Job Recruitment Ethics (Part 1)

It was my pleasure and luck to attend an ACCA meeting with colleges and their owners and faculties in 2007 when ACCA changed its syllabus. The interesting part was the discussions from the top entrepreneurs and industry experts on ethics. The most interesting person I found was the president of GEO TV network (One of the largest news sources of Pakistan) who shared his funny stories with agencies and how he manages the two horns of ethics dilemma.

Apart from the interesting discussions and questions, I could not really understand (at that time) the reasons as to why ACCA was putting too much stress on ethics (though I know its importance in all types of fields, let alone accountancy) but the ethics module was included in almost every paper (where relevant). Students were not originally happy with the mandatory ethics requirement that they needed to clear in order to gain their accreditation, but with continuous campaigning from the ACCA about its importance, the student community came to terms.

Past events (I really prefer not to mention – just Google it) which involves accountancy professionals involved in fraud, unfortunately, had (and still has) an effect on the whole industry. Of course not everyone is the same but as we all know, perception often matters more than the truth.

So while thinking on this ethics concept, a new idea came to my mind that if an employee could be unethically deceive his/her employer, wouldn’t it be possible that an employer do the same with his/her employee? You might ask how is it possible Ali?

Just as an example question, I discussed this with different people. The question was, “As a recruiter, would you persuade a candidate to accept a job, which you knew in your heart would, in the long run, prove unsuitable for them?

Mr. Lee Brown, a business development manager at Strike ITS, UK summarized his response in one line. “For most of us money talks”.

Mr. Steven Allen, owner at Steve Allen Realty, raised even more questions for me with his response. “As a recruiter, you are presenting an opportunity. You cannot determine the future, if you can, you need to be my stock broker”, he said. So his answer, as interesting as it was, also confuses many people about the ethics problem. It could appear that when deciding the career of an employee, it’s not your role to gamble on the future and hence it is irrelevant to feel ashamed if it proves to be a wrong decision for the employee.

Lucy Antrobus, a managing consultant at Future Executive Search Limited share a different view and an experience. In a response to the above question, she said, “I personally wouldn’t, as it is their future that you are having an impact on. If you give honest advice and have integrity then you get a much better reputation in the industry”.

“Even if you don’t place a candidate they will remember you and help you in the future”, she added. “I have had some candidates that have turned into major clients that I have never placed and other that had given my reference”, she said.

Then what are the signs that a potential hire could be wrong? “If you have to persuade a candidate to take a job, then it’s the wrong job”, said Mr. John Davis, a technical recruitment specialist in Slade-Group, Australia.

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