Good People Have Options

An old contact called me today. He is high up in the sales apparatus of a mutual fund company. Though acknowledging how tough business has been, he declared how healthy his company was and how they were using this opportunity to acquire the type of quality talent that was not available before the recession. That said, he told me how they had lost some amazing candidates because his Human Resources department had tried to take advantage of the candidates bad luck and given them lowball offers. Though out of work at the moment, two of the best candidates they had interviewed also had other opportunities. My buddy lost the best candidates because his firm was shortsighted and arrogant. Another good friend is working for a “TARPed” financial services firm. I tease him about how hard he is working and that I appreciate it as a taxpayer/shareholder. All kidding aside, he is absolutely miserable. He is working seven days a week for twelve hours a day and sees no light at the end of this tunnel. He does not know what kind of bonus he is getting, if any, and would take a job for less money just to bring his life back to some semblance of normalcy. He will find a new job because he is good at what he does. We taxpayers/shareholders will all lose because this same scenario is happening on a much larger scale throughout this company. No hope, no future, no family life, no fair compensation; not exactly a recruiting assignment that this headhunter wants to take on. Lessons to be learned: The best companies are learning that the incremental dollars saved from giving a fair offer and a lowball offer will cost them quality talent because the best candidates almost always have a Plan B. And they are learning this lesson because they are GOOD companies. The second lesson is for those in our government supervising TARP firms: you are driving the best talent away; distressed companies have to pay MORE, not less, to attract and retain top performers. They will find other opportunities and all the money we will have spent as taxpayers/shareholders will have been wasted.