What to Do When Your Top Candidate Receives a Counter-Offer

You’ve made an offer to your top candidate and the candidate is excited and raring to go. You receive a call from the candidate one day and she tells you she has accepted a counter offer from her current employer. What happens next? It’s disappointing when you invest time and effort into interviewing and getting buy-in from the candidate only to have them accept a counter-offer from their employer. 57% of employees accept the counter offers made to them. What can you do when your top candidate receives a counter-offer?

Take the time from the very first conversation to understand the candidate’s goals, motivations, dreams, and frustrations. Arm yourself with an understanding of why they are making a career change so you know how to deal with their doubts. If a candidate is motivated by money or career development, you will already know how work through the candidate’s doubts.

Recruiters and hiring managers are all afraid to talk about counter offers, as if they are going to give the candidate a brand-new idea they have never considered themselves. Or as if they might offend the candidate that is two-timing them. The reality is that if it is discussed openly, it sets the tone for the relationship and creates a much more honest relationship from the get-go with no secrets or hidden agendas. Once you have covered it, talk the candidate through the pros and cons of accepting the counter offer. More importantly, focus on why your opportunity is the best option for them.

A quick google search will tell you that typically within 6 months of accepting a counter unoffer, candidates have already left the company or are actively looking again. When you think about it, it makes sense. Money is a quick fix and nice for a minute, but the underlying reason why candidates were looking in the first place is still there. So, they ultimately leave. Of course, the hiring manager is going to appear biased (and they are because they want the candidate to accept the job), but that doesn’t mean their points aren’t valid. It’s fairly commonly accepted that counter-offers are generally a bad idea and a google search will reveal that without you having to come across as the biased bad guy.