No is the simple answer. The problem about countering a counter offer is that you immediately make the appointment all about the money. As I’ve said many, many times before, if the motivation for anyone coming your way to fill your role is purely about the money, you should run as fast as you can in the other direction.
This point comes up time and time again and it does lead to a fair amount of confusion. To clarify; I’m not saying that you won’t have to improve pay and rations if you want to attract top performers. They understand their value in the market and won’t take you seriously if you are not prepared to pay the going rate; in fact, you will need to offer a package at the top end of the range for the role. What I am saying is that it has to be about more than just the money. What I’m actually looking for is positive reasons why the candidate wants the role, something that excites them. I’m less keen if the role removes negatives in their current position, e.g. “My current commute is getting me down” or “I don’t see eye to eye with the new head of department.” Both are valid but I’m looking for more.
The skilled headhunter doesn’t discard the negatives in the candidate’s current role, they might come in useful later but there needs to be more if a candidate is to be taken forward with any confidence. e.g. “Challenge ‘X’ really excites me” or “I’m fascinated about aspect Y or Z in this role, it’s something that I’ve been looking to get into for a while now”.
Why are these positive aspects so important? Because these are things that counter offers find it difficult to counter. Not impossible to counter; I have known companies desperate to keep hold of their top performers redesign a role to include key aspects that attracted them to a new role. However, this is rare, each company is different and there are different challenges to overcome and this makes real challenges that excite the candidate difficult to replicate.
Most counter offers are about money. I read quite a lot about stories of unscrupulous behaviour within the recruitment industry and I would agree that there are a few out there who unfortunately tarnish the reputation of the industry. However, I have also encountered some unscrupulous candidates who go job hunting or become receptive to calls from headhunters purely to get some leverage for a hike in salary. Some people really do go to the lengths of interviewing for and securing an offer for a new role with no intention of leaving their current employer – they are actively seeking a counter offer. A dangerous game in my view but that’s a whole different topic.
Fortunately, it’s far more common for a candidate to hand in their notice with the intention of moving on and for their employer to come back with a matching or even better offer than the new role. I prepare my candidates to expect a counter offer and remind them of the reasons that they were motivated by the new role (the other things apart from the improved package) in the first place. We may also talk about some of the negative aspects of their current role but these tend to be more easily ignored when the prospect of an improved package is in play, they are seldom powerful motivations for a candidate to ignore the counter offer.
Occasionally, a candidate will come back to me and ask me to inform my client that they have received a counter offer from their current employer and to seek improved terms. I have an obligation to my client to discuss this with them but I don’t recommend that they counter the counter. The time to negotiate regarding the offer has passed, and all parties agreed and were comfortable at the time the offer was accepted. What is to stop the exiting employer countering your counter? This is not the time to get into a bidding war. The candidate should be reminded of the reasons you want them on board and the opportunity the role presents. You should state that you believe that the original offer was a good one. If the candidate takes the counter offer now, breathe a sigh of relief, you had a narrow escape. This candidate wasn’t who you thought they were and you would probably loose them anyway when the next highest bidder came along. If you have managed the hiring process effectively, see the LBA Hiring Management System™ http://www.lauder-beaumont.com/our-approach , the candidate will more often than not accept your offer and turn down the counter.
