In today’s competitive business landscape, finding and retaining top talent is crucial for the success of any organisation.
Employee poaching, or talent poaching, happens when a competitor company seeks to tempt employees away from their current roles.
It frequently happens in areas where specialised skills and experience are in high demand, like IT, medicine and research and development, though, other sectors may still be vulnerable. All managers can prepare for losing talented employees when companies try to poach their best talent.
Both startup companies and established businesses look to seek the highest-quality talent to enable them achieve their goals. They headhunt employees in competitor companies who have the education, experience and track record that may be difficult to find in an open recruitment process. It is most common for high-level roles where a position requires an exceptional degree of talent and expertise only obtained through years of working in the role or extraordinary natural skill.
An economist, Mr. Tunde Oyediran said: “when an employee possesses highly sought-after skills and experience, it is common for companies to want to attract these employees so they can have top talent at their organization. these skills will benefit them from having the attention of organizations that are willing to provide higher pay and more benefits in joining the team.”
He added that companies that excel at sourcing and managing their workforce gain a significant competitive advantage, saying “however, sourcing the right talent requires more than just posting job listings and conducting interviews. It demands a strategic approach, flawless execution, and the right partnerships to identify, attract, and retain the best candidates.”
Oyediran explained that “it is common to see employee poaching in fields where employees need to have certain technical skills, such as coding, development, programming and analysis. These skills are often in demand, and employers and recruiters contact these employees to offer better pay, more benefits or a mix of the two to provide enough incentive for them to leave their current company and provide their skills to a new employer.
“As an example, a recruiter may contact a software developer who works at a large computer system design firm and offer them incentives, including higher pay, if they leave their current employer to take a position at the new company. If the software developer accepts the job proposal, then you can consider them to have been poached from their current employer.
“This is a popular way for skilled employees to make more money, but it also provides them with an opportunity to learn new skills, be closer to job promotions, which usually equates to even more money and work for high-quality employers they can show on their resume for when the employee is ready to take on a job elsewhere.”
To the employee, he advised that “while you may experience these benefits as an employee who is poached for another role, you may want to consider how often you allow poaching to occur, or how often you change jobs, as too much change can signal to a new employer that you have a difficult time remaining loyal to a company or may not have the career focus a new company is looking for.”
Strategies Companies Use To Poach Employees
Companies enter talks with employees they seek to poach from another firm. These talks can look into ways that make their lives better both professionally and personally. For example, if a company knows of an employee they want to hire, they can ask them to define what career progress means to them and then offer incentives based on conversations around that person’s working life and desires. This is a popular way for staff to earn more money and get better incentives that their current company may not be able to offer. Here are some ways companies encourage employees to join their company:
(1) Higher pay
(2) Unique opportunities to grow and develop
(3) More opportunities to be more visible in the industry
(4) Better promotional opportunities
(5) Extra holidays
(6) Company shares
(7) Special holiday villa for employee holidays
(8) Bonus incentives including a car
(9) Access to technology that’s not elsewhere and increases workplace satisfaction
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