HR Bulletin Volume 125

HR BULLETIN

How to prevent employees from moonlighting

While the legality of the second arrangement is determined by the contractual provisions of the individual's agreement with the engaging entities, companies must be prepared to use technology to detect and prevent instances of moonlighting.

Jane Doe works as an HR recruiter for a global corporation in Noida. As a recruiter, she takes advantage of her company's flexible work from home policy and rarely comes into the office. A specialist in leadership recruitment and retention, she is involved in performing background checks for potential candidates. Jane has access to premium memberships supplied by her firm around the world to recruit senior roles in her organisation. Jane discovered a European consultancy firm eager to use her expertise on a contract basis to carry out senior management recruitment for their clients a few months ago. As a contractual employee, she would be compensated for the success of each leadership role filled and would be paid in euros rather than the currency in her country Jane divides her time between India and the EU She also uses her company's premium subscription to explore suitable European candidates for the consultancy's clients She has been able to close some high profile recruitment positions in this fashion This is how a life of a typical moonlighter looks like Moonlighting has made news in India

in recent months, with some prominent IT businesses cutting off staff who were implicated in a breach of contract by moonlighting While some firms have dismissed employees, who moonlight, and many have either cautioned employees to stop all such activities or provided alternative workarounds for employees who want to use their skills outside of their present projects. Although the emphasis appears to be on IT employees and developers, many other roles in an organisation, including those in marketing, human resources, and operations, are sometimes ignored or underestimated due to preconceived notions.

The legal position of moonlighting in India

Moonlighting is not explicitly permitted or prohibited under Indian law. Dual employment is permitted under the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act of 1946, but it is prohibited under the Factories Act of 1948. Additionally, different states in India have distinct labour regulations that may or may not allow multiple employment The specific contract between employees and employers must be analysed in the absence of unambiguous guidelines

Prevent moonlighting

Identifying the fundamental cause of a problem is the best method to solve it Although moonlighting has been around for a long time, there has been an exponential increase in moonlighting in the last few years due to the Covid 19 pandemic and work from home conditions that allow individuals to engage in second employment. Companies can dramatically reduce occurrences of moonlighting by limiting work from home regulations. To discourage moonlighting, enterprises must reconsider their cloud infrastructure regulations and access rules and policies, in addition to prohibiting work from home. Cloud computing technologies have become the most important enablers of dual employment. Employees can quickly access emails, chats, and applications hosted on the cloud using their own personal device or the device of the dual employer because of ease of access. For example, during her EU hours, Jane Doe routinely logs in to her full time employer's email and chat services using Cloud She can also use her phone to access her full time employers' emails and chat messages as these applications are cloud hosted This way no one suspects her of dual employment as she utilizes the cloud to immediately respond to any emails or chat messages

Identify moonlighting using technology

Most firms rely significantly on employers’ provident fund data to identify moonlighting in a non intrusive manner. This strategy, however, is only applicable when both employers offer provident funds to their employees. Employees are often savvy and avoid dual employment with both firms having a provident fund. Furthermore, contractual, or part time positions are frequently exempt from provident fund contributions, making them a favoured employment conduit for multiple employment.

Moonlighting is best identified with access management solutions that log device related information such as machine/device name, MAC address etc. Employees indulging in moonlighting often use one corporate device to remotely log into another corporate account or application. Companies can discover instances where employees are logging into their accounts or applications using different devices by logging device related information For instance, Jane Doe frequently logs into the premium subscriptions given by her full time employer using the laptop of her consultancy firm By logging device related information, companies may detect all instances of non company-provided assets accessing a particular account, application, or subscription Furthermore, proxy logs and firewall logs can contain a wealth of relevant information that can be used to detect suspect moonlighting activities. However, even for a mid sized firm, the amount of data created is huge, and performing an analysis needs significant knowledge.

Prevent data loss despite moonlighting

The most significant risk that moonlighting poses to an organisation is the loss of intellectual property as well as confidential and sensitive data. Customised data loss prevention solutions can be used to limit the risks related to data loss due to moonlighting practices

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Is talent shortage brewing the perfect storm for the year 2023?

The game is changing for Talent Acquisition leaders and with talent shortage, one of the biggest challenge today, People Matters brings to you Talent Acquisition Conference 2023 where the rule is to ‘Bring Your A Game’.

The pandemic brought with it a host of new phenomenas such as remote work and hybrid work models. And as we moved into the post pandemic world of work, we were introduced to the great resignation where employees were looking beyond compensation to find meaningful jobs, where they wanted the flexibility to work at their own pace with more value and recognition. As employees started looking for better job opportunities with growth prospects, the war for talent ensued with organisations scrambling to attract and retain top talent. In 2022, talent won the battle with the power shifting from the employer to the employee but newer challenges emerged on the horizon for organisations as they turn the tide with recession, layoffs, quiet quitting, moonlighting, productivity paranoia, etc While workplaces are changing rapidly with the emergence of automation and AI in every aspect of business, the newest challenge we are facing today is talent shortage According to the Korn Ferry Study, by 2030, there will be a global human talent shortage of more than 85 million people And if left unchecked, in 2030 that talent shortage could result in about $8.5 trillion in unrealised annual revenues. As organisations are bringing forth innovative methods to hire the right talent with the adoption of skills based model as opposed to the earlier role based model, they are also investing heavily on reskilling and upskilling their employees to get them future ready for the unprecedented disruptions. As per the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, 50% of all employees will need to reskill by 2025…

Select or eliminate : How to use psychometric profiling in hiring?

The cost of putting the wrong talent on the seat can be so high that organisations are shifting their decision making towards selecting the person who will fit the role instead of eliminating unfit candidates.

If you’ve applied for a job, chances are you’ve taken some kind of psychometric test The psychometric assessments have been around since the early 20th century And they’re widely used; the commonly quoted statistic is that as many as 80% of the Fortune 500 use these kinds of tests in the recruitment process Traditionally, organisations have leveraged psychometric profiling to assess the thinking caliber of talent. Psychometrics is an area of psychology devoted to psychological measurement and the construction of questionnaires and tests, which assess people’s knowledge, attitudes, personality traits or mental ability. “Organisations can evaluate how a candidate might behave in a job role; for example, capacity to work with others, deal with complex situations, process information and cope with stress, amongst other skills, before even seeing them in person. Moreover, many research studies have found that people who do better in these tests, perform better in the job role itself,” explains Dinesh Arya, co founder of boutique global executive search firm AST Consultancy “Employers typically use psychometric tests as a way of eliminating unsuitable candidates at an early stage, screening candidates for interviews, objectively determining someone’s ability, personality, motivation, values and reactions to their environments, identifying the strengths or weaknesses missing in existing teams and helping to make strategic recruitment decisions and providing management with guidance on career progression for existing

Let’s talk: How tech companies are empowering people with disabilities

This International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PwD), HR leaders tell People Matters why investing in PwD talent matters for companies more than ever and how technology and skilling for the digital economy can create barrier free workplaces.

More than one billion people experience disability today and this figure is expected to increase further, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Breaking barriers and creating inclusive workplaces is critical in today’s omni connected world. Organisations have, over the years, made a conscious effort towards enabling people with disabilities at the workplace including putting in place a hybrid setup during the pandemic. This focus is no longer merely on driving inclusivity but also to encourage diverse ideas and thoughts. This International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PwD), HR leaders tell People Matters why investing in PwD talent matters for companies more than ever and how technology and skilling for the digital economy can create barrier free workplaces

“Although average PwD representation continues to be less than 1% in the organised sector, organisations which have consistently invested in disability inclusion have been able to experience improvements like larger talent pools, enhanced productivity, a better experience for both employees and customers as well as improved mechanisms to manage conflicts, strikes, and lockouts,” says Sandhya Ramesh, lead diversity, equity & inclusion, Great Place To Work.

Shweta Mohanty, head HR, SAP Labs India while dwelling on the topic said focusing on people’s strengths rather than their differences is important. “Bringing on board a diverse talent not just broadens our workforce…

Human skills feature among top 5 most indemand job

criteria: Pearson study

New Pearson study identified human skills as the ‘power skills’ which are most in demand in Southeast Asia’s major job markets. Read

Despite new technologies transforming the world of work, human skills continue to dominate the list of the top five most in demand skills. According to the findings of Pearson’s Skills Outlook, communication, customer focus, leadership, attention to detail and collaboration are the top five human skills that today’s employers look for the most in Southeast Asia’s major job markets such as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. However, new technologies are transforming the world of work which is set to continue through at least 2026 As the world moves towards a new, hybrid style of working, Pearson’s predictive AI modeling tool suggests that the top five power skills that will be most in demand to meet the economic need in 2026 are also human skills Collaboration, customer focus, personal learning, achievement focus, and cultural and social intelligence are on the list “It is surprising to see that the most critical skills needed in the workforce today and in the future are in fact human skills,” explained Dr Richard George, Vice President, Data Science, Workforce Skills at Pearson. “Swift investment is needed, as a strong foundation of human skills is essential for success for employers and employees. As the adoption of new technologies continues, the importance of non technical skills such as the ability to learn and cultural and social intelligence is only becoming more important. Organisations that recognise this and invest in helping employees build transferable and flexible capabilities are the ones that will thrive in our changing world,” George said…