They've come for...your employees!

 

Nobody likes employee poaching. It’s underhanded and unethical to recruit out of the competition’s talent pool, and we’d all be a lot better off if we agreed not to do it under any circumstances.

Right?

Well, that may be the official line in some quarters, but it’s far from reality. The truth is, everybody’s doing it, as Patrick J. Kiger writes for Workforce Management:

While some executives may think poaching is practiced by only a few corporate pariahs, the researchers say lateral hiring—a euphemism for poaching—is widespread. Federal Reserve Board economists estimate that of the 4 million workers who change jobs in a typical month, 80 percent are recruited by their new bosses. That suggests lateral hiring may provide a way for human capital to flow most efficiently to the places it is needed, helping drive economic growth.

Okay, so it’s widespread throughout the workforce, but that still doesn’t make it right.

Right?

That’s certainly what many companies think when it happens to them: talent-poaching lawsuits are now commonplace, though they can end disastrously.

However, the idea that poaching isn’t actually unethical at all—but rather a legitimate and necessary part of business—is gaining a foothold. Kiger refers to an upcoming article in Business Ethics Quarterly called “The Ethics of Lateral Hiring,” which argues that in fact it’s not the talent poachers who are acting unethically, but the victims of poaching who choose to retaliate. Such companies, according to study author Tim Gardner, Vanderbilt University associate professor of management, are only hurting themselves, and need to recognize the reality of shifting talent pools. The only way not to get poached, according to Gardner, is to build strong relationships with employees:

Gardner recognizes that employers have an interest in retaining critical talent and insists there are ethical ways to thwart poaching.“What they really should be thinking about is what sort of relationship they have with their employees,” he says. In particular, they should concentrate on promoting more symmetry—that is, in addition to expecting workers to be loyal, they should be more loyal to workers. Two key types: relational loyalty, which results from better bonding between workers and managers, and ideological loyalty, in which the employer and the workforce feel joined by a common purpose.

Ira S. Wolfe argues that the recession has produced a whole new poaching risk: great employees who have been “hanging in” so long they are ready to jump ship --

These workers are the high energy individuals, who helped their organizations during the recession, are very visible to peers due to their 'catchy' energy and successes and today are not being rewarded adequately. In fact, they are likely being counted on to take on more and more work due to the amount of work they do. A recent study has called these at-risk employees the "neglected warriors." The people at most risk of being poached away are these neglected warriors who may be in line to become "heroes" in their next new company.

As for the ethics of poaching, Fay Hansen at allbusiness.com says it’s simply an outdated way to even consider hiring practices. In the fast-paced world of modern business, Hansen argues that “direct recruiting may be the only viable approach for a growing number of employers.”

Hanson has an interesting cost-benefit analysis of “lateral hiring,” and says that it’s much more expensive than many companies realize, though putting together a package of non-cash compensation can appeal to those “neglected warriors” (who may be looking for a different kind of recognition entirely) and ease the financial burden for the company doing the recruiting.

In terms of how to do it, the established business rules of right and wrong still apply to poaching, no matter what it’s reputation, Hansen writes:

The ethics questions can be disposed of in the same terms that apply to most business practices, according to Charlie Jones, vice president of process and operations at Yoh, a technical and professional staffing firm that recruits heavily from competitors and companies in related industries. "If recruiting involves misrepresentation or deceit, it's unethical," he says. "It's just that simple."

Otherwise, game on.