Counter Offers!

COUNTER OFFERS : WHY THEY RARELY WORK OUT.

When you have received an offer of employment which you are inclined to accept, you must consider very carefully whether it really solves your problem and offers you the opportunity you are seeking before you resign from your current employment. If you choose to accept the offer and to resign from your current employment, you must be prepared to resist powerful, persuasive tactics which your employer may decide to use in order to change your mind.

It is invariably a costly irritation for employers to recruit your replacement and often they will do everything they can to keep you. They may offer large sums of money or increased benefits, titles and promises for the future which can be attractive and tempting to accept. However, when it comes to considering whether to accept a counter offer it’s worth remembering that it only works out positively in a fraction of cases. In 20 years of recruitment I have seen many people accept counter offers and in the vast majority of situations they regretted it. In fact nationally compiled statistics show that nine out of ten people who accept counter offers have left their employment within six months, either because their employers arrange a replacement in their own time, or because the real reasons for wanting to change your job in the first place, have not gone away.

Worse still, if you are thinking about using a potential employer’s job offer to get your current company to counter and pay you more money, stop right there. Using another job offer as a bargaining chip may be tempting, but it’s a dangerous game and too often, it ends badly. If you want a raise, then negotiate it on your own merits—or prepare to move on.

Let’s take a look at some of the reasons not to accept a counter offer,

The current employer is attempting to cover their back. When an employee quits they lose money. When an employee quits the manager looks bad. Better to keep the employee on board until they can find a replacement. And don’t think this can’t happen; it can and it does. Counter-offers are usually nothing more than stall devices to give your employer time to replace you. Your reasons for wanting to leave still exist. They’ll just be slightly more tolerable in the short term because of the raise, promotion or promises made to keep you.

The employee becomes a fidelity risk to the current employer. He’s threatened to quit once; its only a matter of time before he does it again, and smart companies wont allow themselves to be out into this situation. The employee will never be perceived in the same way by the company; Having once demonstrated your lack of loyalty (for whatever reason), your commitment will now be in question, you will lose your status as a team player and your place in the inner circle.

Any situation that causes an employee to seek outside offers is suspect. For example, if money is the issue why does it take a full court press for the employer to pay more? If the employee is worth more money now, why weren’t they worth is 15 minutes earlier when they said they were quitting?

The reasons for wanting to quit will still remain, even if they are temporarily shaded. For example, if the employee has issues with his manager then this issue will still be there at the higher salary.

What type of a company do you work for if you have to threaten to resign before they give you what you’re worth? Decent and well-managed companies don’t make counter-offers….EVER! Their policies are fair and equitable. They will never be subjected to counter-offer coercion, which they perceive as blackmail. Do you want to work with one that does?

The new employer and/or recruitment agency will be reluctant to consider you again. If you go all the way through their hiring process only to accept a counteroffer from your current employer, then the former is going to be wary of considering you in the future. If it’s a company (employer or recruiter) you’d like to work with, you might be shutting a door you’d rather keep open.

When promotion time comes around, your employer will remember who is loyal and who isn’t and When times get tough, your employer may begin the cutbacks with you.

Accepting a counter offer is an insult to your intelligence. You didn’t know what was best for you and accepting a counter offer is a blow to your personal pride, knowing you were “bought” after all why didn’t they pay you that before? It was because they didn’t think you were worth it.

Where is the money for the counter offer coming from? Is it your next pay rise early?

Statistics show that if you accept a counter offer, there is a ninety percent chance you will be out of the job within six months.

And finally, there are times where accepting a counter offer makes sense and works out but it’s a bad idea frequently enough that you should be very, very cautious before doing so.