Augustus 2012: How can a headhunter, someone who hunts on people, be an ethical profession?
Never use a headhunter, he steals people from another company...
During my weekly cold-calling sales afternoon, I talked to an entrepreneur who was looking for engineers.
While the call started out on a friendly basis, it suddenly turned to a more hostile tone.
My prospect called out: I will never work with a headhunter, he steals people from another company.
Suppose he does it to me, that’s something I wouldn’t like at all.
So I will not engage in this kind of service neither and certainly will not pay for it.”
“How can you work on an honest and integrity base when someone steals or hunts?” I left astonished at the phone... and being the ceo of ethiconomy, the ethical staffing company who connects people and organizations with the same values... I had something to think about.
Especially the last two words “stealing” and “hunting” have bad connotations. Stealing has never been allowed and hunting is becoming more and more something even a Spanish King can’t afford doing in his spare-time. Especially not on elephants.
This idea makes why headhunting has a fairly bad reputation.
Is it unethical to hire employees away from a competitor? Many believe it is. Most believe that a direct contact between employees of company A asking employees of company B to come to work for them is unethical.
To be honoust: that’s the way most of the time people change. Direct contact and direct references between people from company A and company B. But when you ask to hunt on a regular basis, is that the porblem? Under what circumstances? What if an outside recruiter/company had been involved? Is that more ethical? Many seem to think so since they routinely hire headhunters to help them fill openings.
The ethics question is more relevant than ever. We're facing a shortage of qualified professionals and the competition for them will continue to intensify. I'm convinced that firms that follow the old "they’ll find us" approach of simply advertising openings will find themselves at a serious disadvantage. The best hires are usually happily employed, not actively looking. So you need to find them, and there's a good chance they're working for a competitor. Does that cross the line for you?
Another thing: a headhunter is a bad word. Talent acquisition is better and more accurate. Why? You only hunt on criminals and you certainly don’t hunt on people. You propose them to take a look at another opportunity in all freedom. That’s our core business. Talking to people who may be interested in another opportunity and who take their own career serious. So a good “talent acquisition manager” is someone who listens to people, connects them to companies with the same values, and improves the lives of the company and the employees. That’s also my aim.
