When recruiting staff, particularly in candidate short markets where finding the right person for your role in your business can sometimes feel more like a detective mission than a hiring process, a counter offer can be the most frustrating and disappointing outcome. 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.
When a counter offer situation arises
So when a counter offer situation arises, how do you know whether to go in fighting, or walk away and start again?
- Be objective. Recruiting people for business, especially when it’s your own business, can be emotional, and feel personal. You become more invested in the process and the people involved, which sometimes leads you thinking you need to ‘fight’ for them. It’s really important to remain objective and leave your emotions aside, so you can use your sound judgement and the facts at hand to make your decisions.
- Know your market before you begin. Recruiting staff, like anything else in business, isn’t a guessing game. If you understand your market, know how common or rare the skills you want or need actually are, and what their real value is in the market, you will be educated and informed. Like all decisions, those you make from an educated and informed perspective are always better.
- Know your limits – there is no point getting into a ‘bidding war’ with a candidate and their existing employer if you simply can’t afford them. Let’s face it: we all want the best people in our business, but sometimes what we need to look at is what is the best person we can afford for this role at this time?
- Ask the right questions at interview. We all would like to think that the candidates want our job above all others, but do they? By asking questions at interview about their reasons for wanting to leave their current role, their motivations, their goals and objectives, both personal and as a career, you get a better understanding of whether what you have to offer really fits in with their future plans at a base level. The other important question to ask at interview is about what they need in their next role to make them happy – it could be about the industry, the company, the size of business, the team, the location, the opportunities or anything at all.
- Keep the communication lines open. The reality is when faced with a counter offer, the current employer gets the last word; they are in their face, they know them, they have the opportunity to excerpt pressure, create feelings of guilt and ultimately make things happen. As the potential new employer, you need to keep the communication lines open so that you are still in the picture.
Go in fighting (in the nicest possible way)
If you walk into the process with all of these things in place, you are in a much better situation to handle the news of a counter offer. If you know that the role you are offering ticks all the boxes for the candidates motivation and future goals, go in fighting (in the nicest possible way), remind them of the feedback they gave at interview, the reasons they wanted to leave the current role and what you are prepared to offer. If you know however that you can’t afford them, or the offer they have is a better match to their motivations and goals, walk away and start again – it will be a better decision for you and your business in the longer term.
