Faked - An HR Case Study

By

Praveen Kumar. S
Faculty
Department of Management Studies
Panimalar Engg College
Chennai
 

Kiran Kumar ran from pillar to post for a loan to be sanctioned, for his project.  Banks were not ready to fund his project.   He desperately needed the seed money for his new venture, of starting his own software company.  He understood the TINA syndrome- There Is No Alternative. So, he decided to sell his princely possession – his house, to fund his project.

In 1998, he started his dream company and christened it as 'Softtech', which had 45 employees and 60 terminals.  Kiran's past experience in various IT companies helped him learn the nuances of this trade.  Softtech survived the IT slump during the year 2000, the company kept thriving very well.  By 2005, there were 700 employees working in two branches.

In India, the employability ratio is a mere 8: 100.  In Tamilnadu alone around 80,000 engineering students remain jobless even 2 years after completing their course.  Since, Softtech was relatively a small company; it did not attract the cream of students. Mediocre students also applied.  However, Softtech preferred to recruit and select applicant's with at least a year of experience in their kitty.

At this juncture, a peculiar problem starred at the HR team of Softtech.  Most of the credentials, such as the experience certificates submitted, were faked.  There were small companies, which sold these certificates to students who had remained jobless over a period of time, to fill the time gap. The price, which these companies charged were nominal and several availed this shortcut.

The HR team was startled to know after some peering into the documents that, most of their current employees had also submitted fake documents. Candidates, who had applied, had also quoted false details about their work history, in their CV's. The HR team realized this was a common problem faced by the entire industry.  How do we stop fake resumes doing the rounds, was the question in everybody's mind.

The HR team alerted the chairman Kiran Kumar about it.  In an ad hoc meeting that was hurriedly convened, some suggested that the offenders must be flushed out, while others were afraid of finding replacements if that was done.

The company had a policy of selecting candidates with at least a year's experience.  It was decided that the company's policy of selecting people with prior experience alone, be scrapped, save a few key designations.

1. Do you think that tampering the company's policy will solve the problem?
2. What are your suggestions to stop fake CV's doing the rounds?
 

Praveen Kumar. S
Faculty
Department of Management Studies
Panimalar Engg College
Chennai
 

Source: E-mail December 10, 2007

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