APU Business Careers Careers & Learning

To Poach or Not to Poach

ThinkstockPhotos-186468240By Dr. Suzanne Minarcine
Faculty Director, School of Business at American Public University

How far do you go in recruiting new employees? One of my business clients is an elite hair salon in Atlanta that serves celebrities and top women executives. I have worked with the owner, Tom, since he started planning the business 10 years ago and he has done a fabulous job building the reputation of his salon. He had the foresight to move into an up-and-coming area and quickly established his reputation.

The salon recently had three new customers who all wanted appointments on the same day at the same time. It took quite a bit to accommodate this request, but Tom is committed to customer service and to meeting customers’ needs and he was able to get two of his stylists to come in on their day off.

You can imagine his surprise when his stylists received calls from one of the customers who offered them positions at her new salon, which was opening just a few blocks away. All three of the stylists turned down the job offer, but Tom felt it was appropriate to call her and address her actions. Her response was, “This is business. This is how we work.” Tom told her that her approach was unprofessional.

When is it OK to poach employees from another organization? Everyone wants the most talented people possible and we often run across those people at conferences and during the normal course of doing business. Business cards are exchanged and a dialogue is begun, but is this the same as deliberately going to a competitor’s place of business and checking out the talent?

I have worked with restauranteurs who frequent other restaurants and when they encounter a top-notch server, they give them their cards. They don’t openly offer positions, as this salon owner did, but they do open the door.

These are questions each business owner needs to consider as he or she develops hiring practices. An effective practice will consider human resource needs as well as ethics.

[Related: 8 Things You Need to Do to Bring Confidence to Your Work]

This leads to one final question. If an organization has prescribed hiring practices, is it OK to circumvent those procedures and hire someone the manager knows? It would seem to be a more effective and more ethical human resource practice to make hiring decisions based on qualifications, rather than friendship or for political gain.

Ultimately, you or your organization must determine the best hiring practice for your situation.

About the Author: Dr. Suzanne Minarcine is a faculty director for the School of Business at American Public University. She currently teaches strategic management and entrepreneurship courses.

 

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