candidates who are looking for job opportunities.

1. Enhances the Agency’s Reputation

The trust and confidence of the clients have a direct and profound impact on the reputation of an organization, enabling the firm to build a strong customer base and thrive in the competitive market. 

According to an infographic shared by CareerBuilder, organizations are two times more likely to select a staffing agency based on its reputation than the fees charged by them. Moreover, 50 percent of employers refer to their professional network for suggestions regarding the most reliable and reputed staffing agencies they can work with.

Staffing firms that conduct well-designed pre-employment drug tests using advanced drug testing supplies are sought after by organizations because employers realize the importance of a thorough drug assessment. The process enables companies to reduce the employee compensation claims and mitigates the risk of on-the-job accidents and the damages caused to the office property. 

An agency sourcing the right candidate for a job is bound to earn positive reviews on social media and through word-of-mouth publicity, attracting new clients that help build the firm’s reputation.

2. Keeps Legal Issues at Bay

With the legalization of cannabis in many states of the U.S., employers are consciously including rigorous drug testing as a part of their contract with the recruitment agencies for temporary as well as permanent staffing. 

If a staffing firm refers a candidate that is unfit for employment owing to substance abuse, the firm is liable for a breach of contract or an indemnity claim. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, the average settlement for a negligent hiring suit is about one million dollars. The pre-employment drug screening process protects hiring agencies from facing such expensive negligent hiring lawsuits.

Recruitment firms can use the drug screening tests to unearth the candidates’ past behavior and episodes of substance abuse, mitigating the risk of placing individuals who are a threat to the safety of their clients’ workplace. 

3. Provides a Competitive Edge

Offering the most stringent pre-employment drug testing programs enables staffing agencies to reach a level of expertise that exceeds the expectations of their clients. Since drug screening helps recruitment firms provide companies with the most suitable candidates, their exceptional and reliable services set them apart from their competition, offering them a unique selling point in the industry. 

4. Improves Customer Loyalty

No organization would like to hire individuals who are prone to drug or alcohol abuse. Consequently, employers look up to hiring agencies for providing them with skilled employees that will strive to achieve the organizational goals and not be a threat to the safety of the workplace. 

Regardless of whether an agency provides its client with a temporary worker or a permanent employee, the hired individual is the brand ambassador or the direct representative of the recruiting firm. Thus, sending a candidate who is involved in drug abuse can turn out to be a liability to the employer, posing a serious threat to the staffing firm’s brand equity.  

As a result, it is crucial for the staffing agency to take reasonable steps such as conducting a thorough drug screening program for their hiring pool before referring that individual, fostering a long-term relationship with the clients. When employers know that they can trust the agency for sourcing credible and skilled workforce, they will be loyal to its staffing services and will share good reviews about the recruitment firm. 

5. Boosts the Bottom Line

A methodical drug screening program enables hiring agencies to support all the components of regulated and non-regulated drug testing programs, namely previous employer Department of Transportation (DOT) reference verifications, protocol and policy development, and random testing selection and compliance reporting, employers. Consequently, an increasing number of employers depend on staffing firms to deliver the best talent in the industry. All this relates to an enhanced customer base, significantly improving the firms’ market share and the bottom line. 
Workplace and employee safety is of prime importance for employers around the globe. Consequently, companies are increasingly turning to staffing agencies to conduct drug tests on the potential candidates with the objective of reducing the occurrence of drug-abuse-related violence and crime, absenteeism, and accidents at the workplace. 

Drug tests can help staffing firms identify and refer the most fitting candidates to the employers, significantly boosting their reputation and bottom line. This article will help you appreciate how pre-employment drug testing contributes to the growth and the success of staffing firms.

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