The War on Talent

2 min read

If you haven’t noticed, there is a War on Talent right now in the WDC regional insurance sector. And HR departments are doing just about anything now to retain their top talent. Including offering counter-offers to departing employees. Resist the temptation. Don’t do it. It will be the worst career move you’ll ever make. Against my advice, four of our own candidates (really nice people) took counter-offers after signing an offer letter earlier this year. We counseled against it, but they were so flattered they could not help themselves. Three of the four have already been terminated while the fourth is absolutely miserable with nowhere to turn now. Let me explain…first of all, Why do most people change jobs? The top four reasons listed below. They are:

• Bored/Not challenged: this is when burn-out starts to set in. Why am I doing this??
• Professional Growth: this is usually the case with candidates working in small to medium size insurance agencies who have simply maxed out their potential. Stagnation sets in.
• Work/Life Balance: the commute is too long or the firm is unwilling to allow a flex-time schedule. Or maybe their boss is simply working them too hard.
• Underpaid: the owners have been stingy with their money; taking advantage of the employees over a period of time. Are they going to pay you back pay for all those years they underpaid you while they took European vacations?

So how does this change when a counter-offer is offered to you? The answer is very simple: It doesn’t! These reasons are simply not fixable. Counter-offers are based purely on emotion. It’s like getting jilted by a boyfriend or girlfriend. For a brief period of time, you’ll dance with the devil to get them back. It’s true, right? A Vice President told me a long time ago when I was fresh out of college, “Passion will get you to the top, but Emotion will get you to the bottom.” Aside from the reasons stated above, we have found that six in ten people who accept counter-offers are no longer with the company within one year. Why is this? Because the first time you make a mistake, you’re out the door. Why is that? Because you are no longer a trustworthy person. Just something to think about…