Recruiters seeking the best talent for their employers usually find a number of suitable candidates working for rival companies. This is especially true of highly specialised positions but applies also to managers. Then they often ask themselves whether attempting to gain the best people from competitors is ethical. This question has recently been discussed also on ERE.net: this recruiters' website published a set of questions we should answer in connection with the given topic. So try it with us.
- Is it unethical to offer someone a better opportunity?
- If it is ethical to take over competitors' customers, why should there be a difference in the case of employees?
- Are employees owned by the organisations that employ them?
- If companies routinely exchange CEOs, why should there be a problem with employees at lower levels?
- Where do you want to find the best people if all of them are already working for someone else?
What do you think?
-kk-