IT/ITES – This is one sector which has seen constant growth over the years. The demand for skilled employees continues to rise. The demand being much more than the supply, has tempted the employees to fake their resumes, in terms of experience as well as expertise. The HR is burdened with the additional task to choose between honesty and expertise.
BPO – The BPO sector in India has attained maturity. In this sector lots of sensitive information, critical processes, and clients’ confidential information is outsourced to India. However, there have been a few major incidents of data theft, money laundering, and leakage of sensitive information. The Indian BPO industry has occasionally faced trust issues. Companies have finally realized the importance of conducting stringent background checks and hiring honest people.
Banking, Financial Services, Insurance – This sector is the most vulnerable as there could be multiple types of frauds such as bribery, identity thefts, phishing, misappropriation of accounts among others. It therefore is necessary to do a complete background check, including criminal records check while hiring new employees. In this sector honesty and integrity matter more than anything else.
Pharma/Biotech – The pharmaceutical industry in India has a very high attrition rate, particularly in the case of field officers. Hiring carefully, therefore, becomes critical. It would not be a wise decision to hire people who have a history of jumping across organizations flamboyantly.
HR/Staffing Services – The HR is the face of an organization. The HR shapes the organization by hiring the right people. If the recruiter is faulty, everything else goes for a toss. Hiring HR personnel who has a good understanding of the industry requirements is crucial. An HR who is unbiased and prioritizes the best interests of the company and the employees, over personal targets would be the ideal choice.
Media and Entertainment – In these times media has become the voice of the masses. They are the ones who stir the government repeatedly and wake them up from their deep slumber. The media personnel need to be unbiased and honest. They need to be able to stay away from the lure of money when they cover reports exposing the rich and the corrupt.
Hospitality and Travel – This sector has a different story to tell. It is easy to fill up the senior and middle management positions but the problem herein lies with the entry-level hires. Due to better growth prospects in the IT, BPO, Banking and retail industries, freshers tend to stay away from this sector. As a result, this sector has not been able to attract good talent. Therefore, the industry is filled with untrained and unskilled resources. Such an approach is definitely not good for this sector in the long run. It only makes good sense to hire people who have the penchant for this profession and are able to do well in this industry.
Retail – According to the Global retail theft barometer, India suffered the highest loss of stocks consecutively for the fifth year. Shockingly, the average amount stolen by employees was four times more than the average stolen by customers. These numbers are a reflection of the organized retail. When it comes to unorganized retail both the employer and employee steal from the inventory to fulfill their own domestic needs. This makes the employee background checks even more critical.
Therefore, as we see, each sector has its own challenges and the need to hire people with honesty and integrity transcends across industries. Can one HR interview judge everything? No. However, a completely verified background verification report certainly can go a long way. Food for thought.
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