Why HR professionals should think about IT

Would you ever re-read a novel?

Some authors are worth a second look, and you will be rewarded with fresh insights on your return visit.  When you first read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice you are drawn into looking at the story from Elizabeth Bennet’s viewpoint.  Upon re-reading, it can be illuminating to consider the plot through Mr Darcy’s lens instead.

IT professionals are wont to focus on a company’s computing setup through technical-coloured glasses.  How refreshing, then, to receive an invitation from the Sevenoaks Chamber HR & Employment Law Roundtable to talk to them about business IT setup as viewed through the eyes of the HR expert.

Surely IT is just about the technical infrastructure while HR concerns the people – true?  In fact, IT is integral to the management of your staff and the protection of the business (from your staff!)  Getting the IT right can even enhance employee satisfaction whilst poorly-performing computers can seriously demotivate them.

BEFORE you recruit a team, you need to set the ground rules.  Companies need an IT policy which forms part of the employment contract.  This should cover the use of your own equipment, personal mobiles, social media accounts used for business, cyber security requirements such as password policy.

What is the danger of employees using their own computers?  Your IT team will not have control over the environment:

• Is sufficient protection in place?
• Would the business data be vulnerable if the device was lost or stolen?
• Is the computer up to the job?
• Is the company expected to provide software subscriptions – eg Office – or is this the responsibility of the employee?

Other considerations for the business are:

Cyber Essentials – government-backed certification that your company follows good cyber security practice, including employee activity.  Clients may require that this is in place before trading with you.

Cyber Insurance – should an attack take place, this can assist in the clean up and limit reputation damage.  Most attacks are the result of human actions.

Disaster recovery plan – HR involvement in the staff management if you need to relocate offices following a fire, for example.

Now the company is ready to recruit.  Did you know that this can lay HR open to cyber-attacks? CV attachments can contain malware, so it is important that the email systems are sufficiently protected.

What protections should the business consider, not just for the HR team but to protect all of the company’s staff?

• Spam filters – stopping malicious emails from landing in the inbox
• Antivirus/anti-malware protection
• Password management and multifactor authentication
• DNS protection – preventing access to specified classes of website
• Sophisticated endpoint protection such as SentinelOne backed up by a SOC – security operations centre – who pounce on attacks as they happen.
• Monitoring/update service to ensure latest patches are in place.

Now you are ready to introduce a new employee into the company.  It is essential that you get the Onboarding process right.  From the IT viewpoint, this can include:

• Setting up security access including passwords
• Agreeing which data/systems the employee will have access to
• Including them in the appropriate group email lists
• Scheduling Cyber Awareness Training – as people are considered the weakest link where security is involved, on-going training with phishing tests should ideally be implemented.

Will the new employee be allowed to work from home?

• If so, does the company use any remote worker monitoring? HR probably need to be involved in the legal ramifications of using this.
• How will good communication with the employee be maintained. Does the company use Teams or Slack, for example?
• HR may need to arrange for suitable office equipment to be set up in the employee’s home too.

With systems and protection in place, it should now be plain sailing.  Watch out for disgruntled employees though – they can cause IT havoc if motivated.  More about this in a moment.

Of course, no good employee stays forever, and the leaver process is possibly more crucial than the onboarding process.

Why?  Think of the damage an ex-employee can do who is bent on sabotage:

• Deleting emails and data
• Sharing company files with a competitor
• Causing a cyber attack by giving password information to a hacker

This process is in effect the opposite of onboarding:

• Closing down security access and changing passwords
• Ensuring the employee no longer has access to the company systems
• Removing them from all the communication groups.

Nowadays it is practically impossible to manage a business without involving IT.  As HR is concerned with the human aspects of a company, it is inevitable that there is always an IT element to consider.  Cyber-crime is a ubiquitous threat, and the best approach to protecting a business starts with its people.

If your HR team are ready to protect the business and enhance the employee experience, give Computer Troubleshooters a call today.