Can You Counter a Counteroffer?

Where once you would be looking to work with both your client and candidate to ensure that any offer would be good enough to accept regardless of current position, it is now crucial that you are prepping your candidates for a counteroffer, taking away that feeling of flattery, and the lur of a juicy pay package or title change. Here we will discuss how, but most importantly why. 

 

Once a counteroffer has been made it is already too late, the damage has been done and the seed has already been sown in the candidate’s mind. It’s your job to make sure they are expecting the counteroffer before it happens, and moreover, have already decided to turn it down. 

 

The process starts at the very first interview. You are there to remind the candidate of their reasons for leaving, and that more money (or indeed status, flexibility, or other benefits) will change why they originally wanted to move on. By taking the candidate on a hypothetical journey, have them imagine receiving the offer, and ask them to visualise telling their current employer. What would their employer say? And how would they feel if they turned around and offered them more money? By having them visualise the process, as opposed to you telling them what you know is likely to happen, and how they should respond, they are far more likely to arrive at the same conclusions themselves, with you simply reminding and reinforcing the reasons they were looking to leave in the first place. 

 

As we know, money is of course important, but in this ever changing, candidate-driven market, highly skilled professionals are looking for more beyond a big pay-check, and it’s key that your candidate knows this. Being armed with all the knowledge before any offers (or indeed counteroffers) are made really will make sure of the best outcome for all. 

 

To summarise, the process really is easy once you know how, and it is indeed a process, that any great recruiter will master. Yes, it includes all the usual elements, but it also ensures the candidate is clear on company culture, flexibility, and core values ahead of being offered a role, and is ultimately ready to decline the inevitable counteroffer.