Counter Offer Advice

Part Seven

When your hiring new staff it's always best to presume they will be counter-offered. In Part Seven of this article series, we will go over a couple of key points in managing a counter offer.

Understand the candidate's motives

If you prepare yourself for a counter offer ahead of time you can usually avoid the situation altogether. You should start preparing at the very first stage of contact with the candidate and try to identify what their motivations are for a career change.

It's as simple as asking the common interview question “Why do you want to leave your current role?“.

Usually, money isn't the sole factor, if the candidate wants to leave because they are unsatisfied, there's no promotional opportunities or there's a lack of progression then you have the advantage and your company will probably still appeal more to them than their previous employer.

Maintaining Contact

It's important to maintain contact with the candidate after the offer has been accepted to help build their confidence that they have made the right decision and to keep them enthusiastic and excited. You can ask them to come in and set up their working area or invite them for after work drinks to meet and bond with their new team.

It may seem like a done deal when the candidate has accepted the role but don't forget they will have a four week notice period to work through.

Using a Recruiter

Retaining your chosen candidate and handling counter offers can be a tricky situation to manage, you can take almost all this weight off your shoulders by using a recruiter.

As well as having someone to lead the relationship, build trust and sell your company you will have someone there that will be able to asses the candidate's true motives and see if they are genuinely looking for a positive career change and not just a bargaining chip.

You've reached the end of our seven-part article series on Preparing to Recruit. Finding the best new recruits for your growing business if a tough challenge but not impossible! We've been doing this every day for over 15 years and we understand the time and energy it takes. We're here to help individuals, small businesses and large companies with this challenge. If you are about to take on a new team member don't hesitate to get in touch, we're a friendly bunch.

Part 6 – Writing Offer Letters