So you have waded your way through the interviewing and selection process and BINGO! You have found the perfect person for your role! They have the skills and experience and above all you think they make a great with your team. So you extend the offer, with what you feel is a fair market salary package for the position – and then they are counter offered. A counter offer in its basic sense is when the applicant you have offered the position to is, usually upon resignation with their existing employer, offered more money or better benefits in an effort to keep them with that company. There can be only three outcomes when an applicant is counter offered:
- They decline the counter offer and accept your offer
- They consider the counter offer and come to you to try and negotiate further
- They accept the counter offer and stay with the employer
Obviously the ideal is scenario one, and for most smart applicants this is what they would do, because ultimately research shows that the majority of candidates who accept a counter offer leave the employer within six months. However, if you find yourself in the other two scenarios with a top class applicant, here are some tips which may help you manage the difficult process:
- Know your limits – This means knowing what the role is worth to your company and not going over this amount (unless you are convinced this person can add more value than anyone else could in the role).
- Consider the salary ranges of the other staff in the same or similar positions – Are you putting this new staff member above other great performing team members?
- Remind the applicant the reasons they were looking for a change to begin with – Having conducted a thorough interview you would have asked them their reasons for wanting to leave their existing employer, if their counter offer is purely financially based, likelihood is it won’t meet these needs, and they will still be unhappy.
- Think outside the square – You may not be able to offer the same or better money, but what else can you offer to keep them happy? Again go back to your interview notes on why they were looking to leave their current role and meet these needs. It may be flexible hours, the opportunity to work from home, a more social culture, different challenges or the opportunity to learn new skills.
- Above all don’t be pushed or rushed into decisions that you are not ready to make – You obviously don’t want to lose a great applicant, but by the same token you must make sure the decisions you make are well thought out and qualified as the right thing for the business and the role.
- Seek advice – Ask other business owners and industry contacts about the salary and benefit ranges for similar positions, make sure that you are not offering below market rates or you may never get the right person for the role.
Remember to do your research, know your limits and think outside the square, this should make the process a whole lot simpler.
Counter offers can be frustrating, disappointing and confronting, but in roles where great applicants with unique skills are in high demand they can be very common. Remember to do your research, know your limits and think outside the square, this should make the process a whole lot simpler.
