The Counter-Offer Conundrum

Ok, so you've been working in your job for a while. You've been feeling like there is not a lot of room to move up so you've been putting out some feelers. You get called by a fabulous recruiter like me, you go to some interviews, and the company you are interviewing with loves you. You love them too. They make you an offer for a job that is slightly more senior than your current one and it comes with a bigger paycheque. Life is good.

So you accept their offer and your references are good (of course!) and you make an appointment with your manager to give her your notice. You've been prepared to work out your notice and you've been prepared to be walked out of the building by security. What you were not prepared for is when your boss offers you a promotion and pay raise to stay.

Welcome to the counter-offer.

The candidates we have are talented people and it's not surprising that their current employers want to give them an incentive to stay. And, boy oh boy, is it flattering to be the object of so much affection.

When presented with a counter offer, you have a choice to make: in the immortal words of The Clash, "should I stay or should I go?" You carefully weigh the two offers.

The temptation will always be to stay. People, as a rule, don't like change. There will be a probationary period at your new job, you'll have to meet all new people, you'll have to prove yourself again and, let's face it, you might lose your status as the Four Square mayor of the nearby Applebee's. If you've ever watched Let's Make a Deal, you know that if you turn down the certainty of the brand new washer and dryer set for door number two, you just might get the donkey.

But I'd caution you here. The Clash was pretty wise when they observed, "If I go there will be trouble
And if I stay it will be double." Our research and experience has shown that most employees who accept a counter offer from their current company leave the organization within the year. In other words, the counter offer is almost always the donkey.

Your current employer should understand and value your skills better than an outsider. If it takes another offer to make them realize how good you are, that is an indication of a problem. Perhaps you and your manager have not communicated effectively and he is not aware of what you do. Perhaps your organization is in cost-cutting mode and will only remunerate you fairly when they have to. Perhaps you've been underpaid because you are not a great cultural fit with the organization but they still want you around to complete your projects. Unless there are some other changes going along with the counteroffer (perhaps your unobservant manager has just been replaced) the underlying problems will continue.

Also, once you've tipped your hand that you are looking, your organization's attitude towards you might change. People tend to value loyalty and if you are viewed as the type of person whose loyalty can be bought, there could be long-term repercussions. Our advice is to never take a counter offer where the only factor on the table is money.

The last thing you want is to accept a counter offer, finish up the project that made you indispensable, and find yourself out on your ear. When you call back the new company that wanted to hire you, you'll likely find a less than warm reception. If the counter offer is too good to pass up, we recommend getting an employment contract drawn up that provides you with some job security.

It's nice to be liked. But being liked by way of a counter offer can be tricky. Remember that if your employer had been offering you everything you wanted in the first place, you would not have gone to all the work of finding a new job.

Happy hunting!

Nancy