Poached, scrambled and over (far too) easy
It’s no secret around here that I’ve been trying to hire help from a very shallow and polluted talent pool.
I mentioned to my friend in Customer Care that I met two people last week who seemed to be able dress themselves. We may have a winner in this pile.
Somehow she didn’t know I was hiring and said, “Remember when HR used to send around notes that positions are available in other departments?”
I shook my head. It was before my time.
The thing is, everyone is afraid to apply not only across departments, but across the industry. That’s why I have such a shitty candidate pool.
There are great people at similar companies; we just know that our bosses all have a little “pinky swear” deal whereby they are bound by blood oath to tattle when someone expresses an interest in exploring their career options.
So, people stay until they’re so unhappy they go numb or else decide to change their skill areas or just leave the field altogether.
I remember when I “poached” someone years ago from another department. We had a bright young lady who was going to leave whether we tried to stop her or not. And I happened to have an opening that she was perfect for.
And MAYBE I had the foresight not to let her go without a fight, because I would be DAMNED if she was going to take her skills and training and aptitude elsewhere.
My boss got a lot of shit from her (now-ex) boss. But we not only kept this talented and AMAZING gal at the company, but she has my old job now.
An extra point for those who are really paying attention: She outlived me, her old boss AND my boss at that company. All because we DARED to put the right people on the right team.
Such a shame that I will never get that opportunity to make that kind of magic again, now that the “poaching” definition expands across company lines.
Even though, let’s face it, all the companies are going to merge eventually and we’ll all be under the same roof.
That is, if our rising stars last that long.