Counter-offers don’t cut the mustard, claims recruiter

Jo Faragher

The received wisdom that employers will always try to make a counter-offer if someone leaves is not always true, suggests a new survey by recruitment company Communicate.

It found that the majority of employers have never made a counter-offer, despite over half saying they would – and that counter-offers only tend to be made for staff who are truly exceptional.

Despite 57% of employers saying they would make a counter-offer, some 89% say they have never made one, according to the survey of mid-to-senior finance professionals. Almost half of employees, on the other hand, said they would ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ be made a counter-offer if they were to resign tomorrow.

Employers are clearly disillusioned with the process of offering counter-offers, with one respondent saying, ‘Is this a game of ransom?’ Many cited that they felt a resignation should not be used as a bargaining tool, or that they felt a counter-offer simply delayed the inevitable.

However, many believed that counter-offers, where successful, proved ‘cheaper than recruiting and training a replacement’.

From an employee perspective, respondents raised suspicions over the motives behind counter-offers, questioning ‘why that value wasn’t on offer before resignation’. Only 5% of respondents answering as an employee said they would accept a counter-offer if they resigned tomorrow.

James Lock, CEO of Communicate, said: “It is easy to understand why companies consider counter-offering departing employees. Losing staff not only results in a vacancy, which can be pricey and time-consuming to fill, but can also be costly in terms of reputation and future business, particularly if the employee was client facing and developed a strong rapport with contacts who may be more loyal to them than the company.

“However, the results of Communicate’s survey show that employers, on the whole, understand that a counter-offer is in fact a knee-jerk reaction which often benefits neither the company nor the employee. Employees, in turn, prove that they are wary of counter-offers and place career progression and job satisfaction above the security of remaining somewhere they feel comfortable.”