高薪挽留跳槽者是步險棋大綱

Dear Annie:I'm curious to hear what you and your readers think about using counteroffers to retain talented employees. Last week, I was in a meeting of department heads (six of us, including me), and a couple of people mentioned that key team members have gotten great job offers from our competitors. On top of bigger salaries, these other companies are throwing in things like free gym memberships, not to mention substantially more vacation time than we currently offer.

親愛的安妮：我很想知道您和讀者們對開出比競爭對手更高的待遇挽留優秀員工這個現象怎麼看。上週我參加了一個部門主管會議（包括我在內一共六個人），一些主管説有幾個團隊核心成員拿到了我們競爭對手開出的工作條件。除了薪水更高之外，這些公司還提供免費健身會員卡之類的福利，以及更長的帶薪假期。

So, naturally, the conversation turned to whether we could, or would, match these offers, and at least one person seemed inclined to do so. But is that really smart? I have my doubts, partly because I accepted a counteroffer for more money, some years ago at a different company, and it sort of backfired on me, so I ended up leaving anyway. Your opinion, please? -- Holding Back

於是大家的話題自然就轉到我們是否能夠或是將要拿出對等的待遇來，至少有一個人傾向於這麼做。但這真的明智嗎？我頗為懷疑，因為多年前我就在一家公司接受了一次出價更高的挽留，結果事與願違，我最後只能離職。您怎麼看呢？—H.B.

Dear H.B.:With hiring picking up, it follows that decisions about making, and accepting, counteroffers are on the rise too. A survey last month by staffing firm The Creative Group, for instance, found that about 20% of marketing and advertising executives are agreeing to match more outside offers than last year, mainly to avoid losing employees with hard-to-find skills, while just 5% said counteroffers have declined.

親愛的H.B.：當招聘開始進入旺季後，是否提供及接受高薪挽留的各種決策也開始大幅增加。上個月由人力資源公司創新集團（The Creative Group）發佈的一份調研發現，現在營銷和廣告界約有20%的高管同意開出比去年更多的高薪，主要是為了避免擁有出眾技能的僱員流失，僅有5%的高管表示拒絕開出留人的高薪。

The biggest drawback to counteroffers is that they're often a temporary solution to a long-term problem. "Many companies are willing to pull out all the stops to retain their best people," observes Creative Group executive director Diane Domeyer. "And the employee who accepts a counteroffer may feel valued in the short term. The trouble is, the issues, beyond money, that are prompting the person to think about leaving usually crop up again later."

這類挽留高薪的最大缺點在於，它們往往是長期問題的暫時解決方案。創新集團常務董事黛安o杜美稚稱：“很多公司現在願意拿出所有手段來留住優秀員工。而接受挽留待遇的人可能短期內會覺得自己很有價值。麻煩在於，那些除了錢以外的導致員工想離職的問題以後還是會再冒出來。”

She recommends considering these four questions before matching a competitor's offer:

她建議，在開出和競爭對手勢均力敵的條件前先考慮如下四個問題：

1. Will a counteroffer address the real problem?Sometimes higher pay is the only reason a star employee wants to change jobs, but more often it isn't. Boredom, lack of chemistry with a boss, no clear career path, or some other issue (or combination of issues) won't be resolved by throwing money at them.

1. 挽留高薪能解決真正的問題嗎？有時候更高薪水是明星員工想要換工作的唯一原因，但更多時候它並非主因。對於單調乏味的工作、和上司相處不好、缺乏清晰的職業路徑，或其他問題（各種長期積累起來的問題），光靠砸錢是解決不了的。

2. Is it a knee-jerk reaction?Domeyer notes that, faced with losing an essential team member, many managers panic. She recommends slowing down, taking a deep breath, and asking yourself, "Are you asking this employee to stay because of the value he or she brings to the role, or only so that your team won't be left in the lurch?"

2．開出這種條件是一種下意識反應嗎？杜美稚稱，面臨團隊某位重要成員即將流失的現實，很多經理都會抓狂。對此她的建議是，放鬆點，深呼吸，再問問自己，“你是因為這位員工創造的價值而想留住他（她），還只是因為怕自己的團隊陷入困境才想挽留他（她）？”

3. Will it set a precedent you can't afford?Word gets around. "Make a counteroffer today, and you can be sure other restless employees will expect similar treatment in the future," Domeyer says. "If one employee gets a significant raise purely because of another job offer, it could upset your whole pay scale."

3. 這麼做會樹立一個你今後沒法承受的先例嗎？小道消息總是傳得很快。杜美稚稱：“你如果現在開出這種條件，那其他不安分的員工今後肯定也會想要得到同樣待遇。如果某個員工因為新找了工作而獲得大幅加薪，那就可能會搞亂公司整個薪酬體系。”

4. What impact will it have on the team?"What you gain by trying to appease one person can cause resentment and low morale among the rest of your staff," Domeyer says. That's especially true of conspicuous perks like extra vacation time. People who work together may not know each other's salaries, but they do notice when someone takes, say, four weeks off instead of two.

4. 這麼做會對團隊產生什麼影響？杜美稚表示：“你挽留了一個人，最後卻會讓其他人滿腹怨氣、士氣低落。對於額外假期這種明擺着的福利，尤其會產生這種情況。同事之間可能並不瞭解彼此的薪水，但如果某人有了四周而不是兩週假期的話，那大家就都會看在眼裏了。”

In this as in so much else, the best cure is prevention. "The time to talk with your most valued employees about their future with you is not when they've already decided to quit," Domeyer says. "Companies with the highest retention rates now are the ones where managers are having frequent conversations with the people they don't want to lose."

針對這種情況，就像其他許多事情一樣，預防就是最好的治療。杜美稚表示：“和最有價值的員工探討未來與公司共成長這一話題的時機絕不是在他們已經決定離職時。現在在那些離職率最低的公司裏，經理們經常會和他們不希望其流失的員工談話。”

It helps to have succession plans in place too, she adds: "People do change jobs, so what if your best team member does quit? You need to be ready and train someone who can step into that person's role."

她進一步表示，如果早有準備繼任計劃也會很有幫助，“人們總是會換工作的，那麼如果最佳團隊成員離職了怎麼辦呢？所以必須提前準備，培養一些能夠挑大樑的員工。”

John Challenger, CEO of Chicago career-development firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, agrees: "Your best people are the ones who are most likely to get other offers. So managers have to take the time to plan for that."

芝加哥職業生涯發展公司Challenger, Gray & Christmas的首席執行官約翰o查倫吉爾也同意這個觀點：“最出色的員工往往也最有可能獲得新工作。所以管理者必須花時間為此早作準備。”

Challenger also notes, incidentally, that accepting a counteroffer carries its own risks. "If you take an offer that matches the one you got from another company, and you agree to stay, higher-ups still know you were planning to quit," he points out. "You can't unring that bell."

他隨便還提到，接受挽留高薪也有一定的風險。“如果接受了一份和其他公司開給你的待遇相仿的薪水，並同意留在公司，那高層還是已經知道你是準備離職的，放出去的風是沒法收回來的，”他指出。

You don't say how the deal you accepted at your previous employer "sort of backfired," but Challenger has seen counteroffers put an end to people's advancement in companies.

接受這種待遇的人通常不會明説最後這份待遇如何讓自己“事與願違的”，但查倫吉爾是看到過挽留高薪是如何讓人在公司裏徹底斷送晉升機會的活生生例子的。

"It's kind of like telling your spouse you had an affair," he says. "On some level, trust has been broken. So when it comes to promotions, for example, there's now a seed of doubt about whether you're really committed for the long run." To anyone weighing a counteroffer, Challenger adds, "you have to consider whether that possibility is worth a bigger paycheck" -- or whether it makes more sense to simply take the other offer and move on.

他説：“這就好比跟配偶説自己出軌了。在一定程度上信任已經破裂了。這樣當輪到要提拔誰時，大家很自然就會懷疑你會不會長期效忠於公司。”對那些還在掂量這種待遇的人來説，“就得好好考慮一下眼下拿的更多的錢是不是值得付出這些代價了”——或者是不是乾脆就另謀高就來得更可取。

Talkback: Have you ever made a counteroffer, or accepted one? How did that decision turn out? Leave a comment below.

誠邀反饋：您曾經開出或接受過挽留高薪嗎？做了這種決策後的結果怎樣？請留下高見。