If I get 100 talent acquisition pros in a room and ask them if it is ethical to recruit each other's employees, about half will say no. In fact, there are even a number who will say, "We have an agreement to not recruit from each other!"
In other words, it's normal practice in the corporate world. It's very common to hear talent acquisition departments say they don't actively recruit from each other because they've been told not to by their executives.
Here's a small prediction: That type of conversation will soon be a thing of the past, although I doubt very highly the activity will be.
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As SHRM noted, in a recent article on the highly publicized lawsuit against many of Silicon Valley's largest tech companies that allegedly "conspired" to not recruit employees from each other:
"From 2005 to 2009, the leaders of Northern California's largest and most powerful companies agreed to reduce competition for workers by entering into an interconnected web of secret, bilateral agreements not to solicit — 'cold call' — each other's workforces," the plaintiffs allege.
"By shielding their employees from waves of recruiting, defendants not only avoided individual raises, they also avoided having to make across-the-board pre-emptive increases to compensation," the plaintiffs claim.
"Agreements among the companies to refrain from the common recruiting practice of cold-calling each other's employees deprived workers of information regarding pay packages that they could have used to find higher-paying work or to negotiate for higher salaries with their existing employers, according to the lawsuit."
That's right, saying you won't actively recruit from your competition because you've agreed between each other not do it can get you into legal hot waters.
Of course, I get it, I get why you do this.
Having to deal with a hot job market and constantly stealing talent and losing it to each other seems like a never-ending treadmill of work.
But that's the life of a recruiter. You know there are ways to stop this from happening. Pay better. Engage better. Develop talent better. Have a vision that is real and share it.
It's the age-old business conundrum: Do you want to pay on the front side or the back side? Reactionary companies end up paying on the back side – spending more money in wages to attract talent because they turn over people who leave for better companies, better wages, etc. It eventually catches up.
Smarter companies pay up front and keep their talent by paying at market or above, then constantly evaluate the market and adjust pay whenever it's needed without having employees ask, or have to leave to get paid fairly.
They also develop talent from within and spend the money to do it right, giving themselves an internal pipeline. They make sure to only allow people into leadership positions who are engaging and visionary.
It's a lot of work, and costs money, but in the end it's still cheaper than constantly losing talent and you end up with a better company.
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