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Lateral damage: failed hires cost London dear

Perhaps one of the (I am sure various) reasons for the lack of "stick" in laterals is that leopards don't change their spots - candidates will be the same people they were before and after the move, and despite what firms may like to think the fundamentals and pressures involved in the partnership role are much the same from one firm to the other. A partner who is looking to move from one London firm to another is doing so because s/he is for one reason or another unhappy with the current firm. The grass is actually quite rarely significantly greener on the other side of the fence, and 5 years is long enough for that to become apparent and the next set of greener grass to grow. Firms recruiting need to reality-check themselves about why the candidate wants to move - not just what they will bring to the new firm, but whether the new firm is in practice going to offer the candidate the panacea from whatever woes have incentivised him or her to leave their current firm. It will be quite rare that a candidate will live up to the name and be candid about the true reasons for departing their current firm during the interviewing and wooing process (because they still owe duties of confidentiality and ties of loyalty to the existing firm, and because the proposed move might not take place!)

6-Mar-2012

2:49 pm