The issue of data privacy, or the lack thereof, took center stage this week with the Facebook/Cambridge Analytics apocalypse. CEO Mark Zuckerberg conducted a master class in PR Disaster 101 by not speaking out loudly enough after the revelation that 50 million FB user profiles were harvested by Cambridge. It caused #WheresZuck and #DeleteFacebook to trend on social media as outraged users speculated about what other dark secrets will be revealed as this onion gets peeled. HR takeaway: Make sure your employee data is secure. MSN
Hackathons have been used for a while to find software engineers, but in this tight labor market, the concept is migrating to other positions as well. Instead of relying on resumes, recruiters and hiring managers get a sense of what candidates can do by having them do the actual job in a group setting with other candidates. Job seekers might write a marketing campaign, design a new product, or manage a project. A great idea in theory, but do you really have time to hold a job tournament to fill each position? Workforce
In this skin-tight labor market, it’s not just about hiring, it’s about retention, too, especially hourly workers. Your people can get another job in the blink of an eye, so anything you can do to keep them is worth exploring. Taco Bell apparently heard that clarion call and is offering educational support to its 210,000 employees nationwide. This, in response to employee interest. The program, launched last year with a test group of employees, resulted in a 34 percent increase in retention. HR Dive
Long office hours are seen a proxy for hard work, itself regarded as the cornerstone of Japan’s post-war economic boom. Companies offer to look after employees for life in return for a willingness to dedicate that life to the company, including “service” (ie, unpaid) overtime or moving house on demand. People hesitate to leave the office before their peers, and certainly before their boss. The Economist
An HR issue came close to toppling the franchise industry model, but the matter was put to rest this week when McDonald’s settled a lawsuit with the National Labor Relations Board. It accused McD’s of unfair labor practices because a franchisee improperly fired some employees. The lawsuit called McD’s a “joint employer,” with joint liability, which panicked the entire franchise world. Why? Franchises are independent businesses. That’s the whole point of franchising. If McDonald’s was found to be a joint employer, and thus liable for damages, it would’ve upended the business model of an entire industry. Nation’s Restaurant News
