I'm the founder of an early stage startup, located in a city where there are many job opportunities for software developers. As a developer myself, I know that it is very common for developers to switch companies every few years, in order to land significant pay increases. I know many people like to stigmatize this behavior, but I would never blame someone for wanting to grow their compensation. I'm also aware that if someone were to leave, we would incur significant costs in replacing them, ramping up their replacement, and re-learning the institutional knowledge that is lost.
For this reason, I would like to have a company policy that tells everyone explicitly that if they inform us of a job offer, we will never hold it against them, and we will never treat them negatively in future. And if the person is a valuable asset to the team, and genuinely interested in staying with us, we will match their job offer and do what we can to retain them.
I've had advisors tell me that saying this out loud is a bad idea, because it will encourage everyone to shop for offers. I can see their point, but I think it's worth the downside if it can help us better retain our most talented employees. I'm also aware that people leave for many different reasons, and it won't solve the attrition problem single-handedly (we're early enough that no one has left us so far). But I figured this policy would be a win even if it only addresses some of the reasons for attrition.
Has anyone had experiences with companies where counter-offers were well-known or normalized? If so, how would you describe the impact it had on company culture and retention?
For this reason, I would like to have a company policy that tells everyone explicitly that if they inform us of a job offer, we will never hold it against them, and we will never treat them negatively in future. And if the person is a valuable asset to the team, and genuinely interested in staying with us, we will match their job offer and do what we can to retain them.
I've had advisors tell me that saying this out loud is a bad idea, because it will encourage everyone to shop for offers. I can see their point, but I think it's worth the downside if it can help us better retain our most talented employees. I'm also aware that people leave for many different reasons, and it won't solve the attrition problem single-handedly (we're early enough that no one has left us so far). But I figured this policy would be a win even if it only addresses some of the reasons for attrition.
Has anyone had experiences with companies where counter-offers were well-known or normalized? If so, how would you describe the impact it had on company culture and retention?