“Unbending the boomerang”

Out of all applicants who showed themselves up at a final selection interview for the position of Finance Manager in a premier corporate, it was she who managed most - to convince the selection panel. Her pleasant outlook, the formal qualifications and her hands-on experience composed on paper - perfectly met the criteria for selection and thus a clear mandate for enlistment as well.

She began her tour of duty in the new employment setting and soon became a character that everyone loved to associate with. She was very friendly and helpful. There were not many red tapes with her way of work and that’s exactly what the company staff dreamed for. The controls exercised by her predecessor was critiqued by many of them by making comparisons with this friendly manager. She is a performance model for warm and fast service – was the shared perspective of the staff in general.

Accounting discrepancy
Time passed by – and everything was seemingly going smooth. One day, in a routine verification executed by the Internal Audit Division, it transpired an accounting discrepancy in the financial division that runs in to few millions. Rolling in doubts began to snow-ball and virtually everyone that mattered was in suspense. The management stood tensed up - under nail biting pressure to determine the cause for the mystery loss. A fraud is detected alright - but how it was done and who did it were the questions on fire. The Company Security Division was then called upon to initiate the Investigation with a shadow support of the Internal Audit Division. The smiling Finance Manager was extra - keen to support the Investigators to pick their clues – and she in fact was ‘ the least suspected ’ in this episode.

In a dramatic turn of events, the security investigators finally decided to question HER - to everyone’s puzzled surprise. The questioning went on from the morning and it was late in the evening when the shocking and bitter truth emerged, shattering all credence about the Finance Manager. It was SHE who had master–minded and pulled off the fraud by creating a parallel “ zombie account ” which played its discreet role for her to swindle millions of company money unsuspectingly. This is how a drama of a corporate fraud was unfolded in a business conglomerate. Later, it was exposed that she had already been “ diplomatically sacked ” by her previous employer on a cash fraud of a lesser amount – in the same fashion. Yet, no one ever had checked on it until she was detected in here.

Elsewhere, it was a premier business chain that suffered - when a retail business manager who joined them rather hastily and served for a short period of time - before disappearing to join back his original company. What’s wrong in it one might ask? Yes, nothing wrong - but not in this instance. He in fact, infiltrated in to this company with a designed purpose of studying their business methodology – both present and future - and of course to pass down all sensitive business data to its competitor. He in fact was on a special covert assignment. All that damage was done smartly under a “ pretence loyalty front ” - to which many business managers got trapped in. That was how a head hunted enlistment based on the FACE VALUE PARADIGMS cost the business and its long guarded confidentiality.

A radical union
Another company experienced a business managing nightmare when the employees formed up a radical union that was influenced by main stream political extremism and virtually threatened the management - to throw in the towel - on ALL their demands. Once company friendly employees - had gradually become hostile and NOW talked only about employee rights - but never about the employee obligations or productive responsibilities. Poster campaigns, lunch hour pickets, go-slow times and violent strikes became the turbulent order of the day. All negativities had begun with the recruitment of few employees who joined the organization under the mask of skilled associates. But they had actually been tasked to plant hostile unionism to disrupt the business viability. Those few ( rotten eggs in the basket ) spoilt the flow of company productivity across the board.
“ To be reasonable, the HR division is under pressure to provide skilled business staff and they are exploring speedy solutions. Thus the recruitments are made rather hastily at times. Are the people who they claim to be ? We know nothing beyond their expressed details and displayed attitudes. Finally, the new staff end up with us via HR division and may eventually boomerang as a ‘ Skilled Risk ’. In the end not only us, the entire business gets in to trouble. Sometimes it takes just only few people to ruffle the whole profiting process ”. This reality perception provides a valid reason for this business manager to feel cautious and stay alarmed.

Human Resources
As it is widely ( and rightly so ) believed that HR is a prime corporate asset that decides the RISE or FALL of the organization. The projected growth heights of Money, Machines and Methods in a corporate can be best achieved only when it is clinically blended with the right Men and Women – ideally at all levels and times. The HR related risks are identified in two core streams. Those are risks ‘through’ HR - and risks ‘for’ HR.

When analyzing the corporate risks “ through HR ” in terms of business application, it spreads in to few key functional applications as we see below.

*Enlistment Risks
*Employment Risks
*Outsourcing Risks
*Alliance Risks
*Dismissal Risks

It is known that stepping in to business itself is a risk - and all other subsequent risks revolve around a business are inner wheels of the setting. Yes !!! No business is risk free, no matter how hard we try to achieve such a state of purity. Yet, the challenge in here is how best we could MANAGE, without getting blindly trapped in to undue risk - which could have otherwise been avoided or averted. Each risk we have in a business organization has a zig-zag relationship with the bottom line profit efficiency. And better managed HR risks gift “ strength through fragility ” to any business organization and its stake holders.

It neither is easy nor successful to manage corporate HR risks on a bottom – top thrust approach. It always is a top – bottom flow approach that brings sustaining results. The realization of the risk and the critical wanting for risk minimization Must begin and flow down from the top of a corporate mountain. This approach will encourage and ensure that the HR Risk Mitigation Initiatives effectively cover all divisions of the organization – spear headed by the HR and Security Disciplines – consciously and continuously.

We should never allow the day to day functional pressures and distractions to take this consciousness away from us. It is never right to sacrifice things of great value for things of trivial importance. And the risks flowing in and keep circulating within - through corporate HR surely a matter of gigantic concern. As the saying goes, “ The best hope of a business lies in the proper management of its Risk Hybrids ”. It certainly demands a lot of spade work. Sensible work is the pre-condition of success in any domain. And let’s remember that the solitary place where SUCCESS comes before WORK - is only the English Dictionary !!!

The author is Strategic Security Specialist / Pragmatic Trainer & CEO of Strategic Security Solutions. He can be reached at – solutions@sltnet.lk