How to avoid having to counter offer your Salesforce team

In Salesforce news by Ben DuncombeLeave a Comment

Everyone in the ANZ Salesforce market knows how hard it can be to find and attract a highly skilled Salesforce professional.

 

It is not uncommon to see companies tirelessly searching for 2-3 months before they are able to find the right candidate for their team.

 

With such a shortage of qualified candidates, it’s no surprise to see companies panicking when a valued member of the team resigns and they start to think about how they will replace them. What can be the most surprising is the salary package increase that companies are willing to then dish out when this panic sets in…

 

In the last 6 months we have seen some incredible counter offers. A $10k increase used to be the norm but we are now seeing increases of $25k per year (in this case, a 20% increase) through to a rate increase of $450 per day (a 60% increase) – Yes you read that correctly, four hundred and fifty dollars per day more than the candidate was already earning.

These levels of increase in salary are difficult for anyone to turn down even though there are plenty of statistics out there showing why you should never accept a counter offer, but we won’t get into that.

 

In most cases, the need to counter offer to keep your employee from leaving your team is avoidable – if they feel valued and you understand what motivates and challenges them as an individual. Talent Hub’s 2016 ANZ Salesforce Market Survey showed us that 53% of Salesforce professionals are being contacted 6 or more times per month about new opportunities and although only 14% of candidates left their last role due to salary alone, it’s often enough of a reason for them to engage in these discussions.

 

So if you have the budget to be able to offer a high performing, money motivated employee $25k more to stay with your company after they have resigned, shouldn’t you reward them with a pay rise before they start discussions with a company that will?

 

We all understand that salaries need to be sustainable but it’s no surprise the companies that don’t regularly offer performance related pay reviews are the ones who find themselves in the position of having to counter offer.

 

Here are our tips on what you should be doing to ensure you aren’t having to counter offer your valued Salesforce team members:

 

 

Stay on top of what other companies and your competitors are doing. 

 

Although every company is different and you each have your own challenges, it’s fair to say you are all interested in very similar candidates. Have a discussion with Salesforce recruitment specialists or peers from other companies to ensure you are aware of how things are changing and how other companies are rewarding their staff. Although there are salary surveys in the market, you can’t beat up to the minute insights from someone who has their ear to the ground and who knows what the current trends are. There is always a salary range for any Salesforce skill set and but a good Salesforce Recruiter will usually know why one company is paying their Developers X but why another company is paying Y.

 

 

Don’t try to align your Salesforce team salaries to salaries of other teams within the business.

 

The Salesforce market is unique and you will be hard pushed to find a comparable market right now in ANZ. Although we can understand why, in an ideal world your .Net Developers would earn the same as your Salesforce Developers unfortunately it isn’t that straight forward – hence why there are so many candidates looking to move into the Salesforce space.

Supply and demand has a major effect on the salaries being paid and the demand for Salesforce professionals shows no sign of slowing down.

 

 

Understand the level your team members are operating at.

 

Have you just rolled out a new offering from Salesforce? Will other companies be looking for your team members to help them do the same? Have they just secured another certification that gives them another string to their bow? If so, they are going to be attracting interest and if they aren’t feeling valued then their head may be turned.

 

 

Encourage self-development.

 

Some of Talent Hub’s top clients haven’t had a single Salesforce team member leave in the last 18 months. How? Because every team member is being developed or being encouraged to develop themselves. This can be through certifications, exposure to new areas of Salesforce or gaining a better understanding of other technologies. Find out what your team members want to learn or develop and give them the platform to do so before someone else does.

 

 

Communicate openly and honestly.

 

Although we know you can’t offer interesting, cutting edge projects 100% of the time, you can communicate openly with your team on what projects are coming through in the near future. Even if someone isn’t doing what they really enjoy right now, it will be easier for them to stomach this if there is a pipeline of exciting projects coming up.

 

Have a clear career path, bonus target and salary increase milestones which will keep your Salesforce team feeling motivated. And above all else, sit down and discuss with each team member regularly to understand how they are feeling about the work, the company and how they are progressing.

Positive feedback and recognition for their hard work might just be enough to turn their bad day at work into a great one – and thus avoiding any temptation to look elsewhere!

 

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