Ellen's blog: Fight or flight?

The way an organisation handles its ‘flight risk’ is very telling of the kind of culture it has. By ‘flight risk’ I mean the likelihood that a valued employee will leave the organisation – we can either retain such people by incentivising them to stay before they start looking elsewhere, or give them a counter-offer once they resign to go to another job. Personally, I have  never agreed to accept a counter-offer; my view is that my salary should reflect the value I provide to an organisation, rather than just being the minimum amount the organisation believes it can get away with, based on my current remuneration. The times when I have had counter-offer discussions (the result of moving roles roughly every 2 years) I feel nothing but disappointment - as if I want to ask my boss “yesterday you paid my x and reassured me that it was the highest possible amount that could be awarded in these austere times, and now you’re telling me that I’m actually worth more to you, but you’re only agreeing to pay that because I’ve resigned”?

Managing flight risk and ensuring that succession plans are in place for key members of staff is just sound risk management and necessary good business practice, although it’s often the of those things that ends up being de-prioritised when more tangible deliverables compete for our attention.

When considering whether to ‘make the first move’ with offering a pay-rise or other benefits, an organisation would generally assess the flight risk of an individual based on their level of satisfaction with their job, the availability of progression opportunities, the buoyancy of the market for people with their skills, and the likelihood that they would be willing to leave the organisation. That last point is crucial - where all other indicators are present, suggesting that they might be about to jump ship (low morale, no promotion prospects, lots of better paid jobs out there), there are some people who are still unwilling to leave. Many of these individuals tend to be people who have some kind of flexible-working arrangement in place, which they do not believe can be replicated by a new employer. This is not a gender issue, as there are both men and women who have flexible working practices (just look at some of our other WorkLife Central bloggers) although it’s still more common among women than men.

I am very lucky to benefit from a boss who values the quality of my work more than which desk I’m sitting at when I do it. I chose to leave work at 6:15pm each day so I can see my children in the evening - so some days I continue working when they’ve gone to bed (so  the flexibility I am afforded with my working location makes the difference between me never seeing my children and being able to put them to bed most nights). Obviously there are times when I need to be flexible to accommodate deadlines or work which really needs me to be in some of those late-running meetings, but on balance it’s absolutely worth it. For this reason, I am probably a fairly low flight risk at the moment if I’m honest; joining a new organisation and proving myself to them before being allowed to even request some flexibility in working arrangements feels like an emotional and physical drain I’m not ready to try right now, but I’d absolutely consider it once my children get a little older and bed time gets later.

I’ve reached something of a career ceiling in my current job, with no realistic progression opportunity for me beyond taking my boss’s job if he were to leave; I’m not yet experienced enough to do that, so I hope that the next pay review will reflect my contribution to the business, and not the fact that my circumstances mean I’m a low flight risk

So if you are considering a move, my view is that there is no downside to subtly letting your employer know about that. If you are a manager it might be better to make the first move to reduce the flight risk, rather than finding out when it’s too late that you under-estimated it. Something to think about!

Ellen has worked in the City for 17 years, mainly in banking, and currently for an inter-dealer broker. She has two children aged 7 and 4, with an au pair at home to help out.