Call centre and homeworking agency Holiday Discount Centre is seeking loyalty guarantees from staff before they go on educational trips to stop top sellers being poached by rivals.
Newcastle upon Tyne-based Holiday Discount Centre claims recruitment rivalry is so intense it has to take extreme measures to hang on to its best employees.
Often this can mean ensuring good quality staff are not exposed to competitors on a regular basis, for example at award ceremonies, said managing director Steve Campion.
But in situations where the company pays for agents to go on educational trips, staff are told they will could be liable for the trip’s cost should they decide to leave to join a rival shortly after returning.
“It’s always been competitive in the staff arena because the better staff are very valuable, so most owners and managers are careful they don’t expose their staff to competitors unnecessarily,” said Campion.
“If we send staff on educationals or to events we would try to encourage them to agree to pay back any money we have put towards the cost of the trip if they leave within a certain period afterwards.”
Campion, whose business employs 20 homeworkers and 30 call centre staff, said finding high quality sales staff remained a key challenge for travel companies. But he admitted staff who had been approached by rivals at events sometimes become more loyal. “Someone tried to poach a member of my staff at a conference, and she came straight back and told me,” he said.