A recent survey asked hiring managers to describe the “biggest turkey” they ever hired. The responses should leave no doubt as to why they considered the employee a dud.

While hiring is a rarer bird these days due to downsizing, employers still seeking talent find hiring new people to be more daunting than ever because “turkeys” are still lurking in the applicant pool, according to a recent survey by Caliper, an international management consulting firm.

The October 2008 survey of 190 hiring managers found that 69 percent of respondents find it easier to work with "the devil they know" in poorly performing employees rather than taking a chance on an "unknown" new hire. Just 31 percent of those queried find it harder to manage the people they have than to select new employees.

For some employers, these hiring concerns have proven to be well founded. With Thanksgiving fast approaching, Caliper asked managers to describe the "biggest turkey you ever hired." Among the responses:

• “A fellow who, after 1 week on the job, asked to go to Florida. We said no, so he called in sick for a week and then came back with a tan!”
• “We hired someone who could barely do a single task.”
• “We hired a woman and the second day on the job, we found her taking a nap in the office of the CEO.”
• “One gentleman came in late, left early, then told me, ‘I'm going to be sick tomorrow, so I won't be in'.”

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“In difficult economic environments, people are a company's most powerful competitive advantage,” said Herb Greenberg, Caliper's founder, president, and CEO. "Every new hire provides a precious opportunity that employers don't want to squander. This adds to the pressure to ‘work smarter' in the hiring process and to avoid the costs of a poor decision.”

What was the biggest dud of a hire you or your organization ever made? Let us know at http://hr.blr.com/about/strange_submit.cfm. If we get enough good responses, we'll include them in a future column. By the way, HR Strange but True! will be on hiatus next week for the Thanksgiving holiday. It will return December 5.

Source: Caliper

Women go to trendy boutiques to buy “hot” underwear, but if what is “hot” is their work area, they may be going online to buy undies that are considered personal protection equipment (PPE)!

With more women entering careers such as welding, soldering and brazing, and metal cutting, and other laser work where the environment is hazardous, PPE can become an issue, especially if there is a chance for electrical or arc flashes.

For example, welders must wear flame-retardant clothing, high-top boots, and gauntlet-type gloves, as well as heat-resistant goggles or eye protection, which resist heat, fire, impact, and electricity. However, there is a potential for outer PPE to break open when hit, exposing lower layers of clothing to hazards. And, unfortunately, some female undergarments are made of materials that can ignite--or even melt--at high temperatures or if touched by a spark.

Are you purchasing PPE and doing other safety duties? BLR's Managing Safety from the HR Desk will help you identify and neutralize safety hazards, adapt and write safety policies, and develop and deliver safety training.

The Arc Store says it has a solution, offering “smart women” bras and underpants that are protective. The Arc Store undies are made of fire-tested materials, including a Kevlar ® blend (same as Ove Gloves) and molten metal-shedding CarbonX ® that are NFPA 70E compliant.

Calling the PPE “serious work wear in a soft, silky package,” the undergarments are described as giving “superior comfort and stretch.” They aren't utilitarian-looking, but resemble active wear separates. The cost, however, is quite more than at Victoria 's Secret, with bras at over $100 and “ArcPanties” going for $69.99. Men aren't left out; there are protective ArcBoxers available for $89.99.

Source: The Arc Store

In less than a year, a female employee at Alza Corporation ran up $328,000 on her employer's corporate credit card. That's a lot, especially for an administrative assistant. Keep reading to see some of the big-ticket items she purchased and how much time behind bars she's facing.

The woman, who is now a former employee, worked at the company as an administrative assistant at its facility in Mountain View, California. Alza is a pharmaceutical research and development company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

Prosecutors allege that between February 2007 and October 2007, the woman fraudulently charged more than $328,000 in personal expenses on an Alza corporate credit card. They said the items she purchased included:

• A 1968 Ford Mustang,
• A 1969 Chevrolet Camaro,
• The restoration of those two classic cars,
• Cosmetic surgery,
• A Hawaii and Tahiti cruise vacation,
• A granite kitchen countertop,
• A residential air-conditioning unit, and
• American Express gift cards.

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In February 2008, a federal jury indicted her. She recently pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. A judge sentenced her to 15 months in prison and ordered her to pay $328,000 in restitution

Source: Justice Department