Job (S)hopping; has integrity left the building?

We have all heard stories being traded by the HR folk, about the ‘offer hoppers’, specially in the IT sector. In fact this has become so legendary, that when it doesn’t happen, we are surprised! The most recent one I read right here on LinkedIn, was about a professional who moved from 35 LPA to 75 LPA in a span of just 90 days. We have also read a lot of anecdotes about the 90-day notice period - a stumbling block and a recruiter’s worst nightmare. Seems like the folk from middle to C level management, across other sectors too, have picked up a cue or two from the latest happenings.

Ever since the end of the 1st lockdown, the numbers of mid-senior to C level management candidates not showing up on Day 1 after accepting the offer letter have reached alarming proportions. What was previously a recruiter’s nightmare is turning out to be a shared trauma for Executive Search firms as well, because, at the C-Level, the story is slightly different but almost on the same lines. Leaving work ethics, morals and elements of surprise out of these situations this piece attempts to examine the issues from the tripartite consortium of stakeholders in recruitment interactions, viz. the Company, the Candidate and the Executive Search firm. 

Has the pandemic so drastically altered the playing field and the rulebook? Is demand-supply dynamics to blame? Does the candidate fitment process need a paradigm shift? Hopefully the source of the malady and solution to it, lie somewhere in between. 

The Company Perspective: 

To be honest, market conditions since the last 1.5 years, have not exactly been as hunky-dory as in the past. Without getting into the details, the need to survive has led to a rethink about all previous initiatives, budget sanctions, policies, perspectives and market strategies. Employers are compelled to deal with salary costs month-on-month, despite the steep drop in earnings.

The ‘new normal’ and ‘the great reset’ are still globally touted catch phrases that organisations are struggling to wrap their heads around. The ‘future of work’ is something that has many theories and few takers. Most management gurus seem to have gone silent on critical issues, leaving their followers in corporate limbo. After all, every company is hidebound to continue generating shareholder value and sport good looking balance sheets. Reality remains that sheer survival is the new normal.

The Candidate Perspective: 

Simply put, all their hitherto extant B-School studies, work experience and training provides them a near zero perspective on how to handle the current conundrum. These are the very folk who have had to do all the heavy lifting, in some of the harshest market conditions imaginable. They have had to be harbingers of not-so-good-news to their teams. Announcing retrenchments, salary cuts, downsizing, and upscaling of targets; while insisting on sales numbers be met, nonetheless.

Examining some of the issues from this perspective throws up some very pertinent questions. Was the candidate dealt a bad hand in his previous organisation and fears an encore in his new assignment? Did the structure of the compensation deal reveal hidden clauses that forced a rethink? Was the future employer able to draw a clear boundary around the role and mandate? Was the candidate a victim of extreme secret burnout that s/he successfully kept hidden? Did fear of failure get the better of him/her? Was s/he sacrificing his/her leadership capabilities, credibility at the altar of self-centeredness? Are values like loyalty and integrity slowly being eroded? And was the cost considered at all?

The Executive Search firm perspective: 

From the date of receiving the go ahead, it takes a minimum of three to six months to fill a C-level position. Two months for the search, one month for the interview process and two to three months to join thereafter. If the shortlisted candidate doesn’t join for whatsoever reason, the process has to begin again from scratch. Most executive search firms get paid for positions filled rather than time taken for the process. The "offer hoppers" send the entire process into a tizzy giving very little control over their thought process and subsequent behaviour to the search consultant. In fact it looks like candidates have relegated values like integrity, credibility and loyalty not just to the back seat, but to the boots of their cars. 

The elephant in the room however is the inherently biased lens through which employers could be viewing search consultants and their capabilities. What all this means is that the search and fitment process itself calls for a massive revamp in terms of evaluation process and metrics. So does the interview process. What worked in the past no longer seems relevant to the future.

The good thing about this is, we’re all learning quick and hard. The issues at hand are already being discussed at the highest levels of organisations and during search conversations with search firms. To answer the million dollar question on everybody’s lips is: Where is all this leading? None of us have comprehensive answers. 

President John F. Kennedy once said: “When written in Chinese, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters-one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.”

That’s precisely the intention of this piece; to highlight the complexity of the issues with a view to arriving at the sweet spot called the future. Here’s a word of encouragement from one of my favourite authors:

“Life always waits for some crisis to occur before revealing itself at its most brilliant.” ― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes.

Let's embrace opportunity and allow true brilliance to arise!