Using a job offer from a competitor isn't sleazy. It's totally legit.
At least, that's what a number of employment experts who shared their thoughts with the Society of Human Resource Management say.
"Firms have long used market models to explain their behavior and this is an example of workers doing the same," says Lisa Torres, a former sociology professor at George Washington University and labor relations expert. "If the job market is tight for workers with certain skills, then those workers should, in a market model, exploit those skills to their economic advantage."
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Essentially, companies aren't going to bend over backwards to do what is convenient for the worker, so why should the latter act any differently?
Similarly, businesses that have cheered the decline of organized labor in recent decades, saying that workers would be better off negotiating directly with employers, should expect that employees will resort to other means to gain leverage.
HR professionals should learn not to be surprised when job candidates come back with counter-offers from their current employers. In fact, Nate Elgert of the staffing agency Aureus Group says, recruiters should tell job applicants to whom they extend offers that they should expect a competing offer from their current boss.
"You need to educate those that accept your offers on why taking a counteroffer is a bad idea," he said. "There are mountains of data to support this, not the least of which is that 80 percent of people that accept counteroffers leave their employer within six months of doing so."
Indeed, Elgert argues that stressing the career opportunities that the new job presents the candidates, as well as the culture of the new workplace, are likely the most powerful motivator to win a candidate who is on the fence.
Also important is remaining in constant communication with the candidate, according to SHRM. Don't let the relationship "cool off."
Those appeals might not always work, says Elgert, but losing a worker is sometimes a good thing.
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