As HR Practitioners, we have some significant and impactful responsibilities.
From selecting the best candidates for our teams to fostering company culture, and a million things in between. HR can be highly rewarding, but the fact remains that many of our challenging responsibilities put us in situations that are intimidating, frustrating, emotional and dreaded not only to us, but to our employees as well.
So what are some of those challenges that keep HR up at night? And what can pros do to do conquer them?
1. Workplace violence and outbursts
Senseless tragedies cannot be planned for. Just this fall, the depressing story of a fired UPS worker killing himself and two supervisors hit the news. Extreme workplace violence is thankfully rare, but most of us have likely experienced a hysterical or disgruntled employee. And we dread it.
via The Workplace Issues That Keep HR Professionals Up at Night.
my boss doesn’t want to hire older workers
by ALISON GREEN on AUGUST 14, 2012
A reader writes:
I recently recommended a candidate to my boss. She has 20 years worth of experience, is a Harvard MBA and personality-wise would be a great fit. As soon as I told him that she had been in the industry for 20 years, he said, “No, no way.” He is all of 33, and I’m fairly certain refusing to interview someone because they’re over the age of 40 is illegal.
Should I go to HR with this info? He’s going to end up getting hit with an EO lawsuit eventually with this info, but since I’m the only person who knows that he said this, I’m sure I’ll be targeted.
I also recently found out that I was hired only because HR intervened when he was going to hire a direct out of college candidate instead of myself (who has 10 years of experience) so it doesn’t seem like it’s an isolated incident.
Yes, you’re right that refusing to interview or hire someone because they’re 40 or older is illegal. (You can, however make decisions based on age if they’re younger than 40, so when he was reluctant to hire you, it would have been legal if you’re under 40.)
Look at hiring practices at Vitamin World and the questions asked at the end of their application process ?