Paper Example on Fraud Management

Introduction

Every organization is formed to achieve particular goals. These targets vary from one corporation to another. Therefore, there is the need for an ethical working environment to aid in reaching set objectives. Every Enterprise's management play key role when it comes to this section. The team is categorized into different departments to perform distinct functions. For example, there is human resource management; it deals with the critical organization's resource which is employees. Despite the unit also deals with other functions such as training and development of the employees, record management, payroll administration, remuneration of the employees, and even provision of health and safety working environment. However, it is evident that some of these functions fail to materialize due to fraudulent practices. In this research work, I have explicitly tackled on how as Human Resource Director I would address fraud activities in my entity and the firm as a whole to enhance the achievement of set goals and objectives.

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Ethics is a discipline that entails governing one's behavior. Therefore, as a good leader, there is the need to possess excellent leadership skills to aid in handling fraud activities. First I will need interpersonal skills. This trait will enable me to interact with others in a desired manner. Employees and staff members are the reference case in this context. Interpersonal skills entail the skills that are used daily while communicating and interacting with different people either individuals or a group of people (Cascio,2018). As much as interpersonal skills entail a variety of skills, it mainly revolves around communication. It involves being able to attentively listen to the other person, understanding his/her body language and questioning where necessary. It also entails the related to emotional intelligence. The emotional intelligence is the ability to comprehend and handle the personal emotions as well as the emotions of others.

The second skill that I will need as an HR has a functional knowledge and expertise. This skill enables me as an HR expert to apply the skills that I have gained in my field of study. It allows me to understand the emerging trends in the area of HR thus enabling me to apply them on while dealing with ethics-related issues in the organization (Bratton& Gold,2017). This is because having the right knowledge base as a manager enable the employees to trust in you and your skills because of your reliability and mastery of content.

Integrity is another skill that I will employ while dealing with ethical issues in the organization. As an HR manager, you cannot deal with ethical problems in the organization if your reputation as a manager is also tainted. Therefore, it is essential for me to apply a high degree of integrity while tackling ethical issues in my organization (Armstrong& Taylor,2014). This is because as an HR I understand the power of honesty and respect in the organization. As an HR I'm entitled to observing a high ethical code in my day to day operations throughout the organization. It is my mandate as an HR to create an environment where everyone is treated equally and with the respect they deserve.

Another skill that I will apply as a manager is critical and analytical thinking. While dealing with ethical issues in an organization, it will be vital for me as the HR manager of the organization to employ a high degree of critical and analytical thinking to get all facts right as to why an employee indulged him/her self in such practice (Vance& Paik,2014). Analytical and critical thinking is not only necessary for the HR solving ethical issues in the organization but also in taking charge of the whole organization towards achieving its goals and objectives. As an HR, it is crucial for me to be open-minded and possess excellent analytical skills to release neutral opinions free of any biasness.

Fraud is among the most prominent issues to an organization. In average, an organization loses about 5% of the revenue it earns every year to fraud. Organizations through the H.R needs to bare n mind the possibility of internal fraud occurring always. When everything is running smoothly in the organization, a lot of people tend not to think about fraud. This provides a window for the other employees with the thought of fraud to execute their plan. Most of the employees commit fraud due to greed. However, others resolve to fraud due to the pressure to engage it. This is where an employee is pushed into committing fraud due to stress or by another employee who has the intention of committing fraud. The next reason for committing fraud is the rationalization that fraud is okay (Petrascu et al.,2015). An employee can have this idea that it is okay for him/her to indulge in fraudulent activities because the employee has not been offered a pay rise for long. This makes the employee feel that he/she is owed by the company making him/her resolve into acquiring the money that he feels owed to him/her. Rationalization can also occur by employee justifying that it is not fraud by stealing small sums of money. For it to be fraud, there must be a massive amount of money involved. Some employees resolve to fraud due to the availability of the opportunity for fraud. This is because even if an individual is pressurized to commit fraud, he/she cannot execute the plan without the chance to do so.

Some of the fraud often executed by the employee includes the ghost worker fraud. A ghost worker is the nonexistent employee of an organization. The slot for ghost workers is created by a fraudulent employee to collect the salary for the ghost worker. In most cases, the dishonest employees tend to use the names of the employees that have just left the organization, but their names were not removed from the payroll system (Petrascu et al.,2015). It can also include a made-up individual, a friend or even a family member of the fraudulent employee who is responsible for collecting the money on payday. If an organization does not have appropriate systems and policies in place to detect ghost workers, this fraud can continue undetected for a long time. The suitable way for the prevention of ghost employees' fraud is by employing electronic means of payment for the employees rather than with cheques or cash.

The second fraud is the falsification of a time sheet. This is a common trend in the workplace. It occurs mainly on those companies that employ the hourly basis mode of payment to their employees. It also happens in the organizations that guarantee their employees of being paid overtime. The employees who result to this kind of fraud often feels underpaid thus making them indicate extra hours and extra days in their time sheets. They can even request their colleagues to sign in and out for them also if they are not present at work. When employees collude to commit fraud, it is always difficult to detect leave alone stopping it (Petrascu et al.,2015). What I can do as a manager to prevent my employees from participating in this kind of fraud is by enhancing an ethical workplace culture which motivates the employees not to engage in fraud. I can also monitor the productivity of the employees versus the clear key performance indicators. This helps in detecting any possible outliers.

Feigning sickness. This is when employees' fake sickness and injuries to enable them to be given the sick leave payments. As a manager, I can manage this situation in my organization by having a limited number of sick day that employee can take in a year (Petrascu et al.,2015). I can also manage this situation by asking the employees to produce a doctor's notification or a medical certificate indicating that such an employee was sick.

False expense report fraud. Most organization reimburse their employees for the expenses incurred while performing the work-related duties. For some employee, this is usually an opportunity for committing fraud by inflating the costs incurred to be awarded extra cash. (Petrascu et al.,2015). Such employees can even indicate personal expenses as a business-related expense. As a manager, as a manager, I can prevent this kind of fraud from occurring by setting the limit that can be spent daily on business-related ventures. I can also ask the employees to produce the receipts to back up their claim for reimbursement.

The code of ethics is the statements containing the ethical principles, the values, and the behavior demanded staff to abide by while in the organization. They are aimed at helping the team in identifying and sorting out various ethical issues which often arise in the course of their employment period (Bratton& Gold, 2017). Some of the code of conduct for HR include equity and justice. This calls for the treatment of all the employs equally while at the workplace. It is aimed at preventing discrimination, abuse, and exploitation in the organization. Justice is aimed at establishing power-sharing and seeing to it that power is not abused in the organization.

The respect for people is the next code of conduct for HR. this sees to it that the employees are treated in the right manner with honor and not as machines. This is because human resources are the most critical resource in the organization. Respecting employees empowers them to take their position thus achieving their full potential (Bratton& Gold, 2017). Respecting employees makes them feel to be part of the organization thus accepting their duty to behave with integrity while in the organization. Respect can be demonstrated in the organization through managing disagreements peacefully rather than using foul words to attack one another.

Personal and professional responsibility is another code of conduct for HR. Employees while going about their tasks in the organization should take personal and professional responsibility for everything they do (Cascio, 2018). Employees should not go about blaming one another for the decisions they made themselves. By taking personal and professional responsibilities, an employee can protect the rights of one another by not letting them take a fall for their wrongdoings.

Conclusion

The mentioned code of conducts and the leadership traits of an HR manager is essential in seeing to it that the fraud is appropriately managed in the organization and kept at bay. When employees are aware of the code of conduct governing them at work, they will follow them thus reducing the instances of fraud in the organization. This is because of the hefty consequences that are always prescribed for the employees found engaging in fraudulent activities in the organization which at times amount to a loss of a job.

References

Cascio, W. (2018). Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill Education.

Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.

Petrascu, D., Bucur, M. A., & Dobre, E. (2015). Analysing the Management of Human Resource in Economic-Financial Fraud Investigation. Procedia Economics and Finance, 27, 209-215.

Vance, C. M., & Paik, Y. (2014). Managing a global workforce: challenges and opportunities in international human resource management. Routledge.

Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.