Question
Hello,
I hope you may be able to answer my question. I am not Mormon. However, a fellow doctor in the same industry tried to “steal” my staff”. He befriended my staff & I, took us to dinner, then offered each them more $ and other benefits (but never followed through) How is this right? I almost lost my business.I was devastated. He is also unethical and lies to his patients (1st hand accounts)-completely against the Hippocratic oath. How does this happen? Thank you!
Kim
Answer
Kim,
Thank you for taking a moment to ask a question; although, I am not sure what exactly you are trying to discover. Our Father in heaven has given us the gift of moral agency. Moral agency is our ability to choose between good and evil, truth and error, right and wrong, and I think you get the idea that without agency we are not able to act for ourselves.
We live in a world where we constantly experience people using their moral agency to choose evil, error, and vice instead of choosing the good, truth, and peace. A person’s religion (or lack thereof) doesn’t remove from that individual the ability to choose evil over good. The fact remains, we all make choices for ourselves, and sadly we make decisions that are contrary to our belief system at times.
What you are describing is a common practice in all industries — headhunting. Companies, practices, are constantly looking to improve their product, their practice, anything that will allow them to continue as they are or to improve. The doctor apparently is doing what a lot of companies do in order to find the best employees for the company. You ask, “How is this right”? I would also ask, “How is this wrong”? Is it wrong for an employee to find better employment that offers better pay and better benefits? Is it wrong for a manager, owner, or doctor to seek to find the best employees for their company? I can see one reason how this would be wrong. If the individual is purposely “headhunting” to hurt another company (that is the sole motivation), then I would say that is unethical, wrong. If the owner/doctor recognizes the talent of another individual who is employed elsewhere, well, that communication and decision is between the potential new employer and the potential new employee. If the current owner wants to keep the talent then the owner will have a decision to make also. That decision is either to let the employee move on, or to offer a counter-offer to keep their talented employee. What is the motivation?
I don’t know anything about this doctor than what you have provided. I don’t know the veracity of what you are expressing. So, I won’t comment pertaining to the last statement, but will comment with a general statement. No matter what business we are in if we have made an oath (or oaths) it is wise that we keep them, otherwise we subject ourselves to the consequence of the oath/law if we break them.
Gramps
