How – and Why – to Avoid Counteroffers
You’ve been offered a coveted position with another company—congratulations! However, if you are good at your job, and your current company is in reasonably good shape, there is a likely chance that your employer will try to convince you to stay. Bottom line: Your employer wants you to leave on their terms. Not your terms. Here is what your supervisor and current company might be thinking:
- “This is a bad time for this to be happening.”
- “This person has in-depth knowledge of our system, and replacing this person will put our deadlines at risk.”
- “This could ruin our budget!”
- “This is one of our best people. Others may leave too.”
- “If I keep losing people, the company will fire me!”
- “How do I shift the workload?”
- “I may have to work longer hours or have to cancel my vacation, in order to cover things.”
- “Maybe I can keep him/her until I find a replacement.”
While a counteroffer can be intriguing and flattering here are some reasons that you should not accept a counteroffer:
- What type of company do you work for if you have to threaten to resign before they give you what you are worth?
- From where is the money for the counteroffer coming? Is it your next raise early? (All companies have strict wage and salary guidelines that must be followed).
- Your company will immediately start looking for a new person at a lower salary price.
- You have now made your employer aware that you are unhappy. From this day on, your loyalty will always be in question.
- When promotion time comes around, your employer will remember who was loyal, and who wasn’t.
- When times get tough, your employer will begin the cutback with you.
- The same circumstances that now cause you to consider a change will repeat themselves in the future, even if you accept a counteroffer.
- Statistics show that if you accept a counteroffer, the probability of voluntarily leaving in six months or being let go within one year is extremely high.
- Accepting a counteroffer is an insult to your intelligence and a blow to your personal pride, knowing that you were bought.
- Once the word gets out, the relationship that you now enjoy with your co-workers will never be the same. You will lose the personal satisfaction of peer group acceptance.
Your Columbia Search Partner recruiter has years of valuable experience dealing with counteroffers, and will work with you to make sure you know how to avoid the counteroffer.
Must read articles on the subject of counteroffers:
Road to Career Ruin: A Raise Won’t Permanently Cushion Thorns in the Nest
Counteroffers – Resist Temptation: Don’t let a quick fix or cold, hard cash blur your judgements