At the time of year when your thoughts turn to bats, blood and broomsticks, those in HR may start to reflect on the horror stories that they have experienced over the last year.
Working in the dedicated people function, a big part of HR’s remit is to ward off workplace terrors. The function is tasked with keeping people safe from demons, reassuring spooked employees and dealing with unproductive employees who turn up to work in a zombie-like state. Therefore, it is the job of HR practitioners to step in and mitigate any personnel problems.
MHR has collated three of the most haunting HR stories this Halloween – and provided tips on how to side-step these tricky situations.
Read on to find out more.
Spooky scammer alert
Earlier this year, a mailing and shipping services firm fell victim to a data scam and was attacked by ransomware which encrypted information of some of its systems and disrupted customer access to their services. Yet, it seems that this is the latest firm to be targeted in a string of high-profile business hacks.
To help HR avoid these types of scams, they need to work closely with the IT and security departments to ensure that all employees are trained on how to use emails properly. Educating staff on what to look out for and completing spot checks may be necessary to lessen the chances of being hacked. Particularly from a GDPR perspective, protecting data and making sure that it doesn’t get into the wrong hands is crucial.
Additionally, making sure that computer systems are regularly updated with the correct software will limit the risk of attacks.
Workplace ghosting
The term may have been used to describe the dating scene; when someone goes on a successful date but never hears from the other person again. And it seems that this phenomenon is creeping into the workplace too. Numerous reports have pointed towards a spike in job candidates accepting interviews or even a job offer and then disappearing off the face of the earth. This is a huge HR nightmare and severely tugs on an organisation’s resources.
To help HR fight off ghosting at work, they should try and make the recruitment process as streamlined as possible – as lengthy processes have proven to make candidates switch off. Keep candidates updated throughout each step so that they don’t lose interest. Make sure candidates feel that their time is appreciated and if they haven’t been successful, then give them some constructive feedback that they can use in future.
Masked candidates
Each time a company advertises a job, it is likely that hundreds of CVs will be sent in for one role. Therefore, it is crucial to scout out the lying candidates early on to prevent them from progressing in the recruitment process. The biggest CV lies happen when a candidate exaggerates their skillsets and experience to make them seem more appealing. One CV lie which hit headlines last year was a story about an airline pilot who was fired from his job after putting Star Wars villain Jabba the Hutt as a reference.
To ensure that these CV liars are caught out as soon as possible, HR needs to ensure that they have stringent processes in place to protect their organisation from fraud. Therefore, completing thorough reference checks and legitimising references is crucial to ensure that the right candidate is hired. Carrying out these simple checks will avoid HR getting into hot water over fraudulent hires.
