It's so hard for companies to find good talent, it's silly to dick around with mind games and petty power plays.
Find good folks. Realize that on average you're going to have them around for maybe three years, five if you are super lucky, ten if you win the lottery, one if you rub them the wrong way. Treat them with respect, ask yourself how the HELL you can bend over backwards to try to make their experience working at your company good enough to keep them around for a while. Don't talk down to them. Don't imagine that they are beholden to you for anything.
If you are unlucky enough to end up in a situation where you as an employer are holding all of the cards in a hiring situation then I have some bad news for you. You aren't hiring the best candidate possible, you're hiring a mediocre candidate.
Not to play an "argumentative dick" or anything :), but...
Sometimes mediocre is good enough. Not every employee needs to be a superstar. Personally, I don't care that the receptionist is the best receptionist in the world; I care that he/she is polite and competent enough that I don't need to worry about reception.
Also, be careful in deluding yourself that there aren't surprisingly good candidates out there that don't have such a high opinion of themselves. Some of the best people I've ever worked with didn't get the best wages and deals. In fact, the people with the "best" packages were often 2-3 rungs lower than the best employees.
Mediocre is always good enough for employer.
But mediocre employee will put additional burden on your top employees, so they will wear off quickly and jump off the board.
A receptionist that does her job well enough to be a problem is much less of a headache than a receptionist that has aspirations and talent to be a programmer.
It's so hard for companies to find good talent, it's silly to dick around with mind games and petty power plays.
Find good folks. Realize that on average you're going to have them around for maybe three years, five if you are super lucky, ten if you win the lottery, one if you rub them the wrong way. Treat them with respect, ask yourself how the HELL you can bend over backwards to try to make their experience working at your company good enough to keep them around for a while. Don't talk down to them. Don't imagine that they are beholden to you for anything.
If you are unlucky enough to end up in a situation where you as an employer are holding all of the cards in a hiring situation then I have some bad news for you. You aren't hiring the best candidate possible, you're hiring a mediocre candidate.