EDITORIAL: Market forces, not headhunting rules.(Brief Article)

Headhunters are like footballers' agents. They attract applause and condemnation in almost equal measure. The best offer wise counsel and will always act in the best interests of those they are charged with protecting and seeking top employment for, safe in the knowledge that their integrity will invariably lead to further business. The worst are parasites, trying to foist indifferent talent on a market they will do their best to destablilise to keep themselves in work.

No surprise, then, that the ad industry should display such ambivalence towards those it commissions to find the round pegs for its round holes.

No surprise also that some cynicism will greet the proposal by the headhunter Gary Stolkin for an IPA-approved code of practice to which his company and others would be signatories. There should be more flexibility on commission levels and headhunters should be more limited in the time they can claim a placement fee, he says. All very sensible, although sceptics might wonder whether such altruism has something to do with the knock-on effect that the ad recession is having on headhunters' business.

On the face of it, there's a persuasive case to be made for introducing some ground rules into headhunting activity. There's no proper government regulation ...