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SBAM | HR is Sleepless; IRS Warnings

Michigan Business Network
January 17, 2023 7:00 AM

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What’s Keeping HR Up at Night?

By Heather Nezich, courtesy SBAM Approved Partner ASE

A survey conducted by Human Resource Executive (HRE) in late 2022 revealed that the top five things keeping HR up at night includes hiring and retention, stress, culture, technology, and learning and development.

  1. Hiring and Retention – In 2022 we experience the great resignation pushing hiring and retention to the top of HR professionals’ challenges. 47% of survey respondents stated that this is their most pressing challenge.
     
  2. Stress – HR professionals are stressed out.  Only 4% of respondents said their stress has decreased over the past year…and that’s after dealing with the COVID pandemic at it’s highest levels. 29% said their stress level increased dramatically and 47% stated it increased somewhat. Organizations should be sure to invest in their employees’ health and wellbeing and preventing burnout.
     
  3. Culture – Culture jumped from the number four slot in 2021 to number 3 in 2022 with 18% of survey respondents stating culture is their number one challenge. According to research by Mercer, 81% of employees are burned out. This puts those employees at risk of quitting or losing productivity.
     
  4. Technology – HR is in need of technology but lacks the budget to meet their challenges.  According to ASE partner, McLean and Company, many organizations are seeing a lag in HR digitization, and nearly 40% say they lack the budget to make up so such lags.  More funding is needed in this area. According to the HRE survey, most organizations list learning and development tools, people analytics, and performance management as areas for improvement in technology with nearly 84% saying they have no budget to invest in those needs.
     
  5. Learning and Development (L&D) – This area surfaced throughout the HRE survey. Nearly half of survey respondents said their HR departments weren’t adequately staffed, and the L&D function ranked second (only after general HR) for where more staff is needed.  Employee development is a crucial key to employee retention. According to the Josh Bersin Academy, “L&D departments that focus on employee growth are seeing four to five times higher employee engagement than their peers.”

Do these things keep you up at night?  

Beware W-2 Phishing Scam

Courtesy SBAM Approved Partner ASE

The IRS is warning employers of a particularly dangerous email scheme that is currently circulating. Called a business email compromise (BEC) or business email spoofing (BES), this scheme involves a cybercriminal sending an email that appears to be from a company executive. The email is sent to an employee in the company’s payroll or human resources department, requesting a list of all employees and their W-2 forms. 

The IRS has created procedures for employers and payroll professionals to report if they fell victim to a W-2 scam—or even if they didn’t. Businesses that lost data as a result of an email scam should notify the IRS as quickly as possible after the loss. If notified soon enough, the IRS may be able to take steps to protect employees from tax-related identity theft. 

A business should email the IRS at dataloss@irs.gov. The business should type “W-2 Data Loss” in the subject line. The email should include the following information so that the IRS can call the business:

  • Business name
  • Business employer identification number (EIN)
  • Associated with the data loss
  • Contact name
  • Contact phone number
  • Summary of how the data loss occurred
  • Volume of employees impacted

Michigan Business Network is an online broadcasting company that provides knowledge, news, and insights into Michigan’s businesses, industries, and economy.