Talent Poaching

Definition: The Talent Poaching, also known as the Employee Raiding, is the tactic adopted by the firms to sweep away or raid the experienced employees of the competing firms.

In simple words, luring the talented staff of the competitor, generally in the same industry, with an objective to save a training cost and gain the competitive advantage over the competing firms.

Talent poaching Strategies

 

1. Direct Sourcing: The firms can maintain the data of all the efficient employees working at different levels in the competing firms. This can be done by maintaining the data warehouse wherein, the Competitor’s Organization structure, the employee details (Viz. Employee name with his designation, job profile, work experience, and annual performance) is recorded.This information can serve as the basis for the talent poaching. This whole procedure of maintaining the data is done internally, i.e. within the organization.
2. Third Party Poaching: The companies can also raid the efficient staff of the competing firms through the consultancy agencies.These agencies hire the experienced employees for the company in exchange for some amount of commission.
3. Attract them with “Honey”: The Honey strategy is supported with a number of channels that drive candidates or experienced professional to join the organization. These are:
   • Employment Branding Channel: Identifying the employers attributes and characteristics that are required to recruit high-level talent of the industry. Then positioning its image among the prospective candidates.
   • Employee Referral Channel: The employees of the firm can be one of the best sources of talent poaching. The organizations can seek recommendations from its employees regarding the efficient personnel employed with the competing firm.
   • Events Channel: Every organization attends one or the other recruitment events or the trade shows where it can demonstrate its attributes or efficiency with which it carries out its operations.
   • Magnet Hire Channel: Under this method, the top performer is identified through the polling system, and then working is done to attract that person to join the organization.
   • Boomerang Channel: This strategy is adopted by the firms to lure back its ex-employees who are currently working with any of the competing firms, which results in bringing in a pool of knowledge about the competitor in terms of organizational structure, the corporate strategies, and management practices.
   • Internet Channel: Nowadays, the internet has become an essential part of life, the companies can fetch information about the efficient staff through a web network.

The Talent poaching is considered to be an unethical approach due to its objective of attracting the competitor’s staff by offering the lucrative pay packages, auxiliary benefits and other terms and conditions, with the intention to kill the competition.

In order to keep the talent poaching ethical, the companies can hire the consultancy agencies who recruit the experienced staff of the competing firms, on its behalf. By doing so, the company can escape the blame of raiding the efficient employees of the rivalry firms.