It's a little tangential to your comment, but I wanted to pick up on one piece.
A ludicrous counter-offer means the company has severe managerial issues and has allowed someone to become absolutely, non-negotiably indispensable.
I don't think it's always managerial issues. Sometimes people are just, well, good.
There is a problem underlying this -- as a result of this managerial "flight risk", many companies in turn decide to regard their employees to be replaceable parts. So they get obsessed with CMM, over-the-top documentation and 'repeatable processes'.
Sometimes someone is indispensable (rarely truly indispensable) because you've let knowledge pool in one person; where is shouldn't. Sometimes it's because your employee is a superstar. It's really important to recognise the difference.
Most of the time companies will assign this person to train others. Works some of the time, except when they're a superstar, in which case it just accelerates their exit.
A ludicrous counter-offer means the company has severe managerial issues and has allowed someone to become absolutely, non-negotiably indispensable.
I don't think it's always managerial issues. Sometimes people are just, well, good.
There is a problem underlying this -- as a result of this managerial "flight risk", many companies in turn decide to regard their employees to be replaceable parts. So they get obsessed with CMM, over-the-top documentation and 'repeatable processes'.
Sometimes someone is indispensable (rarely truly indispensable) because you've let knowledge pool in one person; where is shouldn't. Sometimes it's because your employee is a superstar. It's really important to recognise the difference.
Most of the time companies will assign this person to train others. Works some of the time, except when they're a superstar, in which case it just accelerates their exit.