Stealing Employees

[JRAZ]

I found out yesterday that an owner of another local landscape company tried to swindle my main foreman away from me. My foreman is definitely an ALL STAR! He has been with me for almost 3 years now, only missed one day of work in that time and can do pretty much anything and then some. I was pretty pissed when I found out about it and thought about calling the guy, but I got over it, I think. I still kinda want to call him up and say WTF!

I don't do this practice. If I need a worker I try to find one through ads, temp agency or word of mouth.

What do you all think of the practice of trying to steal your fellow scapers employees? Do you think I should call this guy and have a talk with him?

[pagefault]

Most managers want to hire people they know or hire people that people they know recommend. Does the other guy know your foreman or have an indirect connection?

Hiring people away from other companies happens all the time in every industry. Many companies have non-compete agreements that the employees sign, but they are difficult to write in a way that makes them enforceable, because you can't deny someone the right to make a living.

If your foreman is that good, make sure he knows that you know how good he is and make sure you take care of him. That means more than just salary. Give him time off whenever he needs it, give him bonuses, give him a path to advancement, etc. Competing with other employers for good employees is just like competing with other companies for good accounts. You need to set yourself apart from other companies any way you can.

I once knew a guy who sent an employee to see a Broncos game in Denver. He was a sales guy and was always on the road, so the plane ticket, car rental and hotel room were probably free. Who knows, he may have even gotten the tickets from a customer. That employee was blown away and turned down several jobs for considerably more money over the years, just because of little things like that.

When I worked with software developers, I would get them $25 gift certificates for Hastings, which is a music/book/movie/video game/software store in town. One of them told me once that the gift certificates were one of the best things the company did for them, because some thought went into them.

You have to be creative. A class at the local university (here) costs a few hundred bucks. At the community college it is even less. You might give him a few hours off each week and pay his tuition for one class. Who knows, he might even study something that will help him to be a better employee.

[out4now]

Exactly what pagefualt said. Take care of that intellectual capital before it walks out the door. Employees are easy to find, good employees hard to find, great employees nearly impossible to find. If you ran across someone at a BBQ or at Circle K and got to talking and the uy seemed to really be what you were looking for are you going to waste your time palcing an ad? Of course not.

[JRAZ]

I take very good care of him. Very good. I already do what you guys listed as perks and then some. Thus, he did not leave. I just find this as a low down and dirty way to get employees. I look for great employees everywhere too! This was not a casual meeting or a coincidence of them meeting at the thrift store or anything like that. Do you guys find out who the good employees for other firms are and go after them? That is what this was. If it was a casual kind of thing through conversation after meeting somewhere, I can understand that. This was not. If my foreman was seeking another job then that is different story altogether.

[pagefault]

Do you guys find out who the good employees for other firms are and go after them? That is what this was.

Yes. I have already identified 8 people that I want to hire when I start looking for employees. None of them work for my competition, but several of them do work for my last employer. What if your foreman was working for someone else, doing just as great a job and his employer was not taking care of him? You would feel bad for hiring him away from them? Not me.

My wife has worked for the same attorney for 6 years. She gets job offers from other attorneys several times a year. Her boss knows. He doesn't care, because he treats her right. She's got no reason to go anywhere.

[out4now]

Ok so the guy sen tout a talent scout. That happens a lot too. I've seen guys do it for workers but not crew cheifs. How did he discover how good your guy is? Did he observe his work or ask employees how they liked working for him? Driving up on a crew and trying to get them to change company is kind of like the old Teamster way of getting members. Really ballzy but not very bright, what would that guy have done if you drove up and saw that? One thing that really stands out is that your employee told you about it, a good sign of loyalty.
I'd be pissed too but what can you really do? The guy is free to work for who he wants and you can't be around to watch the crew all the time. Your employee has already demonstrated loyalty and I would focus more on him and how well he handled it than worry about the jerk that pulled that stunt.

[Mo Green]

unethical........yes

unheard of ..........no

Unfortunately it's just the nature of business. Sounds like you are doing a good job keeping him happy. Just keep doing what your doing.

[lawnman_scott]

I found out yesterday that an owner of another local landscape company tried to swindle my main foreman away from me. What do you all think of the practice of trying to steal your fellow scapers employees? Do you think I should call this guy and have a talk with him?Sure call him up. Tell him that that guy is yours, and yours only. Tell him you found him, now he belongs to you, and if he wants a guy like him to find his own because this one is yours!!!!

[bsteponick]

Sure call him up. Tell him that that guy is yours, and yours only. Tell him you found him, now he belongs to you, and if he wants a guy like him to find his own because this one is yours!!!!



Lawnman, you sure are a funny guy. Employees are not "property" of any company so therefore, he is not "yours". As once a great employee, I would quit on the spot if I found out that is how my boss thought of me.

[pagefault]

So much for sarcasm on the internet...

[lawnman_scott]

Lawnman, you sure are a funny guy. Employees are not "property" of any company so therefore, he is not "yours". As once a great employee, I would quit on the spot if I found out that is how my boss thought of me.
tell that to the guy that started the thread, i already know it.

[JRAZ]

I know this practice exists and is not uncommon. Please note, I did not and do not take "possession" of my employees. If you use this as your practice of getting new employees I think you are a low life. It is legal but I find it unethical. It is one thing to place an ad for a position or publicize an ad and get a guy from another firm and another to directly solicit a guy from a firm. Do any of you guys that replied in this post have employees?

[pagefault]

I know this practice exists and is not uncommon. Please note, I did not and do not take "possession" of my employees. If you use this as your practice of getting new employees I think you are a low life. It is legal but I find it unethical. It is one thing to place an ad for a position or publicize an ad and get a guy from another firm and another to directly solicit a guy from a firm. Do any of you guys that replied in this post have employees?

I don't have any now. I have had many in my past positions. Like I said, I have several in mind that I intend to hire away from my last employer. You may think it is unethical. I think it is unethical for that company to treat them the way they do and I think it is insane for me not to hire people that I know are great, just because they work somewhere else at the moment.

[lawnman_scott]

I know this practice exists and is not uncommon. Please note, I did not and do not take "possession" of my employees. If you use this as your practice of getting new employees I think you are a low life. It is legal but I find it unethical. It is one thing to place an ad for a position or publicize an ad and get a guy from another firm and another to directly solicit a guy from a firm. Do any of you guys that replied in this post have employees?
I do, and its a free country. I dont see how it is unethical.

[JRAZ]

I do, and its a free country. I dont see how it is unethical.

OK, that's cool. So you are ok with your guys/gals being fair game in this manner?

Obviously te bottom line here is to take care of those employees that are good to you and you shouldn't have to worry about.

[Scapegoat]

I haven't read all the posts, but to answer your question, no. Just let it go.

You aren't running some slave labor camp where your employees have to work off a certain amount of time to pay you back for some reason, are ya?

Cause that happens alot here in Florida.

So, if your don't have slave labor and treat your employees well, you have nothing to worry about.

[bsteponick]

I think it has more to do with what has said earlier. If you can keep your employees happy (by the way without any frills) and treat them like people, than you got something good. I don't know how you found out about your employee being approached but if it was from him, well maybe he was considering it and wanted to see how you would react. If he was interested in leaving all you can do is ask, and mean it "is there anything that we can work out to make you stay?" You would not believe how an open line of communication makes or breaks companies who rely deseratly on there employees.

[M RASCOE&SONS]

in this day and age alot of people are worried about the bottom line because the expence of living in general ,so when this kind of stuff happens its a wake up call for all of us employers to make sure we dont forget where we came from and who helped us get there.you have to sit back and think why did this guy tell me this stuff if he wasnt interested because all it does is create tention .let it go and keep on mowin because someday you might be able to repay the favor lol!