6 ms·

I believe grandparent was referring to proactive raises. Reactive counter offer raises typically don't work because the employee's mind has been made up to lea

• rjp0008 8y ago
  If you pay everyone more that gets expensive quick. Seems like it could be cost effective to give almost rock bottom raises and just replace the people who aren't 100% into it.
  • BenMorganIO 8y ago
    I wouldn't agree since that creates horror stories and high employee churn.
  • henrikschroder 8y ago
    Sometimes, the cheapest way to pay for something is with money. If you want a good, happy, motivated, loyal workforce, you have to pay for it.
    • reallydontask 8y ago
      Let's say your work is dull, your line manager is a bully that shoots down most of your ideas and then takes credit for the ones that get implemented. All success is due to him/her all failures down to the team. There is no career path neither towards management nor towards principal engineer/architect The commute is 2 hours each way and there is a strict work from the office policy. HR is known to not provide generic references but to ask your line manager to provide references How much money would it take for you to work in such environment? The point is that money is only part of what makes people happy, motivated and loyal.
  • colordrops 8y ago
    This comment is getting downvoted, but is probably the closest to representing how HR actually things about these things.
  • drharby 8y ago
    People are not widgets, and this cost model doesnt cover the cost of acquisition.
• user5994461 8y ago
  It's a myth spread out by recruiters. They do not get paid when the developer doesn't change job. They'll say anything to get you to leave. Truth is, counter offers happen and work out. When it's about compensation, not toxic workplace/coworker, or relocating elsewhere to live with your wife/children.
  • jniedrauer 8y ago
    I always heard horror stories about accepting counter offers. But I accepted one and it turned out to be a very good decision. I nearly doubled my salary over the next two years and made some fantastic professional connections.
  • virgilp 8y ago
    A former manager - and friend - of mine told me that, when switching jobs, former employer made a handsome counter-offer, I think basically doubling his compensation; it was more than he got at the new gig. His reaction? "Now I also feel insulted. So that's how much I was worth to you, but you waited for me to leave before adjusting my pay?" It strikes me as a reasonable attitude, and one that I've adopted too. I don't have time to be constantly checking the market; if I get a better offer, either you can't afford a counter-offer, or if you can, well, screw you anyway.
    • sdoering 8y ago
      Wow. I have never thought about it that way. But now I read it, I will never be able to not think about it that way. Thanks for that nugget of wisdom. Personal "fun" fact. I now get about 28% more then when I startet 4 years ago. That is quite a hefty increase and something to be very happy about. But on the other hand, due to a change in my role I now have insight into how much others in my company doing the same work make. Often with way less senior roles. And I can see, that they got hired at a lower level for about what I make after 4+ years in a more senior position. So now I feel insulted, because I know - even after having risen in money, that I am still being not payed adequately. For comparison: I am talking about 1/3 less then others in my seniority level. That equals about what intermediate colleagues two levels down the ladder make. So I went from feeling being treated good to being treated unfairly with more insights into what everybody around me gets. I love other countries (think Norway) for making this information public, as it gives a clear lever for everybody to demand fair pay.
• fsloth 8y ago
  "Compensation is usually only part of why someone decided to leave." Bullshit. When you have a family to feed and loans to pay compensation absolutely is a critical part of why someone might decide to leave. Any employer who tries to shame employees into accepting lower compensation than what the market offers by appealing into loyalty or misplaced honor are absolutely just trying to screw the employee over. Best employers are nice and human, but also totally understand how the market works and are ready to play in it using fair negotiation tactics that involve only financial figures and no confidence tricks.
  • reallydontask 8y ago
    I think the issue is that feeling underpaid is an issue that grows in importance with time as your spending power decreases and your hard work is not rewarded so that at some point it doesn't matter any more what the company offers. If you are doing interesting work, are treated well and keep getting regular raises then it's going to be a lot harder to want to leave even if you might be underpaid according to market rates. Granted this will only work if you are within a certain small percentage of market rate, ~10% and your financial circumstances allow it.
    • fsloth 8y ago
      Ah, yes, I was a bit too harsh. If you are already financially comfortable then the compensation surely matters less.