The ‘Spirit Of Recruitment’
All Australian and English Cricket fans will be very familiar with the recent debate that resulted from a controversial stumping in the men’s second test in the 2023 Ashes Series at Lords.
It certainly filled the front and back pages in the days that followed, was hot topic on radio phone ins, and divided the opinion of the outspoken on social media.
Was it in the ‘Spirit of Cricket’? Did Australia demonstrate unethical behaviour? Was it the turning point of the match? Will this be how the 2023 series is remembered?
All fair points, and a catalyst for great discussion.
For those that have not let cricket consume them since the start of the Ashes in June, here’s a quick description of what happened on that fateful Saturday.
Jonny Bairstow, an English cricketer, ducked under the last delivery of the 52nd over and then started to make his way to the middle of the wicket, in a way that players do in breaks in play such as the end of an over. However, the Australian Wicket Keeper, Alex Carey, caught the ball and then threw it at the stumps, resulting in the ball hitting and removing the bails after Bairstow had left his ground, an act that has been deemed morally wrong.
Pandemonium ensued whilst the umpires consulted with the third umpire (in his position off the field) who eventually gave his decision as ‘out’. This was met by a flurry of boos and chants towards the ‘cheating Aussies’ and some quite ugly scenes in the infamous Long Room as the team broke for lunch.
However, in the laws of the game the ball was not dead meaning that when it hit the stumps, and Bairstow was halfway down the pitch, he was out.
This moment was deemed a critical point of the match, and with England going on to lose the match and going 2-0 down in the series, temperatures were high, relationships were soured.
Was it out? Yes, no one is arguing that.
Should Australia have withdrawn their appeal? Yes. Probably. Bairstow was not trying to gain an advantage or get an extra run.
Was there a lack of communication? Had ‘over’ been called? Had the umpires started to walk to signify the end of the over? All questions that the English team looked for answers to.
Was the stumping in the ‘Spirit of the Game’? No, but Australia has a strained relationship with the rules and ‘Spirit of the Game’ and certainly, what followed in the days after, demonstrated that England, too, have been guilty of relying on the letter of law in the past.
Whatever your opinion may be, it could be argued as well that Jonny Bairstow was just too casual in his approach and too quick to assume that ‘all was good’. He took his eye off the ball, and mindlessly wandered.
This situation got me thinking about the ‘Spirit of Recruitment’ and in particular a ‘back door hire’.
Recruiting, too, involves morals, ethics and trust. The only difference, is that there are three teams involved. But, there are laws and codes of conduct that we follow. At LUXE Recruitment, we are members of the REC, where “members observe the highest principles of ethics, equity, integrity, professional conduct and fair practice in dealing with others and conduct their business in a manner designed to enhance the operation, image and reputation of the recruitment industry and REC members”.
We are governed by this code of conduct to make sure that we are not doing anything untoward and recruiting within the laws, but then unfortunately, situations occur that can go against the norm and against us resulting in high temperatures and soured relationships.
For those that are not familiar, a ‘back door hire’ happens when a recruiter makes an introduction to a client or hirer. Most commonly, this would be by sending a CV to a client, with a job in mind. What follows is that the client then contacts the candidate directly and decides to make an offer, to avoid paying the recruitment/ introduction fee.
Undoubtedly this is frustrating, upsetting and considerably annoying, but why has this unsporting behaviour happened?
Is it wrong? Yes, no one is arguing that.
Should the client have gone behind your back and contacted the candidate? No, but ask yourself why? Did they not see your service as being worthy of the fee? Were you robotic? Transactional? Only interested in filling the role, rather than taking the time to understand the complex needs of the job in hand?
Should the candidate have accepted an offer directly? No, but was your relationship not valued enough in their opinion to make them think twice? Was your communication poor, did you not listen, were you hard to reach?
Had you mindlessly wandered and become too casual in your approach? Had you spent enough time understanding the needs, values, and goals of the candidate and company or had you just had a quick chat with a ‘good’ candidate and thought that was enough to charge your fee?
It isn’t often that you try to cheat someone that you have respect for, therefore, something went wrong, and sometimes you have to look at yourself first to understand what that is. As a recruiter, you need to be clear on your mission, vision and values. You need to be insightful and knowledgeable. You need to build long lasting relationships based on mutual trust and respect.
Unfortunately, things will happen that is against the ‘spirit’, but there are positives that you can take and learn from. Continue to put your game face on, win or lose you can inspire, teach, learn from each situation.
By taking your eye off the ball and becoming lazy you are jeopardising your hard work. You are risking the relationships that you have spent a long time building. Which is a shame.
But, whereas the bad blood between the recruiter and client is probably irreparable when someone goes against the ‘Spirit of Recruitment’, the tension between Australia and England only makes the next and last two matches of the series a must watch!
Sources:
THE REC Code of Professional Practice. https://www.rec.uk.com/
