The Disloyal Employee

For the last five years, I’ve worked in recruiting, (a career, I admittedly fell into instead of actually pursuing but that is another story for another time) both in the agency and corporate worlds. My experience in recruiting has also connected me to the often seedy (yes, I said it) world of human resources. 

When it comes to recruiting and human resources (two sides of the same coin), as a professional recruiter, I can honestly say that the hiring process is a broken process. For one, the applicant tracking software requires you to upload a resume and then painstakingly re-enter the same information on another page. All this effort often leads to never receiving a response. Then, there are the recruiters who purse candidates only to ghost them. Lastly, there’s the HR manager who shamelessly put the business needs over the employees’ needs– the ones who keep the said business afloat. It’s a very messy world where no one who enters leaves unscathed. 

I could go on, but I am not here to make you cry. Yes, the hiring process is broken but my biggest gripe as a recruiter is with hiring managers and by extension, companies’ expectations of employee loyalty. 

This expectation manifests in several ways. From a recruiter's perspective, I’ve often had hiring managers discourage me from talking with employees who have a history of “job-hopping” or have less than a “required” number of years at a job. Never mind the fact that employees leave companies for all sort of reasons (I myself left a job after the relationship with my manager went sour) or the fact that job-hopping itself isn’t indicative of an employee’s ability to perform in a job nor a reflection of their loyalty to a prospective employer. 

Employers and employees both need to evolve their thinking when it comes to their work relationships. Employers must understand that employees give as good as they get and employees must learn the importance of centering themselves in their careers and not feel like they are doing something wrong when they explore opportunities outside of their current jobs.