Poaching Of Staff

Dear all
My company recently dismissed a Head of Department for gross misconduct, including forgery. The dismissal was done with forsenic evidence, after a panel inquiry and with the staff admitting to the deed. Four of his subordinates were also found guilty but were let off by given both verbal & written warnings.
He has since left the company and has joined a competitor. Since his departure, his ex-team has tendered one after the other to join him. More resignation is expected and this will definitely affect business continuity.
I would like to seek advice on how my company should proceed to urgently address these issues.
Thanks in advance.
Autumn Jane

Dear Miss Jane,
You surely cannot stop an employee from leaving your company, but you can surely avoid such a situation in future by tightening your recruitment process and bringing in more genuine people in your organization. Anyway, don't worry about such employees leaving your organization. There is no dearth of good and efficient people in the market.
Regards

Thanks for reply. My superior has requested me to send a letter to the competitor to expose him. Is this being unprofessional or unethical? Or is this an act of a responsible employer?

Dear Ms Jane,
Never resort to such kind of acts which are immoral or unethical. Such acts will not only tarnish the image of the organization but your own image will also be under the scanner.
Forget those employees. They are no more a part of your company. Look towards the future.
Regards

I agree with my collegue's opinion . There is no derth of skill in India.
You should be careful in future while taking new hands .
B.Dakshina murty

Dear Jane
it is known as natural corporate game.......you cant stop.....
recruit new genuine employee...
Dada

Dear Jane
Are you sure about the CAUSE of the misconduct committed by him and the team ? Was the illegitimate deed committed out of some legitimate reason, compelling circumstances...??
why did the team members resign your company, and follow the 'tainted' leader (ex-HOD) to join him ???
And you say more resignations is expected !!!!
Could it be possible that he is a hero or a victim ???
Regards.

Hi,
It seems the employee who has been terminated from your organisation is a very good team Leader and a motivator as well. As you said more resignation is expected that means he has a very good hold and command over his ex colleagues. The best you can do is to come up with some retention practices and motivate them by explaining the career growth in your oraganisation, Company strength, market share and the benefits for your employees.
And while recruiting senior level employees you can get an agreement from them for not joining immediate competitor for a time being.
Hope you are recharged fully to confront this situation.
All the best.
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Dear All

First and foremost, this HOD is not a new hire. He has been with the company for 28 years as an Inspector and was only promoted to HOD two years back during a restructuring. Most of his subordinates have an average tenure of 5 years. While I agree that we need to strengthen the recruitment & selection process as suggested by all, I also see the issue being related to both our promotion and training & development policies & procedures - we have promoted a good technical staff into a people management role without providing him the necessary training to become an effective manager. While I have already strengthened these two aspects, I personally think that the company has failed him.

The above aside, his gross misconduct included:
1. Falsification of processes, tempered records and forged signatures relating to monies matter;
2. Unlawful disclosure of company confidential information;
3. Fabrication of company information; and
4. Unethical instigation to create business discontinuity.

Raj is totally right to say that he was the "hero" and "victim". He was a "hero" because he amended his subordiantes overtime claims by inflating the overtime hours so that his team can get more money. He was a "victim" because he got axed by the company while trying to provide more for his team. His team is found guilty as they allowed him to forge their signatures on the overtime claim form. Because of the favor he has done for them, they willingly followed him.

While the whole team is found guilty, the HOD is the only that got dismissed as he has abused his position as a HOD and breached the trust placed upon him. He is held fully accountable for his action. The rest of the team were given both verbal and written warnings due to business continuity reason - we can't dismiss all as it will leave a vacumn in that business line.

The company has decided against handing him over to the police as it is never the company's intention to destroy his future livelihood and were hoping that he has learnt his lesson. But obviously, he did not and started this poaching.

My boss is serious about sending the letter to the competitor. While I have explained to him the pros & cons to this action, he is determined to do so. As such, I have suggested to him that the letter should then be issued out from the lawyer's office so as to build a stronger case if there is an injunction.

Appreciate comments from all seniors please.

Best regards
Autumn jane

Hi Autumn,

This is common in most of the Organizations.

You may not be able to stop people from resigning. Whats the point in doing so?

See what difference is there in working for the competitor company and your company. do they have better policies? are their policies more relaxed? do their compensation structure help their employees have the opotential of earning much better? Do they have a better working culture? Do they provide more facilities for employees, that help them perform better?

May be if your employer is better than them in most of the factors that are a HUGE consoderation for prospective candidates, and your current employees, then you need not worry abt such factors.

Its not just enough you have all these and put them on paper, you need to implement the same and also let your employees know "what a great place they are working in".

And I dont think it will do good, if team members who were so used to his "wrong ways" are still continuing there. They may spread a lot of negativity...

Good luck!

(what would you do if all GOOD performers of your competitor company - decides to join your group - and you just have the positions vacant for their posts? Wont you be happy? Wont you think the HR at the competitor's end is just too silly if he/she tries to stop such things by introducing new rules or by sending any letter to you?) THINK. :-)