This will make you ANGRY!
Every now and then I get a call that makes me VERY ANGRY , and then SCARED.
Indeed, I am SCARED, not for me, but for YOU my clients and future clients!
You see yesterday, I had a call from an existing client with whom we enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship. He pays us to find him exceptional candidates. And he’s happy…
But yesterday he had a worrying call from one of my competitors asking him how his campaign for talent was progressing. Now I’d like to think that he’d tell this ‘upstart’ that he was 100% thrilled with Orchard; but the fact is that his need is VERY SPECIFIC and it does take time to source and attract potential employees for him. After all, the BEST PEOPLE are invariably WORKING and are NOT searching recruitment ads on the web or posting their CVs on job boards, waiting for a feeding frenzy….
So, what he said was that whilst Orchard are indeed LOVELY people, we are having to work VERY HARD to find him superstars! True…
The other agency recruiter’s ears perked up and he said he’d like to help. Of course (as would I). My loyal client then asked what they would do so differently from Orchard bearing in mind we have been successful via traditional methodology of advertising BUT more importantly Orchard are proactively sourcing and approaching potential candidates from a variety of alternative sources (secret, shhh!)
Now this is what ANGERED me and then SCARED me; on your behalf….
After a pause this recruiter explained that they had a data base of exceptional people that his company had placed over the years and that he would simply contact them as he knew their pedigree and track record.
And this is what made me almost lost for words (a rare ocurence) …this firm was about to approach the people that it had hired for other companies, and been paid search fees for with the SPECIFIC INTENTION of headhunting them for my client.
There are so many reasons that this practice is plane WRONG. Illegal? No! Duplicitous, lazy, deceitful? Absolutely…
So this recruitment firm was willing to broach the trust it had built with its previous clients and STEAL their employees that they had originally recruited only to re-sell them for another fee. Judas……….
Did my client say ‘Yes please, send me a selection of candidates that you previously placed?’…NO!
The message is that if ‘your’ recruiter is involved in such sharp practice, what is there to stop him/her from doing the same to YOU further down the road.
Sadly this practice is rife, especially in this candidate short market!
I suggest that irrespective of whether a recruiter is going to pro-actively ‘head hunt’ on your behalf or not; ask them to sign a confidentiality agreement that ensures that they will not approach your staff for a period of say, three years. This should certainly be applicable once you have paid a fee and arguably once you have started working with them before any fees is paid.
We have even heard of dodgy recruiters visiting a prospective employer with no intention of working with them , but purely to collect names of existing staff to head hunt later on…
Be careful who you let into YOUR CHICKEN COOP…friend or FOX?
Of course, at Orchard we actually state in writing that we’ll NEVER head hunt or proactively approach a client’s staff. It’s provided in writing as part of our Client Charter. Let’s play fair…
Graham Martin , August 2015
GM@orchardjobs.com
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