Raiding the Competition!
Unemployment is high, but companies are hiring. Those that are hiring could eventually have the competitive edge long-term. It has been proven that when competitors are retreating it is a great time to raid and recruit their talent.
Yes, of course, stealth research is how many of the companies are raiding the competition (which we obviously love)! But, don't be fooled, everyone is doing this in some form or another. The process of researching, identifying and tracking talent at the competition has become the norm.
In the course of doing business I began to ask our clients why they like to hire from the competition? Here are a few of their answers.
SG: So why the competition?
Client #1: "We believe that having the best talent in the industry can help us be more competitive. Our hiring managers and executives find it necessary to hire someone from the competition to stay ahead of them or to beat them by having the strongest talent in our industry! This goal continues to ring throughout the halls of our company and has for years."
SG: Can't argue with that if it works! But I did express my concern that not all talent at the competition may be considered "A" Players, right? Yes, it is true that not all players at the competition are best-of-breed so it is important to get to the ones that are. Build organization charts, back them up with profiles and evaluate. This helps with determining the "A" Players from the others.
SG: So why the competition?
Client #2: "The competition cannot be ignored! Ever! We would be crazy not to look at our competitors and recruit talent from them! We analyze our competitors products and services so why not do the same by understanding their talent and carefully plucking out the ones we want. When top talent comes to us from the competition, it becomes another win for us”
SG: So why the competition?
Client #3: "We want to deprive the competition of their best assets, which of course can be their best talent. We want the smartest and the best! We always look at the competition and then the companies that have the best training and reputation of hiring the best right out of college. For years we targeted the competition first, the best of breed companies (Goldman) second and no complaints yet. We must be doing well at hiring, since we get targeted all the time by our competitors. But, in my role as a talent acquisition leader, my goal is to hire the candidate that best meets our requirements and needs, but that is not to say that on occasion we do hire others outside of what we call the normal suspects.
SG: So why the competition?
Client #4: "Right now our hiring manager is interested in a bit of a change and wants to hire someone directly from the competition to possibly enlighten the team. She wants to see how others employ different processes, and possibly add the best practices to her own. She wants to know how the competition is doing things! So she wants us to focus strictly on the competition."
SG: So why the competition?
Client #5: " We don't have time to train. We need candidates who know our space and can hit the ground running. Not to mention we need the candidates to know our client base for the sales position we are recruiting for. That is why we like recruiting from the competition."
Many hiring managers believe that recruiting from the competition is necessary but top talent is ultimately who they desire. Therefore, as far as a target list is concerned, the competition almost always makes the list, whether is be our clients' top priority or not. However, not so fast.
Not everyone agrees which this philosophy. There are the others who are not so high on hiring from the competition. Why? Some believe hiring from the competition can make companies weaker. Others believe recruiting from the competition can be more of the same and change can be a good thing and finally, others may think it is unethical. All this being said, we can't argue with the fact that the on-boarding process for a new employee can be drastically reduced if the professional is from the competition or from within the industry.
Do you make it a practice to hire from the competition?
Happy Hunting!
Sheila Greco
sgreco@sheilagreco.com