Dive Brief:
- No matter where you toil as an HR pro, there is always the risk someone (maybe even a competitor) will be trying to steal your top talent.
- The Harvard Business Review lays out some possible strategies for employers to follow should recruiters and headhunters come knocking.
- For example, do you capitulate to a demand by the wooed employee? Can you even find the funds to keep them in the fold? Experts offer strategies to try and keep the exit door protected.
Dive Insight:
HR expert John Sullivan, professor of management at San Francisco State University and author of 1000 Ways to Recruit Top Talent, told HBR that for one, talent must be replaced - a daunting and costly task in today's tightening labor landscape. "And two, the talent is taking ideas with them to a competitor," Sullivan said.
The article offers ideas such as non-compete clauses (though be careful), stay alert for signals that someone might be thinking of leaving (and try to get in front of it) and even consider creating specialized career development plans for your most talented people.
Factors such as economic globalization, ineffective leadership development and a younger workforce (one loaded with talent more willing to move around) make this scenario even more likely, Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, a senior adviser at global executive search firm Egon Zehnder, told HBR.
