How to Handle an Ex-Employee Poaching Your Team: Seeking Urgent Advice

Dear All,

I have a query. One of our employees left our organization without notice and took two other employees from our organization with him to the same company. Now he is continuously calling the existing employees of our organization to leave the job and come to his own company. We want to take strong action against him so that his company is also aware of this situation. Please advise what should be the proper steps against him.

Need your help urgently.

Thanks,
Ipsita
ipsita.chat@gmail.com

Hello,

Regrettably, you have no help.

In recruitment, poaching in present times is the order of the day, even if it hurts and is not approved by a majority. He is not your employee any longer, so cannot proceed against him at all. There is no guarantee that his present employer will offer any help (mostly, I feel he won't, as your good people will be going to him!).

Your only hope and action are to make your retention strategies more sound, and for that:

1. Try to collect AUTHENTIC data on reasons for attrition.
2. Check if you are paying comparable wages.
3. Check if you offer comparable terms & conditions of employment.
4. Check out growth opportunities in your organization.
5. Check out the treatment of your people (I mean if it is authoritarian, arbitrary, demanding, unkind, harsh, humiliating, etc.).
6. Check out the bonding devices of your organization (those schemes, programs, and activities that bind the employees to the organization psychologically and emotionally).

To do all this, you may have to get an "Organizational Climate Survey" and review and recast your HR policies.

Tell me if I can help you more!

Cheers.

Samvedan
August 22, 2008

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Dear All,

I have a query. One of our employees left our organization without notice and took two other employees from our organization with him to the same company. Now he is continuously calling the existing employees of our organization to leave the job and come to his own company. We want to take strong action against him so that his company is also aware of this situation. Please advise what should be the proper step against him.

Need your help urgently.

Thanks,
Ipsita

Hello Ipsita,

Why don't you add a clause in the appointment letter stating that employees working in your organization shall not undertake employment with your competitors or business rival organizations for two years from the date of termination of services? This measure will reduce migration to competitor organizations, and you can take disciplinary action against employees who join them. An employee may join any other organization besides your business competitors, ensuring that no harm comes to your business interests, thus preventing any potential damage. However, you must conduct due diligence as advised by Samvedan above to retain and reward good employees.

Regards,
Sawaant

Hi Sawaant,

I personally disagree with your suggestion! This is not at all possible. How can you ask a person to do so? Will a fresher even accept it?

Nataraj

The person who has started his own company must be holding a very high position in your company. In this case, for an employee above a certain level - perhaps a senior manager or in a role you have designated - they can have a non-poach agreement signed for a certain period of time. We do have the same mentioned in our employee agreement, exclusively meant for senior-level employees. This may help.

Open for suggestions...

Be honest... I guess this guy is a management-level staff. He knows the weaknesses and threats in your company, so he can easily assess your existing staff. The most important thing is to find out what his attraction points are first, then talk to the key staff and address their concerns point by point. In fact, the primary reason is usually "Salary"; if it's not the case, then you are in a difficult position.

Dear Somnag,

It's not a question of agreeing or disagreeing with a clause; there are many such agreements regarding the maintenance of business confidentiality. Any breach of contract and employer trust is an important issue for the business. Confidentiality is one of the prerogatives an employer may require of interviewing candidates to maintain and not disclose information, including business secrets.

Similarly, an employee may cause damage to the company's interests by joining a rival business. An employer can protect their interests by including the aforementioned clause in the employee's appointment letter. In this scenario, the employee can seek alternative employment but not with competitors of their current employer for a certain period.

For further clarification, you can refer to a legal expert on this matter.

Regards,
Sawant

Hi,

I beg to differ from Sawant's point of view. Neither can you force someone to join your organization nor to continue with the same. All you can do is build a conducive environment for the existing employees to work.

Seema

Very good,

I also agree in principle, but it's a tactical move to keep arrogant or harmful employees in check from damaging the company. We cannot force someone to work beyond their wish and will. Nor do we restrict people from joining another company or even joining rivals to some extent.

So, under these circumstances, you cannot keep quiet and let the happening of events damage the prospects of the company you work for. As a responsible HR professional, you must develop some tools to restrict harmful activities of such employees who operate under the aegis of a rival employer and their HR in charge who irritated your employee.

This clause prevents notorious and miscreant types of employees; otherwise, who will recognize you as an HR professional who cannot defend his turf. Simply paying more salary cannot retain employees because this leads to gambling and not HRM.

Regards,
Sawant

Hi,

I am a little late in joining this discussion; nevertheless, I thought I would share some of my experiences.

1. I do agree it is very tough to stop these practices, and sometimes I feel we, as Management, are wasting most of our time fighting these people rather than locating new good replacements.

2. Non-poach clauses or non-disclosure agreements are legally valid, and many organizations do get these agreements signed by senior employees. But in reality, they do dilute these agreements in certain cases where they ask employees to quit, which is sufficient for others to claim in court that the organizations are discriminating. We can still go to court, make the employees suffer, and even get a stay order that they shall not be engaged by competitors by specifying the employers' names. A general stay is also possible, and a good advocate will demand that the organizations be specified to have clarity so that new organizations commencing operations will not be covered.

3. No employee is arrogant or harmful as long as you are fair to them. I do agree with Samvedan; instead of spending time on the so-called arrogant or harmful employees who have left you, spend time on the good and productive employees you have built a team by inducting new good replacements.

4. I am a firm believer in the Bell Curve in all aspects. If you have five employees resigning from you, one may talk badly about your company, three may be neutral, and one may speak well of you. If you see this graph deviating with the information available to you, then you may have to look at it seriously, especially when the number on the left side is more.

Siva

Ipsita,

Good human resource policies, competitive salaries, and a satisfying work environment can help employees stay with the organization. While it may be challenging to prevent employees from being poached, prioritizing and taking care of employee well-being can significantly reduce turnover. It is advisable to review and enhance internal policies, procedures, and employee benefit programs rather than solely focusing on external threats.

Cordially,
Preet

Dear All,
I have a query. One of our employees left our organization without notice and convinced two other employees to join him at the same company. He is now persuading our current employees to leave their jobs and join his company. We are seeking guidance on the appropriate course of action to address this situation effectively.

Your urgent assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Ipsita

Hi All,

It has happened, so now let's look for the solution.

Ipsita - Get signed agreements from your employees on NDA. If you really need to take action, on what basis will you proceed? There is only one possible way: employees who have joined or are going to join can write a letter stating that someone is pressuring them to join another company. If they provide such a letter, it will be easier to take legal action.

Alternatively, you can directly approach the individual and request that they sign an agreement stating they will not hire your employees.

Apart from these options, there is no other solution.

Regards,
Ram (ramji@gmail.com)

Dear,

You can send a legal notice claiming damages through your local lawyer, followed by legal action claiming damages. This will be a shock for him and his associates.

With kind regards,

V. Sounder Rajan

Chennai – 600 001

Off: 044-42620864, 044-65874684