I have my own opinion this but thought I’d see what other people think. This is the situation:
You are a headhunter (or recruitment resourcer/researcher). You are name sourcing/contacting within a particular organisation. The HRD of that organisation gets wind of your actions and and calls or emails you to ask you not to contact his staff again.
What do you think is correct protocol in this situation?
The picture suggests that the activity in itself is illegal, wrong or immoral, which of course it isn’t – or at least it isn’t when I do it.
I would just explain to the HRD that it’s nothing personal.
Agree with Mitch, it is the nature of the recruitment beast, and any HRD who doesn’t think their staff are being targeted is either very naive or working in a company that has a very poor image so nobody is interested in their employees. Cold, but truthful.
Agree entirely with Mitch. It’s a commercial world. The HRD has a simple, (but not watertight) defence. Ensure employees are engaged in their roles – design them well, recruit well, provide opportunities to grow and develop, pay staff appropriately and communicate often.
I also think it is worth trying to intelligently engage with the HRD and to remind him/her of the ecology of the recruitment/employment system we work in.
Especially, remind him/her that in many cases candidate movement aids individual career aspirations (and is therefore logical) and sometimes even benefits the employer as it gives them the opportunity to bring in some fresh-thinking to whatever job/team/department the last person was working in. No recruiter has ever managed to force someone into leaving a job they don’t want to leave.
You are also potentially giving that HRD a live demonstration of how you might one day represent his company out in the candidate market.
Totally agree with @BillBorman – the time to worry is when your staff AREN’T getting head hunted…
This is an interesting question.
We have to assume that our staff are likely to be looking to develop and challenge themselves. Employee L&D is always a big discussion item in many an HR Depts and between HRBP’s and the business leader they partner with.
Also any HRD naïve enough to think that staff are either not looking at all options for development including external or being predated upon and enticed elsewhere probably needs to change career direction themselves. Certainly shouldn’t be respected.
If we are doing a good job of training and developing our people and they are being enticed away then sat least we know we have the programs to offer up quality performance and skill levels. If they still decide to leave then surely we are missing something. It is that that needs to be addressed
Giving our employees the opportunities, rewards and recognition they expect and need should give us the confidence that they are very happy and are unlikely to move for something that in itself is not special or unique. If we don’t have that confidence then we can’t be doing it right can we?
As for ‘getting caught’ well honesty is the best thing of course, difficult for most agency staff I know, but try it, you have not done anything wrong so you are not really being caught at anything are you?
Of course if you are a supplier to that same company then you deserve all of the pain you any and all of us can bring down on your head; not only for being so stupid and unethical but likely as not for breach of contract and acting in a manner that is detrimental to the reputation of your own employer. But chances are if that were to occur it will be Legal Counsel rather than the HRD that makes contact
Hmmm….interesting responses and I’m glad that Gary made the point about being a supplier to the same company which had hitherto been missed.
I don’t think it is as simple as people make out. A lot depends on the context of the approach. Is this a simple recruitment approach or is this trying to take a team? What is the commercial context of the approach?
And from the headhunter’s position, who do you want to work with more in the long run? Is this a one off, or a longer term commercial relationship. How big is the industry and what are the opportunities?
The reality is that HRDs have and always will have quiet words in ears in certain, very specific circumstances. That doesn’t mean that the other points mentioned about the way of the world, engaging employees etc. aren’t important. They are absolutely critical. But there is always more than one side to a story and this question without context is a little simplistic.