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From my experience, an employer should only counter-offer if they're truly desparate. Just like this article says, the employee has already decided to leave on

From my experience, an employer should only counter-offer if they're truly desparate. Just like this article says, the employee has already decided to leave once, it's not going to take alot to get them to decided to leave again. In addition, though, counter-offering one employee signals to others that they can route around the usual process for promotions and raises by coming in with an offer of their own. I worked at a place where they counter-offered two above average (but not great) developers who were working on an important client project. The two accepted the counter-offers, but still left for good in a few months. Everyone else in the office that wanted a raise or promotion now knew what they had to do to get raises: find another job and bluff. It put a big dent in the company culture.

weixiyen 13y ago
> Everyone else in the office that wanted a raise or promotion now knew what they had to do to get raises: find another job and bluff. In this case it sounds like a problem with the company not giving promotions / raises until it's too late. I think companies and managers must always look introspectively and see what they are doing wrong that is causing people to leave, and how they can improve the situation. Often times, drastic changes might be necessary to the structure / day-to-day operations of a team if too many people in one department are leaving.
kyllo 13y ago
Yeah, some companies have a policy of not making counteroffers at all, for this reason. Basically, if an employee asks for a raise, that is when a good manager is going to decide whether to retain them or not. Because if you say no to an employee's request for a raise, but then make a counteroffer when they actually have another offer in hand, it is already too late. That is what bad managers do. As a manager, the second you say "no" to a raise, you need to start to prepare yourself for the probable outcome that that employee will go and get a higher offer, and quit. Most people don't ask for raises lightly, it is an act that requires a bit of courage. Chances are, if an employee works up the courage to ask you for a raise, it is because they really need it, and they are giving you a chance to retain them, before they start looking around.

weixiyen 13y ago

> Everyone else in the office that wanted a raise or promotion now knew what they had to do to get raises: find another job and bluff. In this case it sounds like a problem with the company not giving promotions / raises until it's too late. I think companies and managers must always look introspectively and see what they are doing wrong that is causing people to leave, and how they can improve the situation. Often times, drastic changes might be necessary to the structure / day-to-day operations of a team if too many people in one department are leaving.

kyllo 13y ago

Yeah, some companies have a policy of not making counteroffers at all, for this reason. Basically, if an employee asks for a raise, that is when a good manager is going to decide whether to retain them or not. Because if you say no to an employee's request for a raise, but then make a counteroffer when they actually have another offer in hand, it is already too late. That is what bad managers do. As a manager, the second you say "no" to a raise, you need to start to prepare yourself for the probable outcome that that employee will go and get a higher offer, and quit. Most people don't ask for raises lightly, it is an act that requires a bit of courage. Chances are, if an employee works up the courage to ask you for a raise, it is because they really need it, and they are giving you a chance to retain them, before they start looking around.