If you just got that confirmation email or call from the hiring firm offering you the job you’ve long been hoping to land, then chances are you’ll have already punched the air in triumph and let out a huge sigh of relief at the conclusive news, thankful that the hard part of the job searching process is now behind you.

And while it’s certainly in order to celebrate such wonderful news with friends and family and give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back for making it this far, caution is advised at this junction – as there is still a transition period you are to navigate successfully, especially when there is still your resignation and notice period to manage.

Perhaps the most pertinent when discussing the activities involved in a thorough due diligence post-job search is the topic of counteroffers, an aspect of the transition process that presents a challenge to legal candidates often regardless of what they might have on offer from their soon-to-be employer.

According to the latest CIPD Labour Market Outlook report, 40% of UK employers have made a counteroffer to departing employees in the last 12 months and among that number, 38% matched the salary of the new job offer while 40% exceeded it. With employers increasingly reliant on counter offers to retain their key staff and a skills shortage across the industry to contend with, these findings point to two indisputable facts that any legal candidate on the brink of leaving their current role faces at present:

• The chances that you will be made a counteroffer are higher than ever before.
• It will likely be a tantalizing prospect to consider, regardless of whatever offer you’ve got on the table.

All of this to say, it isn’t an issue you can afford to take lightly, simple as its solution may seem.

So, what happens when you break the news to your current employer with your resignation letter at the ready and your current manager provides a counteroffer, asking you to stay?

While the promise of extra benefits, money, or extra responsibilities from your existing employer might be tempting, they usually point to a few red flags that make accepting a counteroffer ultimately a bad move for your career in the long run.

Here are 5 reasons you may want to think twice before accepting the new offer on the table:

1. Counteroffers Don’t Solve Underlying Issues

Moving from one job to another isn’t a decision most legal professionals will arrive at on a whim. There will be a lot of time and thought gone into weighing the pros and cons of leaving your current role, and from every possible angle, before deciding to take the leap.

When you’re given a counteroffer, it may address one or two gripes you have with your existing role (such as a low salary), but it’s unlikely to tackle every major issue that convinced you to leave. When faced with one, it’s a good idea to take a moment to ask yourself why you wanted to take this new job in the first place.

Is your current role lacking the challenge you’re looking for at this stage of your career, or are you planning on moving in an entirely new direction? Perhaps the culture or lack of flexibility are a constant source of headaches at your firm. If the sticking points with your role aren’t resolved by the counteroffer (which tend to be the case if these sit at the root of your concerns as culture and career development are not as simple a problem to fix as salary concerns) you should absolutely be turning it down and moving on with your new job offer.

2. An Unwelcome Change in Dynamics

Whilst it is well within your right to explore alternative options if your needs aren’t being met professionally and personally, an inevitable by-product of accepting a counteroffer after making your departure known to your employer is the impact it will have on your relationship going forward.

There’s a good chance your employer will have lingering questions about your loyalty after accepting the counteroffer, and this can manifest in ways that will eventually come to undermine the reasons that sit behind your decision to stay.

You may see yourself getting passed over for promotions, or find your employer actively looking to hire for your position to fill the gap you’ll leave when you do eventually jump ship, all because they consider you a flight risk.

As they will (somewhat understandably) no longer have the same level of trust they once did, there’s likely to be an uncomfortable and awkward dynamic at play, even if they do end up going in the other direction and working harder to keep you happy.

3. A Growth Plateau

Career development often involves moving between different roles, taking on new responsibilities over time and stepping out of one’s comfort zone constantly to keep the trajectory of one’s growth on the up. While there is the benefit of quickly climbing up the ladder in one law firm and building up experience working within a particular team or role, staying put for too long can be as damaging to your career prospects in the long run, as it keeps you out of the loop on what opportunities are ripe for you to expand your skills and experience and consequently stunt your growth.

When deciding if a counteroffer is worth accepting, ask yourself if it keeps you on course to achieving your short and long-term career goals. Compared to the job you presently have lined up, does your existing role get you closer to meeting those key milestones any faster?

Remember that a higher salary won’t bridge the gap that an unrewarding role leaves. Yes, the money will certainly be a welcome incentive but that will quickly become irrelevant if your existing role isn’t pushing you in the right direction. It’s important that you keep your end goal in mind when considering a counteroffer and avoid any ill judgement based on the promise of monetary value.

4. With Great Investment Comes Great Scrutiny

Given the gravity of the skills shortage prevalent in the hiring market today, keeping a hold of top talent has become a lot more of an urgent imperative for businesses across the industry. As firms increasingly opt for desperate measures to retain their key personnel, it has become commonplace to see employers rush to offer a more handsome remuneration package to save themselves the stress of scouring the market for an adequate replacement.

While this is good news for candidates currently without a role, it is a double edged sword for anyone considering the prospect of a counteroffer. This flexibility towards a salary/benefits increase can and often does mean employers  become increasingly wary of how much you warrant the extra investment down the line and can lead to them actively looking for tangible evidence you’re worth it right away.

Having this extra scrutiny placed on your performance, conduct and attitude – down to the smallest of things – can be a stressful experience, even if you are conscious you are well-deserving of the extra benefits you received.

In some cases, employees who accept counteroffers find themselves under pressure to perform like a new hire all over again, trying to prove they deserve their new salary and responsibilities. In other cases, you may find that some of these responsibilities aren’t ones you asked for or are fit to handle, and that’s because your employer simply wants to ensure they’re getting their “return on investment” from you.

5. Risk of Regret

Job changes can be stressful and worrisome, but they can also present incredible opportunities to tap into your potential as a legal professional and build a stellar career for yourself. If you’ve been offered a job at another firm, and you’ve said “yes”, then chances are there’s clearly something about the new role that appealed to you.

Maybe you loved the level of flexibility it offered and don’t have an opportunity to get that kind of work life balance at your current firm. Perhaps you were interested in branching out into a slightly different aspect of your practice area and won’t get the chance to explore that in your current role. Bear in mind that any unfulfilled desire will always be there in the form of regret if you do nothing to change your circumstances when opportunity knocks at the door.

Although you’ll have the comfort of not having to get accustomed to a new working environment or team, you’ll also be left constantly wondering what would have happened if you had followed through and moved into that new role.

Counteroffer Strategies 101

It’s always worth preparing for a counteroffer in advance before approaching your manager with your resignation letter. Think about how best to pass across your rejection to their offer politely and firmly, and whether there are still any important factors at play that warrant you seriously considering passing up the chance to make a new move.

By far the best way to add that extra layer security to your preparation is to work alongside a specialist legal recruiter throughout a process. They possess a great deal of knowledge about the job application process, from both a hiring and employee perspective and are best placed to help alleviate any doubts you might have about your current options – counteroffer or not.

If you find yourself at a critical junction in your legal career with no clear pointers on how best to advance, then you’re in luck. At Clayton Legal we make it our goal to simplify the job-hunting process as much as possible for legal candidates, whatever the complications involved may be, and would love to give you the helping hand you need in navigating any uncertainties about the next move for your career. Give our team a call today on 01772 259 121 or contact us here.

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal has been partnering with law firms across the country since 1999 and during that time has built up an enviable reputation for trust and reliability. We have made over 5,000 placements from Partners to Legal Executives, Solicitors to Paralegals and Legal IT personnel to Practice Managers. 

Whether you are building your legal team or are looking for your next career move, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here. 

Whether the news of your soon-to-be ex-employee leaving represents a big blow for your firm or a possible weight off your management team’s shoulders, the reality of employee turnover is and has always been an unavoidable part of business, come rain or come shine. But like all inevitabilities, how it is prepared for and dealt with determines what it brings for a company, and this rings true for any firm looking to thrive in a market filled with unpredictability. 

So, if you’ve just had your talented and likeable Senior Conveyancing Solicitor come and tell you they are leaving to go and work for a competitor, how do you react? Do you panic and wrack your brain for a way to make them reconsider their decision? Or do you perhaps treat the issue as something to avoid losing time and resources over, and wish them the best of luck as they depart for pastures new? 

 Do you make keeping them a priority, and should you even try? 

 If that individual is a big asset to the firm – reliable, motivated, hard to replace (or expensive), and now planning a move to one of your biggest competitors (and perhaps with a time-sensitive caseload on their plate) you will be tempted to offer them the moon to stay. Additionally, the true cost of losing an employee can be prohibitive – hiring fees, recruiting time, onboarding and training – not to mention the nose-dive in morale for other employees who see a valued and talented colleague walking out the door. 

 But a word of warning. A counteroffer may not be the solution it initially appears, as all angles of the situation need to be looked at before going down that route.  

Why Employees Leave 

What you should be wary of when looking to convince the employee to reconsider their decision, is going into the conversation with a financial incentive in mind as your bargaining chip. Research states that 50% – 80% of employees that accept counteroffers end up leaving their employer within 6 months due to the same issues that led to their initial decision. The fact is that it’s rarely a salary issue that sees employees leave to take up another job offer, so the chances that an offer of increased salary will keep them at your firm are slimmer than you might think.  

Rather than an issue of compensation, the following are the biggest reasons employees typically begin embarking on a search for pastures new: 

Lack Of Career Progression

If an employee feels they have climbed as far up the career ladder as they can with your law firm, they are going to start casting their net elsewhere to discover better opportunities. A survey last year conducted by Go1 discovered that 60% of employees that were found to consider leaving their job in 6-12 months’ time, cited a lack of career prospects as their main driver. When a promotion has long been deserved but is not forthcoming, employees will begin to look for it elsewhere.  

The same can be said for job satisfaction from a more micro perspective. When an employee’s work doesn’t provide the necessary stimulation for growth or progress that it should, it leads to the dangerous drops in work ethic that the resulting boredom brings. Perhaps your Conveyancing Solicitor has been dealing with the same clients doing similar work for several years and yearns for a new challenge. Or your Portal Fee Earner has been hoping for promotion to Team Leader for some time but hasn’t been successful. If an employee doesn’t feel stretched or challenged in their job, they become disinterested and disengaged. Then disinterest quickly transforms into boredom, and this eventually manifests in a search for something else to extend their capabilities. 

Poor Management 

People don’t quit their jobs; they quit their bosses, and this remains the case today for law firms. Poor management practice can do a lot of damage, – killing employee morale and impacting engagement levels – and consequently make the work environment a barrier to, rather than a catalyst for employee success. A workplace that doesn’t encourage ‘out of the box’ thinking or is inflexible with its staff is not going to facilitate success on an individual or collective level, and this is especially the case with legal professionals today, with whom working with an employer that shares and lives out similar values to theirs is now much more of an expectation than a luxury.  

Employees need to feel valued and respected. They need to look forward to coming to work and enjoying their job. Having these aspects of the work culture in place enables them their drive not only their own career progress but that of the firm too. 

Opportunity To Join A High-Profile Law Firm 

Blinded by the dazzle of the prestige that comes with working for a top law firm, an employee might feel the urge to leave just to be part of a highly-reputable business. While it’s hard to argue with this one, they (and you) should be warned of the possible pitfalls. Does the firm have a good reputation? Does it have a high staff turnover? Both parties should weigh the pros and cons involved.  

Better Work Life Balance 

Some things money just can’t buy, and this is one of them. Even in a period where flexibility and healthy work-life balance is high on the priority list of legal professionals, burnout remains common among many today. The nature of the work life involved in the legal profession – as well as the prevalent workaholic culture that pressures many into sacrificing their own well-being for their firm’s success – inevitably drives many employees to look towards leaving a position to try to claw back some time for themselves and their family.  

Asking The Right Questions

The best way to approach the conversation is by asking a few questions to get a good indication of why your employee is considering leaving. Keeping them general to begin with is best, as not everyone will be willing to discuss their reasons for leaving a job.  

A simple “What’s go you thinking of leaving’’ followed by a question asking whether they’d like to discuss it is a good way to get the conversation started. Asking questions can help you understand the underlying issues that have gotten your employee to the point of seriously considering leaving. Ideally, discussing these concerns can help you identify problems that you have the ability to address and  retaining your employee. 

And, even if they remain unconvinced, you will at the very least have learned  from their experience and can make improvements for future employees. Regardless, by addressing the issue and doing your best to find a resolution, you have ensured that you’ve done everything you can to take appropriate action.  

Making Your Counteroffer 

If you intend to make a counteroffer, start by asking your employee the following questions:  

1. Do they enjoy working at your law firm 
2. Can they envision a future there? 

 If the answer to both questions is yes it is worth considering a counteroffer. Begin by offering non-financial incentives to encourage them to stay, as we’ve already that these are unlikely to solve the issues at hand. Instead, consider the following alternatives:

• Foster a workplace culture that embraces diversity and inclusion. 
• Explore flexible working hours, including options such as flexitime for employees experiencing stress or other options, such as working from home. Employers who are more open to alternative working arrangements tend to be more respected by their teams and see better levels of staff retention. 
• Assign them a role that plays to their strengths. Is there an opportunity to move the employee into a position that better suits their skillset and ability? Is there a project/case they could lead on which would challenge them? 
• Provide mentoring opportunities – a great mentor can provide invaluable insight, support and guidance to an employee who is struggling with their career. 
• Address management issues promptly, as there’s no excuse for poor behaviour in the workplace at any level. Bullying, harassment or just downright rude bosses or staff need to be dealt with ruthlessly. 
• Consider hiring additional staff to alleviate workload pressures. If workload overwhelm is the issue, then a temporary or permanent staff addition can reduce pressure on current employees, and lead to an increase in productivity, as well as fewer absences due to stress. 
• Establish a clear progression pathway. Everyone wants to feel they can achieve their career ambitions through their work and see tangible progress.  
• Develop an employee development plan that shows a clear training, development and progression route for each employee. This will give individuals something to aim for and ensure they are more likely to stay and grow with your law firm. Remember that taking tangible actions is crucial for the success of your counteroffer.  

Potential Pitfalls To Be Mindful Of 

Even more important to consider than the pros of a counteroffer are the potential drawbacks involved. The following should be considered before proceeding:  

• Could offering a salary increase create imbalance across the team?  
• Will other team members pressure for a salary rise when word gets out – and if so, can you manage expectations? 
• Will you get a reputation in the market for overpaying that could lead to unsuitable candidates clamouring to join your law firm for the wrong reasons? 
• Can you even afford an increased financial offer in the first place? 
• Is there a real chance of the employee taking your offer for granted? Could they continue performing at previous levels or become complacent, even arrogant, because they got their way?

Moving Forward

Whatever the outcome, you may want to consider ways to improve staff retention going forward; improving firm culture, opening lines of communication to provide transparency and most importantly, valuing your employees. Using conversations around why an employee wants to leave can be a strategic opportunity to reflect and make improvements internally. 

As a Manager of Business Leader in the Firm, you should always be on alert for the signs that key individuals may be a ‘flight-risk’. In today’s changing legal landscape, issues like disengagement, burnout, and even “quiet quitting” are becoming increasingly common. But if you can recognise these signs ahead of time, there are still things you can do to re-ignite your staff’s passion for your firm and prevent them from seeking other employment options…hopefully long before the conversation around resignation and counteroffers is even on the table. 

Moving On?

If despite reasonable negotiation, the employee still intends to leave, it is best to agree to part ways amicably and wish them well. Remember, life is about change. If it’s time for them to move on, let them resign gracefully. Don’t be tempted to behave childishly – that will only get the rest of your team thinking about starting their own covert job hunt. 

Instead, consider celebrating their contribution with a kind Thank You gesture. That’s the best way to build trust and successfully manage your legal team. 

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal has been partnering with law firms across the country since 1999 and during that time has built up an enviable reputation for trust and reliability. We have made over 5,000 placements from partners to legal executives, solicitors to paralegals and legal IT personnel to practice managers.

Click here to speak to one of our experienced Legal specialists or call 01772 259121 for more information on how our exceptional recruitment experience can help your career aspirations.

You want to be sure that your offer is irresistible enough to candidates that they bite, first time. So how can you do it? It’s not all about money. In fact, our recent legal salary survey showed that two-thirds (66%) of respondents offer flexible working – second only to the more traditional pension contribution.

This guide gives you the lowdown on how to handle the offer stage and ensure your firm employs the best talent.

Communication

A phone call will give you another chance to speak with the candidate and allows you to make an initial verbal offer. Gauge their response; if they’re cagey it could be a sign they have eggs in other baskets. If they seem pleased and verbally accept you can feel reassured that it’s the right time to make a written offer.

Speed

Sixty-seven per cent of law firms believe that a legal skills shortage is likely to hamper their growth. In a climate where the demand for legal professionals outstrips supply, you might want to think about making an offer sooner rather than later. Of course, it’s important that you weigh up your options and allow space to think about who is the best fit. Just don’t leave the candidate dangling for too long – they may just be snapped up by a competitor!

Many employers, whether in the legal profession or otherwise, stipulate how long the offer of employment stands for. A week is usual, although you may wish to adjust this as per your firm’s circumstances. If a candidate hasn’t accepted within seven days, it could well signal that they weren’t as bought in as you’d hoped.

Use employer branding to your advantage

Treat your employees – and potential employees – as you would your clients. Demonstrate why it’s so good to work with you and what other staff have gained, both professionally and personally, from working for your firm. Not only will a strong employer brand attract candidates to you, it will help encourage them to accept your offer, and will also help to retain them once they come on board. Our guide offers law firms in-depth insight into employer branding.

Dodge the minefield of counter offers

You’ve found an outstanding candidate, made an offer and are eagerly awaiting them to return their signed contract. What you get in return is a counter offer. Maybe the candidate has had more money offered by their employer, or a competitor. Maybe they’re requesting a more extensive benefits package. Counter offers aren’t the end of the world and can be very revealing about what’s important to and motivates the candidate you’re interested in.

But don’t get drawn into a bidding war. You may win the battle, although candidate indecision raises flags, and begs the question of whether they are playing two parties off for their own gain – in which case they perhaps aren’t the best fit for your practice. A trusted recruitment partner can sift through the candidates to highlight the best fit in terms of motives during the initial screening process, and save you the trouble of a counter offer later on.

Counter offers in the legal profession are an incredibly common occurrence; try as you might – or your recruitment partner for that matter – it’s not always possible to avoid the situation. A combination of factors, such as Brexit and a shortage of skilled legal professionals makes for an uncertain job market. The bad news for employers is that uncertainty breeds caution as legal professionals choose to stick with what they know rather than go out on a limb. On the up side, treat your existing staff well and you may find that an uncertain climate helps you retain talent.

Non-starters

It’s frustrating, although try not to let it faze you and remember that life happens. Give the benefit of the doubt to the candidate and – maddening though it may be – resist the urge to go in guns blazing if someone doesn’t show as there may be a simple explanation. And keep your employer brand in mind: if the candidate has a bad experience they’ll tell their network and that might make recruitment difficult in future.

The best offer

All stages of the recruitment process require careful thought and planning, and none more so than the offer stage. This crucial final hurdle to placing the right candidate decides the success of the whole operation.

If you’re in need of some support in navigating this, download our latest guide – or while at any – stage of your recruitment process why not contact Clayton Legal, either online using our call scheduling service or contact form.

Alternatively, you can phone us on 01772 259 121 – we’d be happy to help you seal the deal with promising candidates.

And if you do find yourself in the position of having to deal with a counter offer, you may find our blog ‘How to handle a counter offer situation’ helpful.

You may also like to download our latest report on trends in law: The 7 critical recruitment trends in law that will impact your talent pipeline in 2019.

You’ve found your ideal person for the role: they tick all of the right boxes and you can’t wait to get them on board. But after you’ve offered them the job, they suddenly aren’t sure. Their current employer is equally keen to retain them and has made a counter offer to incentivise them to stay. What should you do next?

Of course, all legal firms want to retain their best talent and a last-ditch attempt to encourage highly in-demand candidates to withdraw their application, is not an uncommon scenario. However, there are several steps that you can take to minimise the risk and ensure the role you are offering, remains a viable option.

Determine why they want to leave

Preparing for a counter offer needs to begin at the very first stage of contact with prospective employees. Asking ‘Why do you want to leave your current job?’ is an important part of understanding the candidate’s motives and aspirations. If their only reason for looking for a new role is to get a pay rise or a little more responsibility, their current employer can easily address this with a counter offer which includes a salary increase or a change of job title. During the interview process, consider which job seekers are interested in the full opportunity that you’re offering.

Cover counter-offers at interview

It’s totally fine to ask a candidate during the interview stage what they would do if their current employer asks them to stay. It may be uncomfortable, but if it is clear at this point that they aren’t totally sure that they really do want to leave, question them further to find out the full picture.

Get them engaged with their future colleagues

The onboarding process can start from the moment that a candidate accepts your offer and can also be extended to include candidates who are still weighing it up. It’s a good idea to invite them in again to meet with key colleagues, such as line managers, peers and the leadership team. Personal connections can make it easier for people to envision themselves as part of the team.

Keep in touch

When recruits are seeing out their notice periods – which can be as long as three months – their excitement at getting a new job can fade a little. Plus, of course, their current employer still continues to see them each day and may well be doing all that they can to dissuade them from leaving. Be sure to stay in contact with your new hire until they join you on their first day. Invite them to team events, where possible. This will help you keep the momentum going and cement your company in their mind as the place where they can’t wait to be.

Sell your strengths

If you’ve done all of that and a potential new employee still is having a moment of uncertainty about switching jobs, remind them of the opportunities in your organisation. Pinpoint what initially made them apply for a job with you – career progression, improved work/life balance, an appealing organisational culture or more challenge – and reassure them that those benefits exist if they make the move.

Use a recruiter

A good recruiter will ascertain why the applicant is searching for a new role before putting them forward for interview. Often, jobseekers reveal information to recruiters that they don’t at interview and some do say that they are really only looking for a bargaining tool! Recruiters will be well-versed in scenarios where counter-offers emerge and they’ll be able to prepare candidates for the possibility that their current employer may try to dissuade them from leaving.

Know when to walk away

The recruitment process works both ways. Even in a skills-short environment, you still want to attract the right person who has enthusiasm for the job: a candidate that needs endless persuasion to join your organisation is unlikely to be right. So, make your first offer your best one: sell the benefits of your company and role throughout the process and let it be the opportunity of working for you that attracts the right talent – not extra perks added to the salary package in a last minute attempt to get them to choose you.

If you would like specialist advice from experts, get in touch today to find out how we can help you find the right legal talent.

For more advice from the team, check out our other posts

You’ve landed yourself a new job, plucked up the courage and handed in your resignation, and you’re busy planning out your career at your new company. Then your employer takes you aside, expresses their reluctance to see you go and offers you more salary and additional benefits. In an environment of skills shortages, counter offers are commonplace, but should you accept it if offered?

Why did you resign in the first place?

While the thought of your company really wanting you to stay with them might appear flattering, take a moment to consider why you are in this position in the first place.  You made the decision to apply for new job and it stands to reason that there was a sound reason to do so. Perhaps it was because you felt your achievements weren’t being recognised or that there wasn’t the career progression opportunities available to you. So while it might initially seem fantastic that you have received a counter offer, you decided to leave and regardless of what you have been offered, your reasons for doing so still stand.

A question of loyalty

Another important point to consider is what your resignation tells your employer about your commitment to the company. While you might have been the perfect employee, the moment you hand your resignation in your loyalty will always be in question.  So if you’re considering accepting a counter offer think carefully about how you will be perceived at the company afterwards. While you might think that, by enticing you to stay, your boss obviously deems you too valuable to lose, the fact remains that they will look at you in a different way – it’s purely human nature to do so.  And this can have negative connotations for your future at the business if you do decide to stay put.

Is it just a stop gap?

Another complex issue surrounding counter offers is that you don’t know what it going on behind the scenes and the real reason your employer is asking you to stay.  If your company is experiencing heavy workloads, for example, and doesn’t have ample people waiting in the wings to fill your role, it could very well be that they are viewing the counter offer as a way to plug the gap until a replacement can be found.  And this feeling can be incredibly negative for you and the company – a situation soon arises where your employer is questioning your loyalty to the business and you are consumed with the fear that you might soon be replaced.

Think long and hard before you make the decision

While being offered more money or benefits can initially seem very appealing, our experience shows us that it can lead to a feeling of unease for both employer and employee alike. It’s really important to weigh up the pros and cons before you make a move.  If you decide to proceed with your new job, ensure you thank your boss for the offer and reassure them that you will be committed to your role during your notice period. And if you decide to take up the counter offer, bear in mind that you will probably have to work hard to win back your employer’s trust.

Call the team today for information about how Clayton Legal can assist your firm with recruitment and retention strategies. And for more insights from the team take a look at our other blogs and resources.