Venable partner Rich Frey was quoted in a May 14, 2014 Human Resource Executive Online article about best practices companies can take to retain key personnel. The article focuses heavily on counteroffers while advising against them. Instead, employers are encouraged to find the real reason why an employee is leaving.
Frey encourages employers to take a proactive approach, saying, “Key employees should be under contract instead of under an at-will policy, because it defines the terms of the employment and the terms under which employment could end. This way, supervisors won't go around making reckless decisions; they must follow a cause standard in the contract to get out of it. So, if you have a good definition of cause, the employer can protect himself.”
Frey encourages employers to take a proactive approach, saying, “Key employees should be under contract instead of under an at-will policy, because it defines the terms of the employment and the terms under which employment could end. This way, supervisors won't go around making reckless decisions; they must follow a cause standard in the contract to get out of it. So, if you have a good definition of cause, the employer can protect himself.”