Candidate Counter Offers - Staffing & Recruitment

In today’s talent short employment market, it is wise to assess the possibility for a counter offer. This is particularly true the more senior or specialized the position and if the candidate is a key player in the company. It would be wise to have a discussion with your candidate about this possibility and how they might handle it.

Preparing your candidate for a counter offer is not sneaky nor underhanded. It is simply acknowledging the fierce competition for resources that is happening in the current labour market and adopting prudent practice. All recruitment and staffing companies have lost deals due to a last minute counter offer.

What Does The Counter Look Like?

So how does preparing your candidate for a counter offer look like in recruitment? Well the best way to prepare is to engage your candidate in a discussion on this topic and ask how they might react? Here you want to describe in as much detail as possible how the counter offer might look like. If is a good idea to learn about the various “save tactics” and help your candidate prepare for them. Former candidates from the organization would be a great resource. In general, the approach of “employee save tactics” are generally similar. They can include the following:

An offer of more compensation and benefits
An offer of increased responsibility
Assignment to a high profile project
A promotion
A visit or several visits from upper management and respected colleagues persuading you to stay
A visit from HR to act as mediator to resolve sources of dissatisfaction
An offer for a leave of absence or time off for cooling off and reflection
An offer of reassignment to another team where there is no conflict
Promises of change with no concrete offer or definite details and timelines

In fact, some organizations have formed “employee save teams” that have been specially trained and are activated when key employees give notice. These teams have strategies, tactics and authority to make counter offers.

Put on Your Career Counselor Hat - Ask Questions and Listen

When preparing your candidate for a counter, help them focus on the material points by asking questions and then listen. Some of the questions to ask include:

What do you think the motivators are for this counter offer?
Will the counter offer address the symptom or the root cause? Does it provide temporary relief or does it offer a long-term solution?
Your role is help your candidate clarify exactly what made them want to leave or look for a new job.
What have you done to resolve the issues?
What is the likelihood for change?
What are you looking for in your new job? (Help them clarify exactly what type of change they are looking for)

Here you must engage your candidates in an honest and realistic discussion and listen. It is very important to resist the temptation of a quick commission. Instead, your goal is to help your candidate make the best decision for them, whether this means they take the job or not. If you push your candidate to take the offer when it is not the right fit for them, chances are they will quit shortly or not perform well. You will lost the trust that you have built with your candidate, as well as the chance of any referrals. Your client will lose their confidence in your ability to find good people that fit into their company and culture. So take off your salesperson hat and put on the career counselor hat. Your candidate will sense it when you put their needs ahead of your own and it will go along way in building future business for your staffing company.

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