HRCI Asks: What Keeps You Up at Night?

Privacy concerns and pressure to recruit quality talent are among the issues making HR pros nervous, according to an informal social media survey conducted by HR Certification Institute.

In recognition of Friday the 13th last week, HRCI asked its social media followers, “What keeps you up at night.” Answers came from many different areas of HR, including leaders, management consultants, and training experts.

Some HR professionals say they are nervous about the continued use of Social Security numbers for identification purposes.

“One [recruiter] even asked for my SSN when I was job hunting!” says Vandana Atreya, a learning development and HR strategy training manager with IDEMIA. “When I refused he said, ‘Don’t you trust me?!’ I rest my case.”

Atreya, responding on LinkedIn, also says she is disturbed by recruiters who continue to request salary history.

Other HR pros say their chief concern is how to recruit and retain top talent. Carolyn Sanders, an HR manager with Bluescope Buildings North America, specifically noted the need to recruit replacements for retiring Baby Boomers.

Twitter follower Jay Thomas Kirby says too many people have forgotten what the “H” stands for in HR.

“It amazes me how many people work in HR and they lack humanity,” Jay Thomas Kirby writes on Twitter. “They leave out the human part in their ways of thinking.” Kirby adds that organizations would benefit from expanded training on diversity and inclusion.

Other topics keeping HR professionals up at night include internal politics and employee engagement.

Do any of these resonate with you? What other HR issues keep you up at night?