A vital element of any relationship whether it be a personal or a business relationship is trust.
There’s a series of preceding events preceding a counter offer:-
- Employee has decided to seek employment with another employer
- Employee embarks on employment process including attending an interview or interviews, will sometimes need to sit assessments, attend to referees for reference checking etc.
- Employee is formally offered employment
- Employee formally accepts employment or intends to do so
- Employee resigns to current employer and subject to notice requirements arrives at a proposed commencement date with new employer
- Current employer counter offers to employee
- Employee accepts the counter offer or rejects it and accepts offer of employment from a new employer.
Prior to this chain of events unfolding there is an underlying motivation of the employee to have them question their remaining with the current employment relationship, or seek out an employment relationship with a new employer. Contrary to the official findings of most exit interviews – there is always a reason or reasons driving the motivation to leave the current relationship.
It’s at this point the relationship has broken down. The reason may or may not be known to the employer, but regardless there’s a reason sometimes more than one. They’re usually quite compelling too otherwise it’s easier to remain put then invest in the time, change, effort, risk and inconvenience of seeking alternative employment.
The employer has done something or failed to do something to leave the employee with no option but to look elsewhere. The upshot is the employee is seeking a business relationship with another employer.
An ongoing, dedicated and formal review process can conceivably pick up on the reason and address the grievance or via an informal process via the employee communicating their issue to the person at the organization who can resolve it.
What an employer can do to demonstrate a commitment to the employee and salvaging the relationship is by making them a counter offer upon learning they’re resigning. Implicit in resigning is there’s an employment offer from elsewhere.
If this commitment weren’t there the employer accepts the resignation. Fundamental to the employee accepting the counter offer terms, assuming the terms are satisfactory, has little to do with the counter offer terms even if there’s significantly more remuneration.
The underlying reason for them preferring to change relationships remains. If it had been resolved they’d have no reason to seek alternative employment. If they trusted the employer in the current relationship to remove, rectify or remedy the issue then it would’ve been done if at all possible before the employee had to go to market.
If it were about remuneration, then why should it take the significant process leading to a counter offer for the employee to receive due remuneration or overdue remuneration ? Surely the informal or formal review process should have revealed a remuneration issue long before a resignation is tendered ?
Because the employer believes the issue cannot be satisfactorily addressed then the likelihood of it remaining or recurring is very high. Consequently, their preparedness to tolerate it or ignore it when it’s important to them is limited or non-existent.
The employee then finds it difficult to re-engage, commit to the current relationship and trust that an ongoing association is achievable.
The counter offer becomes a too much too late type measure or has a band aid patching effect on the relationship. However, with the relationship damaging reason still present the festering commences. There’s short term relief, however ultimately by that stage the damage has been done.
The challenge of re-engaging, believing again and returning trust and commitment to the relationship presents itself. Productivity, performance and morale commonly decline and it becomes inevitable they’ll leave anyway.
By the time a counter offer hits the table the damage has already been done.
The tug-of-war is over before it began.
Ian Dhu
Ian’s an industry expert in the recruitment, career development and retention of lawyers.
Over the last 30 years Ian’s successfully placed numerous lawyers.
Career conscious lawyers contact him for his informed, objective and accurate market advice when making considered and confidential career enhancing transitions involving private law firms, corporations and Government.
Organizations requiring lawyers collaborate with Ian.
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