Three tablespoons on placement and recruitment issues

Three observations about people management surfaced from a recent discussion. One was that the merry-go-round of lawyer recruitment, departure, and new recruitment in China and Brussels causes consternation. Job hoppers command 20 percent increases and get cars or other perquisites. Too many multinationals are chasing too few qualified candidates. Golden handcuffs and phantom stock, among other inducements, raise costs enormously.

The second observation was that it is no good to send an ex pat to an office of the law department in China because the inability to speak Mandarin is so crucial (See my post of Jan. 12, 2009: ex pat lawyers and their costs, with 7 references.).

Third, no one knew how long you can get an executive search firm to agree not to recruit the person they just placed with you (two years?) (See my post of Sept. 16, 2008: search firms with 12 references.).