How to offer an employee a resignation counter offer

There will be times when one of your employees’ is looking to leave. This may be down to unhappiness, concerns with the role or they may have been offered another job.

One way you can keep your best employees is to make them a counteroffer. This will not only show your commitment to them, but also save you hiring costs and overworking your remaining staff in the future.

In this guide, we’ll discuss what makes up a counteroffer, along with examples and what to include when making an offer.

What is a counteroffer in the workplace?

A counteroffer is an offer made in response to another offer. But in the workplace, you will typically make a counter-back offer when a valued employee is looking to leave. They may have secured a new role somewhere else, be moving away or just want a change in career.

Around 58% of Australian employers reported (2024)  an increase in job candidates accepting counteroffers from their current employer. Highlighting just how valuable counteroffers can be in an attempt to retain top talent.

Here are a few reasons you may want to make a counteroffer:

• By keeping your best staff, you retain their knowledge and training.

• Saving outgoings on advertising, hiring, and training a replacement.

• To avoid overworking remaining staff, which could lead to decreasing productivity.

• To maintain and build morale and team relationships.

It’s important you make any counteroffers in writing, this will stop any confusion or potential conflict in the future.

How much should you counteroffer?

While there are no official guidelines on what you should and shouldn’t be offering, it is wise, as an employer, to keep budgets in mind. A good range is typically between 10% and 20%.

As much as you may want to keep them on board, you don’t want to overspend.

What you should include in a counter-offer letter

• Acknowledge the employee’s importance to your business.

• Your sadness in seeing them go.

• Indicate that you’ll be happy to have a discussion in a one-to-one meeting confidentially.

• Make sure it’s not just based on a pay rise.

Make sure that your counteroffer isn’t based purely on salary. You can, for example, consider adding employee benefits to the package to make it more attractive to them, for example, more flexible working opportunities.

It’s also important that you keep any discussion regarding salary confidential. If other employee’s find out about pay rises, this could potentially cause conflict and a drop in morale.

And at the end of the day, employees won’t always accept your counteroffer and may still resign.

Get help with your counter offers today with BrightHR

By offering a quality counteroffer, you could successfully retain a valued staff member and see their good work continue to benefit your business.

For access to BrightHR’s document library, BrightBase, brimming with guides and templates for any situation you may find yourself in as an employer, get in touch today.

Book a product demo or call 1 300 029 198 and start streamlining your people management.