Sweeteners beat objections

How do you find and keep staff for businesses with poor public images? Tobacco companies and other stigmatised industries offer fat salaries and generous benefits to attract top talent. JULIE MIDDLETON reports.

If you think your job takes the stuffing out of you, turn your thoughts to those who work in industries some might view as socially harmful - such as tobacco, gaming, liquor and the environmentally crisis-prone chemical and petroleum industries.

But stigmatised industries - often multinationals - typically pay more than the going rate and offer tempting career development opportunities to encourage potential employees over their objections.

Take the tobacco industry, says Larry Small, the managing director of Auckland consultancy Executive Appointments.

"The tobacco industry is always going to be a difficult one in the face of the publicity it is up against," he says.

"But a national key account manager on $65,000 plus a car will get $75,000 to $80,000 and a car [in the tobacco industry]."

The seduction process for problem industries starts well before the interview stage. One Auckland recruiter, who prefers not to be named, says that posts in such sectors are often advertised "blind" - without identifying the client.

The potential employer isn't named until recruiter and candidate are face-to-face, and it's often at this moment that interviews founder.

"With some, it is immediate - you can see the shutters come down.

"Other people are fifty-fifty - you have a chance to put a positive spin on it."

A positive spin? Those who say "no" miss the fact that handling a tough job proves you have what it takes in any field, she says.

Working in an industry such as tobacco is "a uniquely challenging thing. They're selling a product in a 'dark market.'

"You can't market and advertise your product the same way. If you can work in that environment, you can do well anywhere."

Mr Small says: "These are transferable skills. But three of five people who know it's the tobacco industry will back off. They don't see it as a positive path."

Three out of five also walk when they find the employer is Auckland's Sky City or other gambling-related businesses, says Pinnacle Recruitment's Ross Turner.

Cigarette giant British American Tobacco is up-front about the quandary in which potential staffers might find themselves.

"We ask two or three times [during interviews] if they are still comfortable working within the industry," says (non-smoking) HR director Anton Zawada.

But look at the perks: "We pay in the upper quartile," he says. "We have an international training programme. We pay for personal studies if it is related to the job.

"We've introduced a financial assistance policy for parents - 12 weeks' paid parental leave."



For some, no amount of perks can make up for abuse.

A former BAT sales rep now living in Australia got the works - post-graduate starting salary of $37,000, company car, mobile phone, expense account - but says the social stigma helped push her out of the job.

Older men were the most aggressive challengers, and conversations in social situations tended to halt abruptly when occupation came up.

People, she says, "were pretty rude. I was called the Grim Reaper."

Mr Zawada admits his first reaction was "no" when he was offered his job five years ago.

People expressed surprise that a non-smoking former New Zealand karate representative could work in an industry now the target of endless lawsuits all over the world.

He says: "While [smoking] continues to be a legal product, I believe in freedom of choice."

And that's what staff are coached to say, says Auckland journalist Rodney Pascoe, once a Rothmans public relations manager.

"You actually felt very good working for Rothmans - I loved every minute of it," he says.

"Everything Rothmans did, it did with style, lubricated by large amounts of money."

Another legal adult activity - journalism - has also paid above the market rate to get and keep staff.

In the 1970s and 80s, the tabloid Truth paid its reporters an "odium allowance," which pushed their pay 12.5 per cent above that of staff on other papers.

But what if your company needs to work with industries whose values you reject?

Some recruiters won't touch jobs in stigmatised industries such as tobacco.

"There's a level of discomfort," says one, "and not just because it's hard to recruit."

Market research staff at one Auckland firm are allowed to opt out of working on accounts that involve tobacco or companies to which they have an ideological objection.

"I don't believe in making people work on something they don't want to do," says its director, who prefers not to be identified.

But he does find it interesting that staff haven't had problems with "nutritionally obscene" snack foods.

Heather Kean, of recruiter Pohlen Kean, says that as a society we are wanting to "align our values with our working environment."

How to avoid ethical conflict

* Before applying:


Ask yourself: do my values align with those of the industry? Find out about the company.

Call its human resources department to get a wider view - its staff will respect your confidences - and talk to someone about its approach to ethical issues. What is the corporate social responsibility agenda?

* At the interview:


If the company has been criticised, ask what damage control it has undertaken. How does it inform staff when a major issue arises? What public education programmes does it have? Be open and honest.

Look at total career prospects as well as the issue that might be causing unease.

Be aware that long-winded explanations and certain body language will betray internal conflict.

* On the job:

Talk to the human resources manager if you are still uncomfortable. Don't hang on just for pride. You may need to look for a job that sits more comfortably with your values and beliefs.