The Sensitive Nose of HR

When the serial rapist and registered sex offender was recently arrested in Cleveland and found to have had, so far, eleven decaying female bodies in his house, it was immediately said that someone should have noticed. The stench coming from the rapist’s house and his clothes was so pungent that one of the arresting officers declared, “I can’t figure out how the neighbors didn’t know something was wrong.”

The neighbors now say they should’ve known and should’ve called authorities. Excuses have also cropped up. It’s was a bad part of town, often filled with unpleasant odors. Nobody wanted anything to do with the rapist. It was a combination of fear and revulsion. So, since 2005 when he was released from prison after serving 15 years for choking and raping a woman, he’d been allowed to return to his criminal ways.

Most employers aren’t harboring serial killers or rapists. It’s sometimes amazing, however, that after something bad happens at work involving an employee, coworkers will say they should’ve known. It may be an incident of workplace violence. Sexual harassment. Embezzlement. Pirating trade secrets. Other kinds of theft or financial impropriety.

More than anyone else, human resources professionals should have sensitive noses. That’s part of the job. If something smells wrong, it probably is. HR should have the best nose in the workplace for sniffing out wrongdoing that, if left unchecked, will eventually knock the entire organization for a loop. Don’t make excuses. Investigate, act, prevent. If you don’t have the nose for it, perhaps another job — or at least some nose training – should be sought.