Employee's resume is circulated and we found out

CB

The owners of our company are very well connected in our industry and got a phone call from a business owner in another state this morning. The reason for the call was that this business owner received a resume from a recruiter and the person is currently working for us. Obviously, we now know that this employee is job hunting. When confronted by the owner of my company late last week, the employee stammered it didn't have to do with money. The conversation ended at that. Now the owner of my company wants to come up with an "exit strategy" for this person. Does anyone have any thoughts on this or has anyone dealt with a similar situation?

Beverlee

Whatever "exit strategy" you decide to use, I suggest using it fairly and across the board. We give exit "interviews" to people leaving.

I'm a bit curious about your question...is the owner hostile towards people who may be seeing what other positions are available in your field?
Will this be used against an empoyee at evaluation time?

I'd be worried that a "strategy* that appears to be penalizing an employee for bettering oneself would be horrific for employee morale.

Then again, it could be your choice of words. If the owner was confrontational and intimidating to an employee who could only "stammer" a response, that does not quite incite loyalty to any company, in my ever so humble opinion.

I feel, as a supervisior/boss, if I went up to the employee in a more jovial tone, and said, "Hi, let's sit down and discuss what it is you're looking for", that would create a more welcoming environment.

System

Welcome to the Forum, CB!

So the owner wants to fire anyone who circulates their resume? Kind of extreme, if you ask me (which you did, I guess). That would hurt morale, especially since a lot of people float their resumes just to test the water and never leave. Or their job hunt makes them realize that their current job is pretty sweet.

Now, if it's a weak employee and his work or attitude is suffering because he has one foot out the door ... I'd have no problem helping him leave.

On the other end of the spectrum, I once worked at a company where the CEO called our profit-sharing plan our "go to hell money." If we didn't like our job, we could tell the CEO to go to hell and collect enough profit-sharing $ to tide us over during our job hunt. I thought that was great.

James Sokolowski
HRhero.com

HCCADC

If I was the employee who sent the resume, I would be pretty mad at the recruiter and the company that called your owner. That should be kept confidential when applying for a position. That being said, I would not want to 'push' the employee out. Sometimes people get restless and apply for jobs but only to see what is available, not necessarily to leave. I would have a conversation in private, with the employee to see if s/he is disgruntled and why s/he is.

Rockie

Employees are free to send our their resumes to anyone they choose to. I know some companies have a very hostile approach to anyone "looking" for another job, but in a lot of cases, it is simply curiosity about an advertised position. If the position is a step up, then maybe it's a good thing for the employee.

I don't think we can hold people hostage in this way. Even if the employee is happy in his current position that doesn't preclude him or her from testing the waters to see what is "out there".

WT

To a degree, you are talking about employee loyalty. How loyal can you reasonably expect your employees to be and should they stay with you even if they could better themselves elsewhere. If they do stay, what is the long term outlook for them? Do you offer a good pension for employees who stay with you long enough to retire, or is it a 401k to which they can contribute? Is there some kind of provision for healthcare in retirement years? If times get tough, how loyal will the Employer be to the employees? As business conditions change, a good many employees find themselves out of work every year. Due to downsizing, right sizing and various cost cutting moves, American employers have largely traded employee loyalty for cash applied to the bottom line. Currently, the best time to look for a job is when you have a job. The new generation of workers coming up have much diminished expectations of how loyal their employer will be to them and this is balanced by less loyalty to the employer.

E Wart

I am a little confused too. First, I would be worried about the owner. Sounds as if he is a little insecure and vendictive.
If I was him, I would be worried about why the employee wanted to leave (if you like the employee.) If the person who called is in another state, maybe the employee's spouse is being transferred or something?
I too think that the recruiter might not have handled this well, that the person they are working for (the other business owner) shouldn't be calling around in the middle of the recuriting process talking to the applicant's present employer. I am sure he must have known that this would get the employee in trouble.
I don't see anything wrong with sitting the employee down and letting him know that you know he is out there applying for other work, but you were concerned and just wondered why and is he unhappy with present job, what can be done to make it better, etc.
I certainly wouldn't make "life harder" for applicant/employee now that you know. This is retaliation and I don't think looks good for other employees that work there. (They will know it is going on.)
E Wart

hrdir03nafcu

I totally agree with those who've already posted commenting on the obvious negative effect this owner's behavior will have on EE morale! The end result will be to encourage EEs to be ultr-secretibve when they go looking elsewhere, lest they get bashed or even fired by the boss for doing so.... and will leave you little/no opportunity to counter an offer made to one of your real "keepers" when that situation comes up.

While it's not illegal per se, in VA, to fire someone for interviewing for a job elsewhere, I think firing people for exploring job opportunities with other organizations presents a prime opportunity for a wrongful termination lawsuit. I don't think it's going to play well before a jury that an EE was fired for cause....the cause being: (s)he went for a job interview w/ another company!!

As others have commented, ER loyalty has basically evaporated these days. ERs do have a right to expect loyalty from EEs in the sense that an EE may not act to sabotage the ER's interests (i.e., sell company secrets, entice clients away, etc.)....but this expectation does NOT extend to denying EEs the right to explore other employment opportunities. Loyalty is a 2-way street. To the extent that ERs want loyalty FROM their EEs, they need to be ready to extend an equitable degree of loyalty TO their EEs.