Counter Attack

Oh Wayne, what are you up to?

On Wednesday your employer lacked ambition and was unlikely to be progressing any time soon, with your co-workers simply not of a high enough calibre compared to your own ability.

By Friday lunchtime everything’s hunky-dory again and you’re looking forward to a bright future, convinced that the club’s ambitions match your own and that you really are at the place that you belong. If reports are to be believed there is an ambitious recruitment programme about to be implemented and of course the reported £230k per week will certainly keep the wolves from the door (or balaclava-clad gangs from the door, as the case may be.)

What could possibly have convinced the formerly disillusioned Mr Rooney that his future did indeed lie at Old Trafford and not with the newly-wealthy neighbours or the warmer climes of Madrid? There’s no two ways about it; with talk of mind-blowing riches at other clubs United had to put a pretty spectacular offer on the table to keep him at the club.

Which brings us nicely to the question posed by this week’s blog:- the counter-offer. Proof of what you’re actually worth? Or a last ditch bid from your employer to avoid having to go to the bother of replacing you?

It’s hard to discuss a ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer for this as clearly some people are held in higher regard than others, whether you’re running a law firm, a (prawn) sandwich shop or a football club. Unless your employer does not value you at all, or really gets the hump that you’ve dared to even think about pastures new, then they are likely to make some attempt to keep you when you indicate a desire to move on.

As a senior level legal recruiter this is a conundrum we experience on a regular basis, particularly as we often work with partners who are not just great lawyers but are also excellent at building and retaining client relationships. When you are bringing £2.5m worth of fees in every year you have to be a pretty abrasive character for your firm to still be glad to see the back of you, hence more than 70% of candidates we work with can expect their firm to make some attempt to buy them back when they put their notice in.

There is an element of flattery involved when your employer makes you an improved offer to stay; the boost for your ego and usual promises of your personal development at the firm can be enough to convince you that making that jump is not the right move after all.

Yet looking at the facts for individuals who have been successfully convinced to stay by a counter-offer makes sobering reading. Staggeringly, only 6% of employees who accept a counter-offer are still with their firm twelve months later  [1], whether this is their own choice or not. You may decide that the promises you were made never materialise and ending up moving on after all, but don’t forget employers have long memories which, rightly or wrongly, can have a bearing in a potential redundancy situation eight months down the line by which time your safety net option has long gone.

Of course the worlds of football and law are massively different; it’s hard to imagine hordes outside the house of a senior partner with signs stating ‘Join DLA and you’re dead’....well, perhaps not that hard to imagine.

However whether you are a lawyer or a footballer accepting the counter-offer leaves you open to criticism from co-workers as well as the new employer whom you have to let down. Bear in mind though that Mr Rooney has secured himself the certainty of a five-year contract as well as doubling his money:- is your employer prepared to give you that level of guarantee???

Thought not.








[1] http://www.careerknowhow.com/guidance/counter.htm

If you are looking to make a move and would welcome guidance on the process including negotiating the counter-offer stage call VG Charles & Co on 0121 233 5000 / 020 7649 9094 and speak to one of our specialist consultants, or visit www.vgcharles.com. Lawyers with a convincing case for Rooney-esque money are of particular interest!

The Social Network

Friday saw the UK release of the anticipated film about Mark Zuckerburg, generally recognised as the father of Facebook (although court cases brought by various parties may cast some doubts over this.) Facebook is probably the most successful of the many social networking sites which have appeared over the last decade and its popularity has turned Zuckerburg into one of the world’s youngest billionaires.

At VG Charles & Co the use of social networking is recognised as a real benefit to the company; updates on the market, successes of the firm, new vacancies and even the publishing of a new blog can be tweeted to followers worldwide at the click of a button. LinkedIn can be used to cross-reference candidates against a CV or for confidential conversations; we were even instructed on a confidential partner hire via LinkedIn recently.

Whether you are a social networking guru, or if you don’t know your Bebo from your MySpace and tweeting is something you expect from budgies, there is no doubt that more and more firms are placing a greater emphasis on this medium to spread the message.

The legal press is also well-represented with Legal Week, Law Society Gazette, Roll On Friday and The Lawyer all regularly tweeting about breaking stories plus having groups or profiles on other sites such as LinkedIn. Combine this with the bloggers who regularly air their opinions online and you can easily spend your whole day staying up to date with the market from various viewpoints (including those of your favourite legal recruiter.)

So what size is the potential market? Well, there are around 50 million tweets every day, with Twitter’s website alone enjoying 6 million unique monthly users. According to a survey in August 2009 around 9% of tweets are to ‘pass-on value’, 6% are ‘self-promotional’ and 4% categorised as ‘news’. Assuming that news includes information about firms this means around 10 million daily tweets are marketing-related and instantly broadcast to a global audience.

Most firms now have a presence on LinkedIn and Facebook as well, again meaning that followers get the latest updates on news or movement within the practice as well as information on new starters or internal promotions.

There is also the opportunity to keep your followers updated whilst you are on the move. Either by text or using apps on a smartphone you can be tweeting whilst on the train, in an airport or even queuing at the coffee shop. Hook your sites together and Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter can all be updated using one system.

As with most things in life there is always a flip side; without appropriate control systems in place you have the opportunity for hackers or disgruntled (usually ex!) employees to vent their frustrations on your public forum. However you can at least control your own Facebook page and delete inaccurate or unprofessional comments, unlike those sites which do not employ a moderator. Lawyersfromhell.com, anyone?

Social networking within the business community is far from saturation point, with few of the smaller firms seeming to embrace the opportunity to market for free. To some Twitter is still dismissed as not powerful enough a tool or is consigned to the world of the geek, but as we have seen before those who do not get on board early enough risk being left behind. Like it or loathe it, social networking cannot be ignored or discounted as a fad which will soon pass – remember how long some firms took to embrace email?

As the popularity of social networking continues to grow the opportunity to ‘get onboard’ early diminishes; Twitter users may stop following additional firms as they start to become inundated with tweets. If you want to avoid missing the boat it may be time to tweet the Twitter, link in on LinkedIn or.........use Facebook .....to, er....throw a sheep. If your followers stick with you after that then you have them for life!

Follow VG Charles & Co on LinkedIn, or on Twitter at VG_Charles. Alternatively for a one-to-one tweet-free conversation with one of our specialist recruiters call 0121 233 5000/020 7649 9094.

Born In The USA

Well done Europe. Despite the best efforts of Tiger, Corey, Phil and Co on the last day the Americans have been sent back to the old US of A with their tails between their legs, and with their luggage allocation slightly lighter to the tune of 4lbs of Ryder Cup which will be staying this side of the Atlantic for the next 2 years.


Monday at VG Charles Towers was spent with half an eye on the developments at Celtic Manor as the singles swung blue to red and back again (or blue and bluer and bluer again where Ian Poulter was involved.) Admittedly at around 2:30pm things were starting to look slightly ropey (‘squeaky bum time’ as Sir Alex Ferguson so famously refers to such occasions) but a solid tee shot on the 17th followed by a less than convincing American short game and the cup was secured. In fairness it was always going to happen; after all, it’s not the first time that victory in Europe has been secured by a team under a man known as Monty.

Whilst the Americans may have departed Europe they have still left behind numerous establishments of American origin; IBM, Apple, Ford, Microsoft, Boeing, and even McDonalds are all a large part of day-to-day life for the average Brit, and in the professional services sector this influence is only increasing.

Where some American firms have taken the plunge and opened offices in Britain themselves the in-vogue option at the moment would appear to be the merger or strategic alliance. With Denton Wilde Sapte now being SNR Denton, Proskauer Rose and SJ Berwin in talks and a link up between Hammonds and Squire Sanders & Dempsey imminent this tactic shows no signs of slowing down.

As covered in an earlier blog (http://vgcharles.blogspot.com/2010/06/to-merge-or-not-to-merge.html) firms of all sizes have been examining whether domestic mergers represent a good business move, admittedly some more vociferously than others. For mid-to-large-sized firms this can be to bolster their presence in terms of location and/or particular areas of specialism; for smaller firms it can simply be a matter of survival as the pressures of increased professional indemnity insurance premiums and reduced economies of scale start to bite.

For those large enough to be looking at international tie-ups though it is unlikely that the benefit of reduced insurance premiums is the driving force behind the move. Instead the opportunity to ally themselves with a practice which has an established presence in a new territory may be the main appeal; for others a merger with a firm which shares a particular strength can lead to establishing a world-leading brand in this field. Of course the potential increase in PEP certainly doesn’t harm the process either.....

From the recruitment point of view there is a certain prestige generally attached to working for an American firm, and it is not lost on soon-to-merge practices that they may be in a position to attract high calibre individuals who previously would have regarded them as a sideways move at best. Similarly firms which may have held the upper hand in certain locations by being the only truly international practice in town now may have to worry about staff retention, as a competitor on their doorstep becomes a more attractive option than previously may have been the case.


Whilst the American firms may arrive with much fanfare and hype (a little like their golfers) the success of the merger will always rely on the practice having the gravitas and reputation to attract the best talent to their brand; although the firm may be American the lawyers employed in the UK will be largely British and making sure that those lawyers can buy into the ethos will be the crucial aspect. Otherwise the union may only prove as successful as your average Hollywood marriage, and quickly the American firm may disappear back across the pond under a cloud of disappointment, just like.........oh, fill in your own Ryder Cup joke here, you get the thread by now.

Have you always harboured an ambition to join an American practice, and would be keen to find out more about opportunities at such firms? Call one of our specialist recruiters on 020 7649 9094/0121 233 5000 to discuss your requirements or visit our website www.vgcharles.com