Home featured Advice Editor's Choice Featured Advice How to keep employees who’ve been offered jobs elsewhere Guest Author June 2, 2015 In all facets of life the best employees outperform mediocre ones by a substantial margin. I’m sure we can all think of examples where a star employee sets a team on fire, or does the work of several people. They’re worth paying for, holding out for and fighting for. With the amount of time and investment that goes into finding a good hire, it’s fair to say that employers may start to feel defensive as they prepare to keep talent who may be getting propositioned with new opportunities. Just because an employee has been offered a new role, it doesn’t mean you, as a business leader, are out of options. You just need to know what it will take to keep that employee. Here are a few recommendations on how to counter-offer an employee in today’s highly competitive market: Understand their motivation : Before offering anything to the employee who has just announced their resignation, try and find out why they want to leave. Ask questions in order to get them talking about their life and priorities. Is it something practical (e.g. moving to a new city or more flexible work hours), something personal (e.g. unhappy with manager or team) or is it about the job or company (e.g. taking on new responsibilities or higher salary)? Without knowing exactly what the issue or opportunity for change is it’s very