I'm curious also. Granted, the reasoning was that the employee wasn't perceived as being worth a raise, but inviting them to interview elsewhere might give the

I'm curious also. Granted, the reasoning was that the employee wasn't perceived as being worth a raise, but inviting them to interview elsewhere might give the impression that they aren't valued even at their existing salary. Is the intent of such an approach to encourage those employees to take the other offer since it was already stated that they aren't perceived as worthy of a raise in their existing position? Why would coming back with a higher offer make them more valuable after they were basically already told no? Doesn't that seem a bit adversarial? It kind of puts the employee in an adversarial position as well, since if they really want the raise they would have to come back with a sort of "I told you so" proof that others value them more. How does that affect the working relationship?