Let us now examine the reasons why candidates should never accept a counter-offer, after they have already accepted OUR offer.
1: You have now made your employer aware that you are unhappy and moving forward your commitment will always be in question.
You’ve made your current employer aware of your intention to leave. Your boss now knows that you were unhappy for long enough to search for, apply for, interview for, and accept a new position. You may think that it was the company’s fault that you wanted to leave but many times your boss will be pissed off at you for having the audacity to look for work somewhere else. You will be considered disloyal even though they were the ones that did not provide a stimulating work environment, enough $, whatever it is? This image of disloyalty will haunt you and little things like taking a day off here and there would put you under suspicion of going to interviews again, and always under the microscope. Who wants to work under those kind of conditions? Some people naively think that if they make it public that they could go elsewhere, either by resigning and then accepting a counteroffer or by making it public that a recruiter called them about a job, they will strengthen their value at their company. The exact opposite is true. What’s more is that by accepting a counteroffer you look disloyal AND untrustworthy. You’ve given your word to another company and you’ve broken it just like that. This will still register with your boss and even more so when the initial relief at keeping you has worn off.
2: When promotion time comes around, your boss will remember who is loyal and who isn’t.
When the time comes to decide who will be considered for a promotion your employer is definitely going to remember who almost went to work elsewhere. Many bosses reward blind loyalty more than anything else. Who do you think they’ll choose? Can you imagine the conversations the seniors will be having? “Joe should get it because he is one of our best workers and has the right attitude” “Bob should get it over Joe because his work is almost as good and remember, Joe almost went to work elsewhere, who’s to say that if we promote Joe that he’ll still be here in a year? Bob’s the guy, he’s the most loyal guy we’ve got” “But if we choose Bob then Joe might leave” “Bob might leave if Joe gets it and then Joe might still leave, he’s threatened it once before” “Okay, let’s go with Bob, even if Joe leaves we’ll still have Bob and you’re right, he is the most loyal guy we’ve got”. If you accept a counteroffer, you will have branded yourself as an employee who is susceptible to leaving the company and will probably not be given serious consideration for future promotions. Further, you may not be given the opportunity to work on the best assignments because management feels that it risks losing you mid-project.
3: If times get tough, your employer will begin the cutbacks with you.
You will no longer be held in high esteem, and if the company ever needs to make redundancies are they going to choose to let go – someone else – (whose loyalty has never been questioned and is probably earning much less than you for the same work because they needed to give you the moon on a stick to stay) or you? They already knew you were unhappy and didn’t really want to be there. Why would they keep you when this would be the perfect chance to make the necessary cutback and it not look like revenge or feel guilty about letting someone go?
4: You will burn your bridges with your prospective employee and may possibly get a bad reputation.
If you accept a counteroffer you will burn the bridge with your prospective new employer. If you had accepted a new offer, your new employer was expecting you to show up. Your new employer had made announcements about you coming on board, had cancelled job advertisements and had arranged for training. Your new employer may have taken on new projects or informed clients of planned progress. You are now leaving your prospective employer up the creek without a paddle. You’re not joining may have massive impacts on project delivery and may result in your client losing work or money. If it was a small company you were joining you might just have made such a mess at that company that other Peoples jobs are now in jeopardy. If your new employer pulled the rug out from under you by rescinding the offer, how would you feel? Don’t pull the rug from under them. It’s like being jilted at the altar or dumped on your birthday.
5: Accepting a counteroffer is a blow to your pride. You know you were ‘bought’.
If you accept a counteroffer, you would be little more than a trophy bought with some pocket change. Do you want to work somewhere that you’re not valued properly.
6: Where is the money for the counter-offer coming from? Is it your next pay rise early?
Since all companies have salary guidelines, it is possible that all you got was your next increase. The raise after that would probably disgust you into looking to leave again but by then you would have burned a bridge, remember? See #4. Why did you have to resign to get the attention around $ ???
7: Statistics show that if you accept a counteroffer, there is a ninety-four percent chance you will be out of the job within 12 months (and a seventy percent chance that you’ll be gone in 6).
Much research and many surveys have been completed over the years to measure what happens to employees who accept counter-offers. Only 6 out of 100 employees are still with their company after 12 months, and 3 important points become apparent:
Salary was hardly ever the prime motivator for resigning – more money didn’t ultimately change the true state of play
Things didn’t take long to return to the way they were before that led you to resign
It seemed as though your boss didn’t trust you any more
More statistics that show that 94% of those who accept counter-offers leave within 12 months anyway (or are terminated) should be worrying enough to make you think ‘Why would I want to be in that position?’
8: What type of company do you work for if you have to threaten to resign before they pay you what you’re worth?
Why didn’t they pay you that before? Very simply. It was because they didn’t think you were worth it. Yes, that’s right. They. didn’t. think. you. were. worth. it. Harsh it may be to think or to say but it is the truth. If you truly value an employee you will want to make sure that they never leave.
Your true value was established at the new company. They thought you were worth a lot more than your current company. Why did you have to threaten to leave before you were paid what you are worth? Your colleagues may know you had handed in your notice. If you stay because you accept a counteroffer with more pay, will they resent you for it? Will it affect the environment in your office?
Being made an attractive counter offer is good for your ego, but you must take a number of things into consideration. You have only received a counter offer because you resigned. It is a purely reactive tactic from your employer and should make you wonder whether you need to resign every time you want to improve your situation. If your employer thought you were truly worthy, why didn’t they improve your situation anyway?
Things to be wary of when being made a counter-offer:
- Your boss making you feel incredibly guilty and disloyal
- The are “Loving” you like never before – be very suspicious of this !!! In disingenuous
- Your boss saying things like: I had no idea you were unhappy. Let’s sit down and discuss what we can do to ease your concerns and see what we can do to keep you on the team. OR this is the good one – I was already considering you for a promotion and raise so I wish you would have come to me sooner, I could have eased your concerns. Let’s talk about what I had in mind for you before you make any rash decisions.
If you turn down a counteroffer and leave, the only consequences you’ll face are those that relate to the challenge of a new job. But you were up for that right? That’s why you accepted the job and handed in your notice. But if you accept a counteroffer, you may face a backlash. Since you have been considering another opportunity this calls into question your loyalty to the company.
A great deal of time if they’re willing to give you a big offer just to keep you around, they’re probably only going to keep you until you’ve finished training your replacement.
The easy decision is always to accept the counteroffer, the money is good, you know the company, you know your colleagues but this is false economy. Eventually you will end up leaving, either through no choice of your own or because you realize that you just don’t want to work there any more. The only thing is, you missed out on that dream job X amount of months ago when you had your head turned by the jingling pockets of the boss you’re about to leave anyway.
9. Finally – you gave your word to your new company and CEO – what else do you really have if you cant keep that ?
Corporate Dyak 