Indian Employees' Attitudes toward Poaching

Abstract

Given the paucity of research on poaching (hiring employees who are already employed by another, sometimes competitor, company) in India, this study used an experimental design with data from 164 Indian managers and professionals working in a variety of industries, to examine their perceptions of employees who are poached, of companies who engage in poaching, and of their possible reasons for switching jobs. Participants were engaged in three tasks as follows: in the first task, participants were randomly assigned to one of the four scenarios (in a 2 (Agency: Company vs. Employee) x 2 (Decision: Joining rival firm vs. Not joining rival firm) design); in the second task, participants were given a description of a company that either poaches or one that does not poach; and finally, in the third task, participants were asked about the reasons that would lead an employee to getting poached. The study's results indicated that participants perceived employees who get poached as less moral and more business-minded. They also perceived companies who engage in poaching as being competitive, and also perceived such companies more negatively than companies that did not poach. Improvements in salary, status, and social environment emerged as primary reasons for participants to consider switching jobs.