What to do when your Top Candidate considers a Counter-Offer from their current Employer

Hiring Managers - isn't it frustrating when the following happens?

Your Top Candidate you were intent on hiring just informed you that they need some time to think over the Job Offer you just extended because they just received a Counter-Offer from their current Employer.

And the offer is higher than what your Organization/Hiring Team extended.

Yikes!

Receiving this news can really, REALLY put a damper on your excitement for finding a great new addition to your Team. You become really worried that you're going to miss out on this amazing Candidate who just might decide they want to stay put, exactly where they are. Besides - they've been working with their current Employer for a while. They have friends and made relationships at this Organization they're currently at. Maybe they don't want to leave.?

And besides, they were offered more $$$ to stay.

Maybe you should just offer more money or match the Counter-Offer??

While its certainly worth it paying top dollar for top talent - have you ever done this and STILL had a great candidate turn down your offer? Clearly we have some other issues to address first and foremost before we get to that.

Now, before we get into how to handle this common situation, let's talk about what you should NOT do (and variations of these):

Do NOT threaten -?"You'll never get another chance to work with us again! Its now or never!!!"

Do NOT use guilt -?"After everything we've done to make a great Offer, I can't believe you're even considering a Counter-Offer!!"

And for Heaven's sake, please - PLEASE do not use that eye-rolling, cringe-worthy line -?"Accepting a Counter-Offer is NEVER a good idea!"?

(Note: while some may argue this statement is true, the point here is Candidates have heard this line SO often, it doesn't even register anymore in most cases and simply goes in one ear and out the other.)

So what can you do to give yourself the best chance of not losing this amazing Candidate to a Counter-Offer?

Firstly, if you're only anticipating and handling the potential for Counter-Offers this late in the Recruitment Cycle - at the Offer stage - that's a mistake. Throughout the process you need to constantly be assessing the interest level of your Candidate and the degree to which they might entertain a Counter-Offer. If you're doing this consistently, from the very first conversation onwards, you'll actually be able to identify and filter out Candidates who actually might not have much reason to leave their current Employer - which allows you to continue meeting other Candidates who ARE highly motivated to do so and whose logic is sound in doing so.

You have to continuously understand THEIR logic - no matter how excited they might seem about the opportunity to work for you. And everyone's logic and reasons might be different and unique to their own situation and goals.

(Side note: there is of course no 100% surefire way to eliminate the possibility of someone accepting a counter-offer, however my point here is, we have to do our part in minimizing the?probability?of this occurring)

But if you haven't done this throughout, what you CAN do at this point is have your Candidate revisit WHY they decided to Interview and consider the opportunity to work with you in the first place.?

Again - doing this at the Offer Negotiation stage is VERY late in the game in my opinion, but its still worth a shot to see if we can salvage this.

Look - there can be a whole bunch of reasons why your Top Candidate is now having second thoughts about leaving their current Employer, some of which could be emotional. It could be fear. Cold feet. You might even have to consider that they won't want to admit this to you and therefore will not disclose to you what really is holding them back. A whole BUNCH of emotions could be running through them.

So to kick things off, ask them this very simple question after they let you know about a Counter-Offer they are considering:

"Why were you looking to consider leaving your current Employer in the first place?"

Have them list those reasons out. Reason-by-reason, have them talk it out.?

Do NOT interrupt.?

Do NOT try to convince or persuade them of anything or how amazing your company is at this point or how excited you are to work with them.?

They do not care about any of that right now. You just need to be a good listener at this point.

Mouth closed, ears wide open. JUST. LISTEN.?

And write everything down which they say.

What we're doing here is helping to keep things logical for your Candidate and helping them sort through what made them want to consider leaving their current Employer in the first place, so we can focus on the facts and the logic of this potential move, and not the emotion of leaving their current Employer.

Was it lack of career progression? Toxic environment? Lack of new tools, technology, infrastructure, support systems, etc? Is it because things are stagnant and they're not learning anything new? Current Employer not investing in their professional growth?

All those factors are what you want to focus on in helping them see that they had their reasons for wanting to leave.

And most importantly: unless their current Employer has somehow guaranteed a change in all or most of these conditions, those undesirable factors will still continue to exist despite the counter-offer, in which case they'll eventually leave anyway.

Having them revisit their original "WHY" will allow you to now bring the focus back onto the reality of their situation, and what's being offered at this new position they're considering progressing into with your Team.

So look - if your Top Candidate gets a Counter-Offer, don't freak out and don't get upset at them.?

Stay calm.

Part of your task is to help people make sound decisions and helping them work through their own logic. This also means - if the logic says it makes no sense for them to move ahead with you, then they won't, and it means you need to do a better job qualifying your Candidates from your first conversation with them onwards, and identify this much earlier on. Brainstorm with your Team to figure out where you ran short of this. Chalk it up to experience and do it next time - don't feel bad, it happens!

Try this out next time, and let me know how things turned out.

How does your Organization deal with Counter-Offers in your recruitment process? Are you dealing with this right now? Let me know in the comments or send me a private message!

If you're an Organization in Canada and need help with recruiting your next IT hire, reach out to me and let me know more about your hiring plans and I'd love to see if I can personally help you: [email protected]

If you found this article helpful - make sure you give it a Like and Share with your network, as well as share your own thoughts in the comments below!

Announcement! Coming soon for Job Seekers:

If you are a Job Seeker who has been getting value out of my content and my Live Streams where I share Job Search tips and strategies but you need more - I am bringing back my Coaching services! Stay tuned for more details later this week for my upcoming 8-week Group Coaching program where I will be teaching you and other Job Seekers LIVE how to conduct your Job Search. This program will be ideal for anyone who feels completely lost regarding the ins and outs of Job Searching. From creating an eye-catching Resume to Interview Preparation and everything in-between. Make sure you tune in to this week's Wednesday Live Stream @ 11AM ET where I will be providing more details during the Stream. [UPDATE: view details for the program here .]

More:

I'll be a guest on Sweta Regmi's Live Stream again on Friday June 9, 2023 @ 11AM ET - we'll be reviewing YOUR LinkedIn Profile LIVE and providing you with instant feedback. Even if you don't want to get your profile reviewed, tune in and learn from the feedback we share with other people. You'll be getting Sweta's perspective as a former Hiring Manager and you'll be getting my perspective as a Recruiter. Click here and hit the "Attend" option to receive the notification - see you then!

From last week:

Article: How Job Seekers can make the most of working with a Recruitment Agency?

Live Stream Replay: How to identify the right Recruiters to network with when you are Job Searching

Video Clip: How to use ChatGPT to help prepare for Job Interviews (Live Demo) with guest Emal Bariali

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That's all for this week; if there are any topics you'd like me to cover in a future edition, let me know in the comments - see you next time and don't forget to Like, Comment, + Subscribe!

Dean Kulaweera

IT Recruiter & Founder, Tech Recruiters 360. Dean is a Recruiter specialized in the recruitment of mid-level and senior-level IT Professionals primarily in the Greater Toronto Area of Canada, and has been a keynote or panelist speaker at over 40 events across North America speaking about the job search and recruitment. To contact Dean, email [email protected]