Stopping Recruiters From Stealing Your Best People?

Q. Our industry is one that is actually growing during this recession.  Some of my people are getting calls from recruiters offering them new positions. We can’t afford to lose anyone at this time. Is there any way to keep recruiters away from my people?

The short answer is no. Good recruiters are as good at their job as your best people are at theirs. Recruiting your best people is what they get paid to do. However, they don’t offer your best people a new position as you state. They only offer them a potentially better opportunity. Maybe it is better, maybe it isn’t. Determining that is what the interviewing process is all about from a candidate’s perspective.

You can’t stop recruiters from calling your people, but you can make your people recruiter resistant to a large degree. The best way to stop recruiters is by making sure that your best people don’t want to leave. I have made thousands of recruiting calls in 30 years as a recruiter. Employees that really enjoy their work,  the company they work for, and respect their boss, generally thank me for calling and then turn down a new opportunity to move forward. Why?

I have discovered that the best way to defend against recruiters is to make sure you continually provide your employees with three things; 1) The opportunity to always be learning. Top talent require this. 2) Belief that they are a making an impact. Top talent don’t want to just perform busy work. They want to know that their work is meaningful and impactful. 3) They are growing and becoming better. This requires a boss that they respect and that is willing to take the time to understand their needs. A boss that is willing to challenge them and makes sure year after year that they are better at what they do than the previous years. Most people don’t leave a company, they leave their boss.

If you ensure that your employees are learning, impacting your company, and have a boss  they respect, you will also stop recruiters. A byproduct of this is that your company will get a reputation as a great place to work so finding new people will also be easier.