Yesterday’s issue presented best practices for making counteroffers. But a lot of experts think counteroffers won’t solve the retention problem. We’ll see why, and also look at an extraordinary problem-solver that could help avoid the whole issue.
As stated in yesterday’s Advisor, best practices for making counteroffers include digging to find out why the employee wants to leave, then crafting an offer to satisfy those needs. As we covered those best practices, though, we saw hints of some of the negatives of counteroffers—especially their likely short-term duration and their effect on the attitudes of other employees.
What makes counteroffers go south? Here’s what the experts say:
First, let’s look at it from the viewpoint of employers, and especially front-line supervisors or managers. Initially they feel good because they didn’t “lose” anyone. But underneath, bosses often feel like they’ve been blackmailed. And that’s going to fester.
Then from the employee’s perspective, he or she knows that it’s hard for managers to ignore an employee’s perceived “disloyalty.” When promotion time comes, who’s going to get the promotion? The person who threatened to resign? Not likely. And when it’s time for raises, is someone who “blackmailed” management going to get a big one? Just as unlikely. CareerJournal.com quotes one manager as saying of employees who accept counteroffers, “We never quite trust them, and immediately begin contingency planning for a replacement—on our timeframe.”
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What about other employees who watched the counteroffer process? As CareerJournal.com says, the line of previously loyal employees threatening to leave to gain a raise forms at the door—”Hey, boss, I’ve been offered a great job, but I’ll accept a counteroffer.”
It’s a trade-off, and perhaps a good one from the company’s perspective. If a critical project was completed, or a smooth transition in a key position was accomplished, the counteroffer did its job. But what was left in its trail?
If counteroffers don’t create retention, what does?
Most experts agree that, to a large degree, retention is a matter of HR basics—setting good policies, hiring the right people, managing them well, and training your supervisors and managers.
Here are some tips on the first (and perhaps most important) item on that list—hiring—from a supervisor handout on our “everything HR in one” website, HR.BLR.com:
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-Evaluate applications and résumés against a written job description that outlines essential job functions and defines the skills, knowledge, aptitudes, and abilities required to perform the job effectively.
-Check references and compare the information you obtain with applications and résumés. Surveys report that 30 percent to 50 percent of job applicants either lie or exaggerate on applications and résumés.
-Don’t let personal prejudices interfere with the screening process. Evaluate each candidate based on objective job qualifications.
-Know—and follow strictly—requirements of company hiring policies and the fair employment laws.
-Avoid preemployment tests not directly related to skills, knowledge, aptitudes, and characteristics essential for the job.
We should point out that this is just one of hundreds of such handouts, and other supervisor training aids on the site.
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Complimentary Special Report
Special Offer: Examine BLR’s “everything you need in one place” website, HR.BLR.com at no cost or risk, and we’ll send you a complimentary—yours to keep whatever you decide—download of our special report on the Top 100 FLSA Overtime Q&As. It’s must-reading now that FLSA violations are the government’s number one enforcement target. Read more