Fair Game for Headhunters???

The rush for skilled staff is very much evident but having experienced such a prolonged recession employers are struggling to locate experienced employees. The number of training roles in all sectors reduced considerably not only due to the obvious financial pressures but also as a result of schools being under increasing pressure  during the last decade to ensure their pupils aspired to university.  This in turn has resulted in what we now see in the huge numbers of youth unemployed and young adults in roles with no prospects.

A side effect of this issue is Headhunting of staff.  As an employer your staff will no doubt now be on the receiving end of numerous headhunt calls from agencies and HR professionals seeking to entice staff away.  There are many pitfalls to this approach the major ones being a loss of productivity when you lose a key member of staff and a very real risk for the employee of leaping into an unknown ,unsuitable role simply because they felt flattered.

So short of increasing everyone’s wages and locking the doors, how can you combat this?  There are a number of factors in combating headhunting but the real key is communication.  Assuming you are paying as close to market rate as possible the elements which become important are things like, recognition, open honest communication, understanding  their prospects and the plans of the business as well as team cohesion and personal development.  Employees’ environments and the people they work with play a major part in ensuring happiness at work and if the above boxes are ticked then you can feel confident that when they do get the inevitable headhunt call that your staff member will disregard it.