The Grass is not Always Greener

Being a recruiter means riding a fine line between pushing sales and counselling. On the one hand we are commission driven – the more placements we make the more money we earn. The flip side is to ensure the proper placement of a candidate through listening and discussing all options; we must gauge the candidate/client and ensure we are counselling both sides for a long term beneficial fit.

This is where ethics and morals play a large part in how we practice our talent acquisition. This is where as a recruiter who has earned the trust of their client and their candidate, sometimes, we must tell our candidates “the grass is not always greener”.

The candidate is hot to make a move for a variety of reasons; their work load is too much, commute is too far, pay is not enough, supervisor is too difficult. This Grade A talent we just found is ripe to move and we have lined up just the right client for them….or have we? Are we looking into the long term? Are we making a researched and informed decision? Have we looked at every angle to see if we are overlooking the less attractive features of this placement? This is where a recruiter must steady themselves, the placement is not worth the disappointed from both client and candidate when the position does not work out. It is most definitely not worth tarnishing your reputation as a recruiter.

Candidates working with or without a recruiter slip into the grass is greener mindset often. One example comes from my personal life. Several years ago, my husband was approached for a position with a competing firm. The job was quite similar, a modest salary increase, a location closer to our home at the time, but it was the potential for future roles and responsibilities that really intrigued him. The opportunity came at the same time as he was having some long term concerns regarding his current employer, position, and career growth. Wow! What an opportunity? Right?

Wrong.?At that time, he was involved in launching a small business with some friends, and due to the stress and time constraints involved in that process he was unable to research and inform himself of the pro’s and con’s of making the move.?He ultimately resigned from his position and started several weeks later with the new employer. On his first day with the new firm he called me at 10am to say that he made a mistake, when I asked how he could know that a mere 2 hours into his first day, he replied “I’ve known the whole time, I rushed the decision to focus on other things, I made a mistake”.?3 weeks later he resigned from his new employer and was lucky enough to be welcomed back with warm arms to his previous employer. During those 3 weeks I watched him cringe to get out of bed to go to work – he was miserable!?So, what happened??Here’s a hint; it had nothing to do with his new employer, and everything to do with what he left.

Location: physically the address was closer, but the commute was diagonal across the entire main core of Toronto from our home in Liberty Village. Ironically, it took him longer to commute to work even though his new employer’s office was in the same city we lived (I’m sure you Torontonians will appreciate that).?And of course he had to incur the additional monthly costs for parking.?All factors he should have figured out if he had taken the time to research beforehand, but as mentioned above, he was completely preoccupied with his side business.

Culture: he missed his previous co-workers. He had spent years working with a wonderful group of people and missed them. Granted, the new office he joined had fantastic people as well, top notch talent, kind and welcoming beyond all expectations, but it wasn’t quite the same.?As I said above, it had nothing to do with the new firm and everything to do with what (or in this case who) he had left.

Higher pay: after taxes and the costs of Toronto parking were taken into consideration, the pay increase was nominal. It was not a large determining factor.

Career growth: The primary driver for his decision to choose the new employment opportunity was the discussion around career growth, something that was missing at his original company.?Upon returning to his original employer, he sat down with management and started discussing the future.?Changes were made and his redefined role affords him client facing opportunities, involvement in the day-to-day of the business operations, and management’s encouragement to have a more active role with his co-workers.?

The grass was not greener on the other side.

I fully acknowledge that not everyone will have the ability to resign, try out a new position and move back if they find issue(s) with the new employer. I am also not suggesting you never make a career move;

Rather look beyond the initial glamour of the offer, try and look beyond the excitement of the change. Instead, try and generate a Pro’s and Con’s list – Have you foreseen the challenges of commuting, new environment, new increased responsibilities, learning curves, employer expectations, staffing dynamics?

The competitor could be the best company since sliced bread, you might be very happy working for them (this is an outcome!). But what if you are not? How will that affect your life? Take the time to make a deliberate and methodical change in your career, you will be better for it in the long run.

?Sincerely,

Agnes