Breaking Bad can offer HR professionals some ironic insights into HR best practices, by highlighting both good and bad examples of employee management.

The series Breaking Bad may be over, but few of us will soon forget the misadventures of Walter White, the chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin who kept us in his thrall for over five television seasons. For those who can’t get the series out of their minds, here is some weekday reading you can justify as work-related. We offer five lessons that HR pros can take away from Breaking Bad, to think about how it applies in your own workplace.

1. Especially if you’re involved in a merger or acquisition, recruit your key employees only from trusted sources.

During their startup phase, Jesse Pinkman recruits his meth buddies, Badger and Skinny Pete, who are consistently trustworthy and loyal. Later when Gus and Walter merge their operations, Walter must deal with co-chemist Gayle, who though he admires Walt is still beholden only to Gus. This doesn’t work out well for Walt and Jesse. And in the last season, Walt severely regrets recruiting the Aryans to do his dirty work since they trigger the ultimate loss of everything he holds dear...

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