Of poachers and lavish promises

Had a good talk with my staff today on how they could triple or quadruple their salaries by joining a competing firm trying to poach our consultants. All they had to do was to apply to that company which is so desperate for talented and experienced people that they are willing to fork out triple or quadruple the market rates.

But I also told them to think through the motives and implications of accepting this seemingly too-good-to-be-true offer. With such lavish payments the offering firm cannot be running a sustainable business. They will, at some time or another, be forced to cut costs just to maintain their profit margins.

When that happens those who had accepted the offers would be in a quandary. They would have priced themselves out of the market and the only way to get back in is to eat humble pie and take a pay cut. But this is a difficult proposition for many so they end up miserable and overworked. No wonder the chap who took their offer earlier is now tweeting about how late he has to work and how much work he's saddled with.

There are really no shortcuts in life. This applies to individuals who unwittingly sacrifice their careers for short term rewards as well as PR agencies who think they can build a loyal, professional and competent staff overnight by appealing to the mercenary instincts of staff in consultancies better than theirs. You can't build a career with just opportunism and not hard work; just as you can't build a viable PR firm on the back of others' efforts.