This study investigates the impact of an organization’s response to poaching on employee productivity while considering the mediating role of organizational agility, contributing to the sustainability literature. The study aimed to explore the impact of three responses toward poaching, including the constructive response (CR), defensive response (DR), and retaliatory response (RR), on employee productivity. The survey-based approach collected data from companies in the Pakistani service sector, an essential step toward understanding sustainable human resource practices in developing countries. Regression analysis was used to analyze the collected data, revealing significant relationships between predictor variables and employee productivity. Specifically, Model 1 found a significant negative relationship between CR and productivity, whereas DR showed a positive and significant association with productivity. The study also considered the unique characteristics of the Pakistani service sector to explain the observed negative and positive relationships between CR and DR, respectively, and employee productivity. Model 2 improved the model fit by introducing organizational agility as a predictor variable, demonstrating a positive and significant relationship between productivity and all four predictor variables. The study suggests that the positive relationship between organizational agility and productivity could be due to agile organizations being more adept at responding to changing market conditions and demands, resulting in improved overall performance. This study provides valuable insights into the impact of an organization’s response to poaching on employee productivity while considering the mediating role of organizational agility. It contributes to the sustainability literature.