Ethics in Executive Recruiting, David Magy

Over the past 25 years,  David Magy – Principal at Abeln, Magy & Underberg and a member of the IACPR’s  Small Search Firm Planning Committee --has earned the reputation as “expert” in the field of retained search, corporate recruitment and workforce consulting. He has worked extensively with human resource staffing system design from both the corporate and consulting perspectives. His firm is recognized as a respected partner in recruiting key talent within a large array of businesses. Here he takes a look at ethics – a topic of critical importance to IACPR members.  

The search person says to the HR person: I want to lead a discussion on Ethics in the Search Field.

The HR person responds: Well that won’t take long!

Sad, but all too true – and these past weeks have given me reason to (at least partially) agree. I am an HR person by background and still consider myself to be in that broadly-defined field. HR as a function should strive to be a business partner; that said, they should also make sure certain tenets are followed. I have found myself responding as an HR person to a few items – and then I started worrying about the search field.

We should know better!

Two different HR leaders . . . .  two different stories . . . .

• An HR leader was asked directly by a respected search consultant (in the Twin Cities) for the year they graduated high school. (The HR leader was shocked but politely answered the question. We can argue the merits of that later.) I give up . . . .  under what circumstance is that pertinent information? How would one use it? I can think of only one reason for asking the question. You can determine the candidate’s age within one year. Is the search person discriminating? Were they asked to discriminate? (NOTE – the search person is an extension of the employer – and I know [or at least hope] that no employer would ‘directly’ ask.)
• It was suggested by a search consultant (in the Twin Cities) that an HR person (a different person than referenced above) change the date that their employment ended. It’s January 2012. The HR person’s employment ended in December of 2011. The search person said to use 2012 as the date on the resume. The search person’s concern was that using 2011 could imply that employment ended as early as January of 2011 – a full year ago. Using 2012 keeps the timeframe more recent in the reader’s mind. (I know there are other ways this situation can be handled.)

What is our obligation to our client (the employer)? What is our obligation to our profession?

There are certain employment legalities that we all, of course,  must adhere to when recruiting a new hire, whatever the level. But the ethics of the profession must go beyond just meeting the law. As recruiters – either in a corporate environment or as a search firm – we have an obligation to interface with both candidates and clients in a highly ethical fashion.

What does that mean? The International Association for Corporate & Professional Recruitment (IACPR) and the AESC both have ethical guidelines for their members. I know for a fact that the IACPR and the AESC enforce these strictly.

However, as with anything, there is the same subjectivity that pervades our every day personal and business dealings. But if it feels wrong, chances are it is. If it any way compromises the candidate, then you have crossed the line. If you have to "adjust" the facts about a candidate, you have crossed another line.  If your client is asking you to "pretty up" the facts about the position or the company's future, don't.