Prevent Employee Poaching

Losing top talent is arguably one of the worst fears for any employer. After spending so much time and money finding, recruiting, onboarding, and training employees, it’s understandably disheartening when they leave; especially when they leave your company to join a competitor. This is what happens when companies poach employees—they look for top performers in other companies and try to convince them to leave their current job for a new position.

Poaching can be done in a multitude of ways, and either subtly and overtly. Some companies rely on recruiting agencies or headhunters who actively go after key staff members in specific industries. Some set their eyes on someone and start a kind of courting process, enticing him or her with promises of bonuses, better hours, and additional perks. Even when it’s subtle, poaching is not something to be ignored by any company.

Employee poaching is even more prevalent in certain specialized industries, such as IT and software development. In these industries, employees are often asked to sign a clause in their contract agreeing not to seek employment with a direct competitor for a certain amount of time after they leave their job. They may also be asked to sign a Non-Compete Agreement, whereby former employees can’t use your business methods while working at a rival company or by starting their own, for a period of time.

While you want to put some safety measures in place, in some cases companies have gone too far to try to avoid employee poaching. Take the case of Silicon Valley companies such as Google, Intel, and Apple, which for years have been plagued with litigation over secret agreements to prevent them from recruiting each other’s employees. While it’s understandable that these companies, which rely on such tech-savvy employees, would like to protect themselves from poaching, the U.S. Department of Justice ruled that these agreements restricted competition for workers in the industry and were therefore anti-competitive and illegal under federal antitrust laws.

Instead of focusing on ways to prevent employee poaching and guarding employees against competitors—which may even turn out to be illegal—employers should focus on keeping their employees happy in their positions. After all, poaching is closely related to employee retention, since employees wouldn’t succumb to poachers and leave if they were 100% happy in their current positions.

Here are five ways your company can keep its employees happy and less likely to be poached by your competitors.

1. Offer a competitive salary. Offering competitive compensation makes it less likely that your employees will seek a higher salary elsewhere. It also helps employees feel that they’re appreciated and that in turn can help them be more productive and happy at your company.

2. Encourage growth. Many employees leave their jobs because they don’t see a future for their careers. Employees who feel that they have nowhere to go—and this is especially true for the younger generations eager for new challenges and opportunities—are likely to look for that new challenge someplace else. Without a clear career path within your company, these talented individuals are likely to move on to greener pastures, namely that of your competitors.  Come up with a strategy to offer career advancement opportunities to help retain your top talent.

3. Open the channels of communication. Employees want to be heard, but they also want to be “in the know.” Many companies implement changes that affect their employees without considering their perspectives or at least intending to do so. Opening up the channels of communication between employees and the decision-makers in your company can help employees feel more involved, which can make them feel that they play a bigger role in the company and thus have more at stake there. If they feel more connected to your company’s management and its decisions, they’ll be less likely to seek that elsewhere. Open communication is also good for building credibility and trust between your company and its employees.

4. Motivate and engage. Employees who feel undervalued or unappreciated at their jobs are more likely to leave. Nobody likes to feel that the contributions they make to their company are going unnoticed. Consider implementing ways to let employees know that their work and what they bring to the table is valued. From just sending a “job well done” email after a project is completed to treating employees to a retreat as a reward for good performance, motivating your employees keeps them more engaged and devoted to your company.

5. Promote balance. We spend a lot of our time at work each week, especially these days when work doesn’t really end in the office anymore. Creating a company culture that encourages employee engagement and a healthy work-life balance will help keep your employees happier and less likely to leave. Flex-time, alternative work hours, and working from home options are all ways your company can help employees to better balance their life and work needs.

Remember, keeping employees satisfied and moving forward in their careers will help thwart poachers’ efforts. What are some ways your company has dealt with employee poaching?