Question:
One of my employees dropped a bomb yesterday. I’d thought he was happy with his job, he’d told me so just the prior week. So it shocked me when he said, “I’m sorry to tell you this because I like you as a supervisor. Another company has offered me twelve thousand a year more than I make here. I can’t afford to turn that down.”
When I asked him if he’d been looking for other jobs, he said “not really” but looked embarrassed. When I asked what “not really” meant, he said, “this offer just sort of came to me.”
Here’s what I need to decide: do I offer him more money and ask him to stay so I don’t have to go through what it takes to train a replacement and maybe not get anyone better? Or accept his resignation and wish him well?
Answer:
Is he a terrific employee you can’t afford to lose who wasn’t looking for a new job? If so, make him a counter offer, including both a raise and your willingness to fix other factors leading him to want to move on. Employees who let you know they plan to leave often cite “more money” when other issues such as the lack of challenge or the presence of difficult personalities on your staff may have pushed them to seek out new opportunities.
Your employee’s answers and demeanor, however, suggests that even if this particular opportunity came to him, he might have been searching. When our clients ask them to find applicants for positions they have open and we scan databases such as Indeed.com, we regularly find resumes from individuals currently working for our employer clients. How employees represent themselves on LinkedIn also give clues to whether they’re hoping for new opportunities. If so, giving a raise only postpones the inevitable.
You also need to decide if your employee’s talent and performance justify a raise. Before you offer a sizable raise to a “B+” employee, consider whether the same enhanced salary might land an “A” employee. Further, if you raise his salary, fairness requires that you review your other employees’ salaries. If you don’t, they’ll inevitably find out how he got his raise and wonder if they can wrangle one as well by placing themselves on the job market. In other words, remember that if you fix this one problem it may create others.
© 2018, Lynne Curry
Lynne Curry writes a weekly column on workplace issues. She is author of “Solutions” and “Beating the Workplace Bully” and founded The Growth Company, an Avitus company. Curry is now a Regional Director of Training and Business Consulting at Avitus Group. Send your questions to her at Lcurry@avitusgroup.com, follow her on twitter @lynnecurry10 or at www.workplacecoachblog.com.
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