CEOs giving recruitment interview at their offices

Attrition can drive HR professionals into desperation. In some cases, this desperation is forcing HR professionals to walk right into their adversary���s den ��� competitor���s office ��� to interview and recruit candidates.

For example, last weekend an HR head of a foreign financial institution walked into the office of Ramesh Sanyal (name changed), head of marketing in a financial advisory company. The HR executive had dropped in to interview Ramesh on a weekend. The meeting was fixed over a telecon between the two and the HR executive was more than willing to meet the senior manager in the latter���s office.

With a dearth of skilled talent and trouble in finding replacements at the top end of the organisational pyramid, today���s HR executives are under tremendous pressure to successfully induct the right people in their organisations. While poaching is becoming rampant, traditional recruiting methods are failing to get the desired response from senior managers. Tight working schedules of senior executives are also making it difficult for poachers to touch base with them. In such scenarios, an easy way out is to meet the executive concerned in his/her office without attracting unwanted attention and saving the executive���s time.

Swapnakant Samal, head HR of Shinsei Investments, the Indian mutual fund division of the Tokyo-based Shinsei Bank, says: ���Today networking is very strong, so even while meeting outside there are chances that you may end up meeting familiar people from the same industry. There is always a worry of security of the information exchanged. Hence, the CEO���s office offers a safe and unsuspecting meeting haven for HR honchos of other companies.���

���At times the HR manager comes along with other top officials of his/her company, to let the CEO know and get introduced to other members of the senior management team of the company he is considering to join,��� elaborates Mr Samal. Industry experts feel this is the most novel and a rare tool being used by HR professionals while poaching top-level management.

Meena Shrivastav, national recruitment manager of an IT company, says: ���The talent crunch is acute at the top end. In hot industries like IT and financial services for instance, replacement of senior executives has become very difficult and time-consuming process. At times, it takes 6-8 months to find an equally competent and qualified person.���

However, not all agree with this phenomenon becoming a trend. E Balaji, chief operating officer of Ma Foi Management Consultants, says: ���While recruiting top-level executives like CEOs or CFOs, it is the chairperson or the board of directors who come into picture since the stakes involved are high.

Moreover, arranging interviews in one���s office is very unusual and may be embarrassing for the incumbent. These are generally held in neutral settings like exclusive clubs or five-star hotels in a very discreet manner. However, this tool can be feasible while recruiting employees at the middle-level management.���


ET INTELLIGENCE GROUP