Is it worth making counteroffers to departing employees?

My first instinct was to say no, but drawing on almost 30 years of professional work – including as a
manager, HR advisor but also Head of C&B (compensation management) – I think the right answer is:
let’s think if, it’s worth it.
Let’s think at the outset about how we thought of this employee before: was this a person who is a
fit for our organisation? Is he or she a valuable member of the team who plays fair, is competent,
shares experience with others? If all we can think of is panic about what we’re going to do, we think:
who’s going to figure it out, he/she knows everything, our processes will collapse….
Then my advice is not to do a counteroffer, because it will be a short-term measure.
In my work as a remuneration officer, I have observed that people who are mismatched to the
organisation, who are burnt out, sometimes already sincerely hating their job, enter into a mindset: if
I earn more, I will somehow be able to stand it. Their expectations are often exorbitant,
disproportionate to their commitment. It is better for both parties say goodbye than to put a
mismatched or burnt-out person in “golden chains”.
However, if the “examination of conscience” tells us that we are losing someone really valuable to
the company, the team, the first step is to have an honest conversation, find out why he or she is
leaving, maybe it is not only about money, but other aspects, see if we can find a way forward
together and, of course, give a raise by making a counter-offer. Sometimes it emerges from such a
conversation that a pay rise won’t make much difference and that we simply have nothing to offer
this employee, who may want to develop, change something in his or her life, etc… In such a case,
let’s part with him or her in agreement, say how much we will miss him or her and that the door to
our company is always open.
It could also be that our remuneration policy is not aligned with the market and people are simply
leaving for financial reasons. Let’s think about changing the policy, if it’s a conscious action and the
company simply can’t afford to pay well then be aware that counteroffers also have a double-edged
effect, we hold on to the talent but the rest of the team who don’t shout loudly gets left behind in
terms of pay, this creates tension within teams. Let’s try to do it cleverly with bonuses, a more
extensive career paths.